Printer Friendly

Convention 2004

Industry Sessions, Roundtable Exchanges, Educational Presentations, and Technical Papers

Educational Presentations

Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) - A Growing Business Segment for Our Industry?
This presentation, presented by industry experts Linda Echterhoff of KBR and Sean Soady of Fabricom Contracting, will take us through the history and development of the LNG industry, including discussion of the LNG value chain (from gas production and treatment through liquefaction, transport and regasification), as well as address the potential for business development in the LNG market. The presentation will look at worldwide and U.S. LNG supply and demand, and discuss the existing and planned facilities in these regions to meet the growing LNG demand. Who are the major players and what types of projects are on the horizon? Thursday, March 25, 10:30 - 11:45 am

Labor Relations Challenges in the 21st Century: A Survival Guide for Merit Shop Contractors
This educational session, held in conjunction with the Merit Contractors committee meeting, will be presented by Eric N. Athey, Esq., from the law firm Kegel Kelin Almy & Grimm LLP. Labor unions in the construction industry have placed a renewed emphasis on organizing in the past several years. It is therefore no surprise that merit shop contractors all over the country are confronting new union organizing tactics in the form of salting, stripping, corporate campaigns, etc. In some areas, these tactics have proven to be extremely effective for unions. In order to effectively respond, it is critically important that companies be prepared for all contingencies. This presentation focuses on the unique challenges facing merit shop contractors and what you should be doing to prepare your company in the event it is the union's next target. Saturday, March 27, 8:00 - 9:30 am

Is Mold a Real Danger?
This presentation, from NIA's General Counsel Gary Auman and Larry Nelles of Service Environmental Company, will cover the current status of the science of mold from a medical standpoint and mold liability issues as they may affect our members. Legislation at the state level addressing mold liability and remediation will also be discussed. The presentation will cover regulatory concerns by the government on the mold issue, including OSHA. Saturday, March 27, 10:45 - 11:30 am

Roundtable Exchanges

Refractory Ceramic Fiber - An Update on Product Stewardship and the Current Regulatory Environment
This presentation, led by a panel of industry experts, will address the latest updates on Refractory Ceramic Fiber (RCF) related to handling and the product stewardship program, as well as the crystalline silica issues associated with RCF. Current concerns over silica and the direction that regulatory agencies are taking with handling, disposal, and use will also be discussed, followed by a question and answer session. Wednesday, March 24, 1:30 - 5:00 pm

Health and Safety BestPractices
This discussion, led by NIA General Counsel Gary Auman and Health and Safety Committee Chair Dale Haden, will encompass the BestPractices procedures recommended by our industry and will include a presentation on the newly created Theodore H. Brodie Distinguished Safety Award. Learn what improvements your company can make and what NIA is doing to recognize outstanding safety records. Friday, March 26, 7:30 - 9:00 am

Asbestos Legislation - What Does This Mean for You?
There is a great deal at risk in this area. Legislators are currently determining long-term solutions that will affect the way you do business. This roundtable exchange, led by Special Projects Task Force co-chair Theodore Brodie, will take you through the specifics of the most recent legislation and current activities. Friday, March 26, 7:30 - 9:00 am

Liquid Natural Gas (LNG)
Looking to learn more about Liquified Natural Gas? This more informal follow up to Thursday's general session will offer further detail and insight into the LNG market. Industry experts Linda Echterhoff of KBR and Sean Soady of Fabricom Contracting will provide attendees with a question and answer session as well as further discuss related issues, including a more in-depth discussion of the LNG value chain components, and applications for insulation and fire-proofing in this industry. Friday, March 26, 7:30 - 9:00 am

Industry Sessions

Promoting the Industry Online with the NIA Website
The association's website has been completely redesigned to better communicate the many benefits of insulation to insulation end-users. This session, presented by NIA Website Manager Shannon Rhodes, will discuss content areas of the site, answer related website questions, and take suggestions for future content development of www.insulation.org. Thursday, March 25, 10:15 - 10:30 am

Technical Paper Presentations
Friday, March 26, 9:15 - 11:00 am

The Impact of High Natural Gas Prices on the Mechanical Insulation Industry
Presented by Gordon H. Hart, P.E., Artek, Inc.
Since the year 2000, wellhead natural gas prices in North America have at least doubled in price. High natural gas prices provide an excellent opportunity for those in the mechanical insulation industry. NIA members can use economic thickness calculations to justify greater thicknesses during facility construction, and equipment and pipeline replacement on existing facilities. The economics of plant operation will cause electrical utilities to again start constructing coal-fired and nuclear-fueled steam electric generating stations to provide base-load electrical power since gas turbine generators are becoming too expensive to operate. These steam electric plants require large quantities of mechanical insulation. Energy companies have very aggressive plans to construct Liquefied Natural Gas receiving terminals on the U.S. mainland's coast to enable our society to purchase large quantities of natural gas from outside North America; these LNG terminals require considerable quantities of cryogenic mechanical insulation. Coal gasification, which looked economical more than 20 years ago when natural gas prices were very high, will again become economical; the chemical plants, which convert coal to methane gas, require large quantities of mechanical insulation. With active promotion of the benefits of mechanical insulation, we could see our market increase by $1.5 billion per year in three years.

Energy Codes for Insulation Thickness
Presented by Roger Schmidt, Nomaco/K-Flex, and Kartik Patel, Armacell LLC
Codes, codes, codes - how do you know what to install? If codes are written to make the world more uniform, why are they so confusing sometimes? Why aren't they uniform? This paper answers these questions, beginning with why codes are written, and how they are written and enforced. Finally, the authors discuss how to interpret the existing codes and what can be done to improve them.

An Evaluation of Self-Drying Insulation for Use on Chilled Water Piping
Presented by Chris Crall, Owens Corning
Insulating below-ambient systems presents special challenges due to the possibility of water-vapor flow to the cold surface. The traditional approach has been to specify a continuous vapor retarder on the warm side of the insulation to minimize vapor flow. An alternative approach utilizing wicking material to remove condensed water from the system has been in use since 1993. This paper reviews the technical basis for the self-drying concept and summarizes a series of analytical, experimental and field studies conducted as part of an evaluation of the self-drying concept.

Ship Configurations and Insulation Design/Application
Presented by Pat Fulton, Silencing Ocean Systems; and Gerald Cox, Performance Contracting, Inc
There is a great motivation to make commercial and military sea-going vessels lighter, faster, and structurally stronger. This has contributed to changes in design of stiffening members and system integration that is requiring changes in strategies for thermally insulating the hulls, interior bulkheads, and decks of ships. In addition, the marine insulation industry, when insulating Navy vessels, has been required to rely on fixed tables of standardized "U-values," first published in 1963, for determining insulation thicknesses for particular environmental conditions. These thicknesses are generally inadequate considering today's energy costs and result in greater-than-necessary ship weight for both mechanical equipment and fuel oil to power that equipment. This paper examines these requirements, the changes in stiffening member designs, and proposes changes to marine insulation systems to minimize both overall ship weight and energy use for space heating and cooling.

Technical Paper Provided by FESI
In addition to Ship Configurations and Insulation Design/Application, FESI, the Insulation Association for Europe, will present a technical paper.