Immensely popular in Europe, radiant cooling is steadily gaining popularity in the U.S. because of its potential to reduce energy consumption. About half of net-zero energy buildings use radiant cooling to help them achieve the balance between energy consumption and renewable energy creation.

The Radiant Professionals Alliance (RPA) and the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA) have signed a memorandum of understanding to cross promote the application of ground source heat pump technology where it overlaps with radiant heating and cooling systems.

As radiant's benefits are becoming more widely recognized, manufacturers are rolling out new products designed to lower labor costs and make radiant more affordable and accessible.

It takes a special set of skills and passion for a contractor to become an expert in hydronic systems, and once these guys get started talking about their work, it’s hard to get them to stop.

Uponor North America has updated its engineering website, uponorengineering.com, to offer more resources for professionals specifying and designing PEX plumbing, radiant heating and cooling, hydronic distribution piping, and pre-insulated piping systems.

Late last year, Mike Casey, of KC Plumbing & Heating, was involved with an extensive oil-to-gas boiler retrofit in Westwood, Mass. that also included a second-story addition and installation of in-floor radiant. The homeowners wanted an “ultimate efficiency and ultimate comfort” system.

The combined cost of hydronic radiant panel heating, along with a separate central cooling system, often strains the construction budget to a point where something has to go, and that something is usually the radiant heating option. It gets trumped by a lower-cost forced-air system that delivers both heating and cooling, albeit often at reduced comfort.

On the jobsite, contractors often need an immediate reference to technical information or to quickly locate a supplier close to the job. REHAU’s newly-updated website, www.na.rehau.com, is designed with this type of user in mind, offering quicker access to multiple resources and automatic responsiveness to mobile devices.

Since heat travels on flow like a passenger on a train, where there is no flow, there is no heat. And it’s going to look just like an air problem. Which it’s not.