Trinus Pipes & Tubes Ltd. and Vanguard Pipe & Fittings Ltd. are the first geothermal polyethylene pipe manufacturers certified to CSA C448 by a third-party certifier. NSF International, a public health and safety organization, has certified the first geothermal pipes to Canadian Standards Association’s (CSA) standard C448: Design and Installation of Earth Energy Systems for Commercial and Institutional Buildings. NSF is the only organization that certifies polyethylene (PE) piping for geothermal end use.

CSA C448 is North America’s only government-recognized design and installation standard for geothermal systems. NSF’s certification program was developed to incorporate all of the critical aspects of geothermal piping, including performance, physical, health effects and quality control requirements. In order to achieve NSF certification, both Trinus Pipes & Tubes Ltd. and Vanguard Pipe & Fittings Ltd. had to fulfill the requirements of NSF/ANSI Standard 14: Plastic Piping System Components and Related Materials and CSA B137.1: Polyethylene (PE) Pipe, Tubing, and Fittings for Cold Water Pressure Services, in addition to the requirements of CSA C448. Both companies also underwent a facility audit that verified the following:

• Formulation and manufacturing processes
• Use of authorized raw materials
• Quality control requirements
• Sampling of product for monitoring testing
• Product marking
• Product complies with standards and NSF policies

For meeting the requirements, Trinus and Vanguard will bear the CSA-C448, CSA-B137.1 mark and the cNSF-geothermal mark on their pipes. These companies also are listed on the NSF Web site.

Third-party certification for geothermal piping systems provides regulators and users assurance that products are independently certified to meet requirements for geothermal end use. To maintain NSF certification and demonstrate ongoing compliance, Trinus and Vanguard will be required to pass three unannounced audits annually.

“Standards are the foundation of North America’s first and most comprehensive quality program – the Global Quality GeoExchange Program,” says Canadian GeoExchange Coalition vice president Ted Kantrowitz. “We welcome this certification program by a leader in standards development and testing that offers stakeholders more options for quality.”