FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT:  	TOM PHILLIPS
November 2, 2009		17100 W. 118th Terrace
		Olathe, KS 66061
	Phone:	913.227.3400
	Fax:	913.227.3500
		www.grundfos.us
Grundfos “Impossible Tour” Revs Along with Stop 
At Orange County Choppers’ LEED Silver Facility
Traveling educational vehicle visits New York headquarters of Discovery Channel’s custom-bike builders, offering contractor and engineer visitors information and hands-on training in the latest technologies for residential, commercial and industrial pumps. 

NEWBURGH, NEW YORK — More than 200 people visited Orange County Choppers (OCC) in Newburgh, N.Y., on October 15 to participate in the Grundfos “Impossible Tour” — a fully equipped, mobile educational center for trade professionals in the plumbing, heating and piping industry. The Grundfos visit to OCC was the largest tour event to date and the sixth of 14 stops across the Northeast during the months of October and November. This final swing of the 2009 “Impossible Tour” began in Cleveland, Ohio, in early October and ends in Lancaster, Pa., in mid-November. 

Featuring the slogan “Powered by the Impossible,” the Grundfos “Impossible Tour” is a 1,200-square-foot, two-room vehicle that showcases the latest in residential, commercial and industrial pump technology. In addition to interactive and working displays, the vehicle also includes a mini-theater for viewing video programs. The vehicle also features the new energy-optimized Grundfos ALPHA™ circulator with a permanent magnet motor design that cuts power consumption by a minimum of 50%, as compared with other circulators in its class.

Wholesalers, contractors, architects and engineers from New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey attended the October 15 event, arriving in groups on conventional and limousine-style buses. Also attending were students from the local Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) trade school in New York State. All visitors received specially made, limited edition OCC-Grundfos shirts.
According to Grundfos sales agent Bryan Schaefer, vice president of WMS Sales of Clarence Center, N.Y., the mobile educational center offers “an impressive display of Grundfos materials and products. It really shows the cost-effectiveness of the products themselves and the efficiency and comfort they can provide to the end users.”

LEED Silver Facility: Completed in 2008, the OCC facility is a LEED Silver building that features a state-of-the-art radiant floor heating system to keep the interiors warm and dry during the wet winter months. The radiant system features Grundfos MAGNA Variable Speed Pumps, which reduce energy consumption by more than 70%, as compared with traditional circulators. (In this application, the pumps circulate warm fluid from the heat source through the PEX piping network beneath the floor — to warm it and the space — before returning the fluid to the heat source.)

The MAGNA saves energy through its exclusive AUTOADAPT™ control mode feature that automatically adjusts pump performance in response to changing demand in a heating application. MAGNA pumps also assist with the facility’s snowmelt system, ensuring safe handling and transport of custom bikes that can sell for over a half million dollars.

On display in the OCC retail store is a permanent kiosk that contains a set of OCC custom-designed motorcycle handlebars connected to a Grundfos MAGNA. Visitors can “rev” the throttle on the handlebars, as they would on a motorcycle, to simulate the variable-speed pumping of the MAGNA in the display in comparison with another set of handlebars that simulate less efficient conventional pumping that requires more “throttle” or energy to control the pump. The kiosk was originally created as part of the educational efforts required by the U.S. Green Building Council for LEED status.

“I’ve been involved with Orange County Choppers since the original MAGNA installation for the radiant heating system,” says Grundfos District Sales Manager Dan Fletcher. “Grundfos’ involvement with OCC is most definitely going to continue in the future.”

Remaining stops for the “Impossible Tour” include: Long Island, N.Y. (Nov. 2, 4); East Rutherford, N.Y. (Nov. 6); Philadelphia/Pottstown, Pa. (Nov. 10); and Lancaster, Pa. (Nov. 12).
For more information on the tour and how to register for one of its remaining stops, see grundfos.com/web/homeus.nsf and click on “Powered by the Impossible.” 

ABOUT GRUNDFOS PUMPS:
Grundfos Pumps Corporation, part of the Grundfos Group, is a global pumps and pumping systems leader serving the residential, commercial-building and process-industry markets, as well as being a major supplier to the water-supply and water-treatment industries. Founded in 1945 in Bjerringbro, Denmark, The Grundfos Group is a worldwide enterprise that employs more than 18,000 people in 81 countries with North American headquarters in Olathe, Kan.
For more information, visit the website at www.grundfos.us
For editorial assistance, contact John O’Reilly, c/o O’Reilly/DePalma in Frankfort, Illinois; tel.: 815-469-9100; fax: 815-469-2555; E-mail: john.oreilly@oreilly-depalma.com
Hi-res images shown in this press release and other photos are available for immediate download in .tif format by using this link: http://www.oreilly-depalma.com/grundfos/2009/grundfos-impossible-tour-occ.shtml 
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