By / Shaun Ekert
For the better part of half a century, we have been trying to promote and encourage mechanical insulation systems. We want to get them in front of engineers, owners, architects, and specifiers to show how important they are to the integrity and longevity of their assets. This has been our mission and vision for the past 50 years, and it is the very premise upon which our industry rests.
Enter the dreaded arch nemesis: corrosion under insulation or CUI. Its mere whisper strikes fear into the hearts of contractors far and wide because it stands for that which we strive to avoid: rework, higher costs, and lower reputations. CUI carries stigma as the shame of the mechanical insulation industry, but maybe, just maybe, it is an opportunity. What if, as a globally recognized term and affliction, it works to get people paying attention to mechanical insulation? What if, instead of focusing on the negative, we look to the important attention it brings to our industry?
Just recall, until Al Gore came around on the bus, people may have been passively thinking about the environment but they sure weren’t taking to the streets about it. Gore brought the bad but realistic news, and if at that time you were a person already cognizant of environmentalism you kept on keeping on and you didn’t see his campaign as carrying negative connotations—you saw it as a platform for greater awareness, clarity, and education. If you were in the dark about environmentalism, Gore’s headlines made it impossible to ignore.
There is nothing stopping us from leveraging talk about corrosion under insulation as a platform to discuss solutions and expand the knowledge base of our end users. We can still use this term as an opportunity. It has garnered traction as an important issue that can cause problems in nearly any application, and this is the perfect place from which to launch a discussion about why mechanical insulation, applied to code and with expert craftspersonship, is essential.
Any publicity is good publicity. Any headline is a good headline—because at least it means people are talking and consider the issue important. We have tried for 50 years to grab headlines with verified science supporting the safety, energy efficiency, personnel protection, and environmental benefits of mechanical insulation—but headlines are hard to get. They are not, however, hard to spin for the good if we know what we are talking about and believe in the cause.
While we are on the topic, the term corrosion under insulation is a bit of a loaded term. It is relatively new, but it has taken hold as something that specifically labels insulation rather than the surface hosting the corrosion. This almost makes it sound like insulation is the problem—if you walk by an uninsulated, corroded pipe you don’t refer to the “corrosion under the environment” or “corrosion under air.” It is simply “corrosion” and this is where we need to shift our thinking—to the actual problem and, most importantly, the solution.
Come to the TIAC Conference in Whitehorse, Yukon, August 12-15, 2020. This is the place to educate yourself, confer with fellow contractors, and share your ideas so when it comes your turn to get on the bus, spin the headline, and make the best of bad publicity, you’ll be ready. Contact the TIAC office or watch these pages for registration information. ▪
