Pete Ielmini, Executive Director of the Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust (LMCT), joined host Ed “Flash” Ferenc on the America’s Work Force Union Podcast on Sept. 29. He covered three topics: the energy costs from uninsulated pipe that the LMCT put on display for engineers at the AEE World Energy Conference and Expo in Orlando, the possible final stretch for the Federal Mechanical Insulation Act (FMIA) and what the labor movement built for every American worker.
The three topics share a common idea. Mechanical insulation on a pipe and a fair workday are both easy to overlook until you add up what life looks like without them.
The uninsulated pipe energy cost that engineers overlook
The LMCT treated the AEE World Energy Conference and Expo as a priority this year because of who attends. Energy engineers maintain existing facilities and write the specifications that determine what goes into new buildings. If mechanical insulation is omitted from those specs or value-engineered out as unnecessary, the energy losses remain in the building for decades.
To reach that audience, the LMCT delivered two presentations. One skipped the traditional lecture format. They converted one presentation into an interactive game show, with audience questions, prizes and live engagement. Ielmini said the approach paid off, bringing more people to the LMCT booth, where conversations took place that a slide deck would not generate.
At the booth, the team presented the numbers on a different interactive display. A section of hot pipe was left bare, alongside a calculation showing that one uncovered foot of pipe can waste $300 to $400 in energy every year. In a large facility with long runs of bare or under-insulated pipe, Ielmini said, that loss grows into thousands, then hundreds of thousands, and in some cases millions of dollars a year. Even engineers who understand insulation in principle, he noted, are often surprised by the dollar figures.
The LMCT’s message at the expo was that mechanical insulation is not a new technology and doesn’t often draw attention at events where presentations focus on what’s new. However, it remains one of the most cost-effective energy conservation tools available, and it can be put to work right away.
Conservation belongs next to production
Ielmini also pointed to an imbalance in how the energy sector sets priorities. Solar, wind and other new power generation technologies attract investment and headlines, and he said he understands why. However, by his estimate, the U.S. still relies on fossil fuels for roughly 90 percent of its energy, and the shift to cleaner sources will take decades.
Until then, he argued, conserving the energy already being produced is a necessity, not an extra. He compared it to spacecraft engineering, where every watt is tracked because power is limited and waste has serious consequences. The same discipline should apply on the ground. A phone charger left plugged in is a small example of wasted energy. Uninsulated mechanical systems across hundreds of thousands of buildings are a much larger example.
This is why the LMCT keeps showing up at engineering conferences: to ensure conservation is discussed alongside production, using existing technology that only needs to be installed and maintained correctly.
FMIA update: first and goal as the clock runs down
The Federal Mechanical Insulation Act would add mechanical insulation to the energy and water evaluations already required in more than 350,000 government buildings and facilities nationwide. Current law requires those buildings to be reviewed for a range of energy-saving measures, but mechanical insulation is not among them. The FMIA would close that gap.
According to Ielmini, House bill H.R. 3474 has moved through the suspension calendar, a fast-track procedure reserved for noncontroversial legislation, and is awaiting final approval. The Senate version of the same bill, S. 4312, now has four co-sponsors, and Ielmini plans to return to Capitol Hill to add more once Congress reconvenes.
The urgency comes from the calendar. With the November election and the lame-duck session that follows, the window to pass legislation in the 119th Congress is shrinking. Ielmini compared himself to a nervous coach with the ball on the two-yard line, watching both the field and the clock. He said he is doing everything he can to get the bill across the goal line before time runs out.
What labor built: Ellis Island and the eight-hour day
Ielmini closed his appearance with a part of American history he believes is rarely taught well in schools.
During a visit to Ellis Island, he came across union advertisements from the late 1800s and early 1900s aimed at newly arrived European immigrants. He recalled that the Bricklayers Union, one of the largest unions of the time, promoted its wages and working conditions. The promise that drew the most attention, though, was not the pay. It was the eight-hour workday.
Many of those immigrants were used to working 10, 12 or 14 hours a day with no extra pay. A guaranteed eight-hour day, with compensation for anything beyond it, was a bold offer, and it came from unions, not the government. Through decades of organizing and advocacy, unions won the eight-hour day and the 40-hour workweek. Ielmini also credited union lobbying with the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which sets and enforces the safety standards that protect workers on the job today.
His point was that every American worker benefits from those victories, whether or not they carry a union card. Protections that now feel routine were fought for by people who came before, and at Ellis Island, unions were already offering those gains to the next generation of workers.
Listen to the full episode
Listen to Ielmini’s full conversation with Ed “Flash” Ferenc, including more on the AEE World booth demonstration and the FMIA’s path to passage, on the America’s Work Force Union Podcast, available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify and Pandora. For a closer look at the LMCT’s presence in Orlando, read LMCT Brings Mechanical Insulation Energy Conservation to AEE World 2026.