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comment GreenPlumbers USA Aims to Save Water and Energy
In 2001, the Master Plumbers & Mechanical Services Association of Australia started an initiative called GreenPlumbers to educate plumbers about products and strategies that save water and energy. Impressed with the program, Steve Lehtonen, executive vice president of the Plumbing, Heating, Cooling Contractors of California, traveled to Melbourne in 2006 with the hopes of bringing it to the U.S.
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That trip was a success, and GreenPlumbers USA launched in September 2007. The organization has already trained more than 1,000 plumbers through more than 40 workshops in 12 states. But Lehtonen, the managing director for GreenPlumbers USA, has bigger plans: he believes his organization can reach 8,000 plumbers in 2008 and 50,000 plumbers, about 10% of all plumbers in the U.S., by the end of 2012. “The GreenPlumbers goal is nothing less than complete culture change for the plumbing industry,” the organization’s website proclaims.
The first two instructors were John Koeller, P.E., a water-conservation authority and technical advisor to the Alliance for Water Efficiency, and Gary Klein, managing partner at Affiliated International Management and former project manager for the California Energy Commission. Led by these two, the cadre of instructors is fast expanding. So far, the organization has done all of its training in person, but Lehtonen says the organization will soon offer Web-based instruction as well. GreenPlumbers offers five courses—Climate Care, Caring for Our Water, Water-Efficient Technology, Solar Hot Water, and Inspection Report Service—all free and each lasting either four or eight hours.
Patricia Deml, owner of Denver-based La Crosse Plumbing, took Water-Efficient Technology. “The class was fabulous,” she reports, adding, “I can't wait for the rest to make it to Denver.” Vincent Hamilton, a plumber at Atlanta Plumbing Plus, says he used to routinely rebuilt toilets to flush with more water than the standard 1.6 gallons. After taking Climate Care and Caring for Our Water, however, “I am definitely singing a different tune.” The classes “changed my thoughts drastically,” he says. “If these classes were made mandatory for all plumbers to take for licensing, it would be a greener world.”
In both Australia and the U.S., the organization has emphasized the connection between water and energy. “One of the things we point out in our workshops,” says Lehtonen, “is that 19% of California’s electricity is used up in the transportation and processing of water.” GreenPlumbers USA had to rework the Australian curriculum somewhat, however, to fit U.S. codes and standards. “The most significant problem is that we have to be cautious with regard to graywater practices,” he says. “The U.S. is way behind Australia in implementation of graywater regulations, and those regulations differ by city, county, and state.”
As with the Australian version of the organization, GreenPlumbers USA is divided into two parts. The nonprofit entity, which is funded by corporate sponsors and government partners, “exists to train as many plumbers as possible at no cost to the plumber,” explains Lehtonen. The smaller for-profit portion, just now getting underway, will license plumbing contractors. Licensed contractors commit to training all of their employees as GreenPlumbers and receive the right to use the organization’s name and logo in their advertising.
This article was produced by BuildingGreen, LLC.- www.buildinggreen.com
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