What about Green? - PME Perspectives

As energy prices rise and our limited resources such as water continue to dwindle, our Federal and State governments are considering many new technologies to reduce consumption such as rain water harvesting, grey water recycling and solar domestic hot water heating.

According to an article on Forbes.com, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced rules that will finally allow developers of wind, solar and other green energy projects to apply for a total of $3 billion in federal grants to cover upfront project costs. The article states that under Treasury Department guidelines, the Department of Energy will disburse cash grants worth 30% of upfront costs for projects that start construction by the end of 2010. This funding is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and will be critical to boosting the demand for these technologies.

As a system supplier of wind, solar, rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling systems, Metropolitan Industries has taken a leadership role by educating and helping contractors, plumbers, engineers and inspectors navigate their way through this new frontier of opportunity.

This proactive stance propelled the company to construct an 800-sq.-ft. working “green” facility in 2008, known as Metro-Green, that allows, association groups, universities, government leaders, decision makers and others the chance to witness all green technologies on the market, installed under one roof. It takes theory to a whole new level by actually applying it in the field for all to see.

Metro-Green hosts a once-a-month seminar at their headquarters to educate contractors, facility managers, architects, engineers and inspectors about the available types of green systems, how they work, best installation practices, available tax credits and/or rebates for green installations, and various plumbing codes related to green systems or the lack thereof.

A visit by members of the Illinois Plumbing Association was a unique opportunity to address and inform inspectors of the need to adopt and legislate an enforceable set of codes. Of course, it is up to each individual state, not the inspectors, to adopt a code but the spread of awareness is effective, given the fact that technology is outpacing regulation. Currently, only four states have published guidelines regarding rain water harvesting and grey water recycling. Those states are Virginia, Texas, Oregon and Hawaii.

Engineers, Architects and Contractors working in the United States without official code to regulate grey water reuse and rain water harvesting/reuse only have informal guidelines to guide them as published in the Uniform Plumbing Code of 2009, International Plumbing Code of 2009, The American Water Works Association for reclaimed water and the American Society of Plumbing Engineers in regards to grey water reuse systems.