Susan Kennedy Joins ASPE as Director of Marketing

Susan Kennedy, who recently retired after 17 years as Marketing Director at Sloan Valve, has agreed to help ASPE with many projects that will directly benefit the plumbing industry and plumbing engineers and designers in particular. Susan's first assignments will cover a broad range of business and marketing issues; events and programs; and the initial launching of a new research development endeavor into a worldwide green plumbing initiative. The expected end result will be to improve the overall economic conditions and job opportunities for plumbing engineers and designers worldwide.

Help Teach Teens about Plumbing Engineering Next Week

ASPE is offering an educational package for plumbing engineers to use at local high schools and community colleges during National Engineering Week. The PowerPoint presentation includes a video demonstrating how a waterless urinal works. Chapter officers can download and view the PowerPoint in the Officers’ section of aspe.org. (Be sure to download all items in the zip file to view the video.)

Don’t Miss BIM Part 2: ASPE’s Next Webinar Is Feb. 24

Register now for BIM Part 2: Hands-on Instruction on How to Use Revit MEP 2010. Instructor Marvin Titlow will teach participants how to design a fire pump layout using Revit MEP 2010 via a step-by-step demonstration, as well as how to cut sections and apply them to sheets. Attendees should have prior knowledge and use of Revit MEP 2010. If you missed Part 1, you still can participate in Part 2, which offers more hands-on instruction.

Did You Watch the Super Bowl on Your 65-inch LCD TV?

What? You don’t have one? Well, that may change if you attend the ASPE Convention and EPE (Oct. 30–Nov. 3), where ASPE is giving away up to eight grand prizes. (Prizes will be awarded as gift cards to make travel easier.) Will you be there to claim yours?

Not One Laptop, not Two Laptops…

But more than 30 laptops will be given away during the ASPE Engineered Plumbing Exposition (Nov. 1–2). Winners must be on the exposition floor to claim their prize. Don’t miss out on winning yours!

ASPE Grassroots Budget Meeting Will Be Held March 13

The ASPE Grassroots Budget Meeting will be held at 10 a.m. CST at the ASPE office. All chapter officers and members are welcome to attend either in person or online via webcast. Registration will open in February.

Full ASPE Members Are Automatically Approved to Sit for the 2010 CPD Exam

The exam will be held at 200 testing sites throughout the U.S. and Canada on April 16 or 17 (date of exam depends on testing site). The deadline to register is March 19. Click here for more information.

You Can Influence ASPE’s Future

How? The Nominating Committee is looking for candidates for the 2010–2012 board of directors. For more information on how to run, e-mail gpienta@aspe.org. Also, at the 2010 Convention, the delegates will be debating and voting on proposed modifications to the ASPE Bylaws. Send proposed modifications to ASPEEXDIR@aol.com by June.

Share Your Expertise at the ASPE Convention

ASPE is soliciting presentation proposals for the 2010 Convention. Click here for more information or to submit a proposal online.

Do You Know Someone Who Should Be an ASPE Fellow?

Nominate a deserving member today. (You may not nominate yourself.) The nomination forms and more information about the College can be found here.

ASPE Archived Webinars Offer CEUs

ASPE archived webinars allow you to view and listen to previously recorded events at a time that is most convenient for you. Pay a small fee to earn quick CEUs.

EDUCATIONAL AND NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES

NEW! Seattle Chapter’s First Official Meeting Is February 16

ASPE’s newest chapter will be holding its first meeting at Ivar’s Salmon House on the North Shore of Lake Union at 5:30 p.m. For more information about the meeting or becoming a member of the Seattle Chapter, contact Patrick Cooper.

February 24: Kansas City Product Show with New Member Offer

The 2010 ASPE Kansas City Chapter Plumbing Product Show will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Overland Park West Holiday Inn in Overland Park, Kansas. Anyone who joins ASPE during the show will receive 25 percent off their first year’s dues. Click here for more information.

March 10: Denver Tabletop Show

ASPE’s Denver Chapter’s Tabletop Product Show will be held on March 10.  For more information, visit the chapter’s website.

March 11: Western Michigan Tradeshow

The Western Michigan Chapters of ASPE, ASHRAE, and PHCC are holding a free plumbing tradeshow from 3:30–7:30 p.m. at the Elks Lodge in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Contact Paul Sisovsky for more information.

NEW! Dallas-area CPD Review Classes Start March 13

ASPE’s Dallas/Ft. Worth Chapter will be holding three CPD review classes on March 13 (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and March 19 and March 26 (noon to 4 p.m.) at PVI in Ft. Worth. Contact Andrew Hamilton for more information.

March 19: Phoenix Golf Tournament

ASPE’s Phoenix Chapter is holding its annual golf outing at the Starfire Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. Registration deadline is March 9. Click here for a registration form.

April 7: Houston Product Show

ASPE’s Houston Chapter’s Product Show will be held in the Pavilion Center of the Sam Houston Race Park from 4:00–8:30 p.m. Contact Jim Ivey (713-780-1600) for more information.

April 15: Chicago Product Show

ASPE’s Chicago Chapter will be holding its annual Product Show at the White Eagle in Niles, Illinois. To provide input or to get involved in the planning, contact Frank Sanchez.

April 30: Baltimore Golf Outing

ASPE’s Baltimore Chapter will hold its annual Golf Outing at the Timbers at Troy in Elkridge, Maryland. All proceeds go toward the Baltimore Chapter of ASPE Engineering Scholarship. Contact David Goodell for participation and/or sponsorship information.

May 11: Central Florida Product Show

ASPE’s Central Florida Chapter, in conjunction with ASHRAE, will be holding its annual Product Show at the Orange County Fairgrounds. More information will be available soon.

INDUSTRY NEWS

March 11 Is World Plumbing Day

The theme of the first-ever World Plumbing Day is “Plumbing—Vital to Global Health.” This annual event was established to help the general public better understand the vital role the plumbing industry plays in protecting public health and safety, the extent to which it helps limit mankind’s environmental footprint, and other important work performed by contractors, inspectors, installers, engineers, manufacturers, and academicians that often is taken for granted. Those involved in the plumbing industry are invited to undertake a range of activities with the aim of raising awareness of the important role played by today’s plumbing industry.

Olympians to Be Warmed with Wastewater

Whistler, British Columbia, which will host the 2010 Winter Olympic Nordic, sliding, and alpine events, will be warming townhouses in the Olympic Athletes’ Village with a new heat recovery system that uses heat exchangers in Whistler’s wastewater treatment plant to extract up to 9°F of heat from the plant’s treated effluent. The heat is absorbed by water and pumped into an underground closed-loop pipe network that runs to the village. Within the townhouses, heat pumps transfer thermal energy from the closed-loop pipes to generate space and hot water heating. Learn more about the system here.

Georgia Governor Introduces Water Stewardship Act

Last week, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue announced the Georgia Water Stewardship Act of 2010, which encourages water conservation, reduces wasteful loss, and incentivizes innovation in both increasing water supply and lessening demand. Beginning in July 2012, the legislation requires efficient water fixtures in all new residential and commercial construction statewide, as well as the installation of efficient cooling towers in new industrial construction. Also, for all new residential and commercial multi-unit projects, the bill will require submetering.

34 Percent of Execs Cite Finances as an Impediment to Sustainability

“Managing for Sustainability,” an Economist Intelligence Unit report, discusses why firms are embracing sustainable practices, how companies are embedding corporate social responsibility into their businesses, and how they are gauging and reporting their success. According to the report, 84 percent of respondents agree that sustainability will become more important in the coming three years, but only 49 percent reported progress in meeting their environmental sustainability goals. The most likely reason is the economy: 34 percent of respondents said their firms’ immediate financial goals were a more pressing priority than sustainability.

Proposed Los Angles Law Would Require Rainwater Reuse

According to the LA Times, an ordinance approved last month by the Department of Public Works would require new homes, larger developments, and some redevelopments to capture, reuse, or infiltrate 100 percent of runoff generated in a ¾-inch rainstorm or to pay a storm water pollution mitigation fee that would help fund off-site, low-impact public developments. The law is intended to reduce runoff at its source with small, cost-effective natural systems instead of treatment facilities.

USGBC Launches Campaign to Green College Campuses

The USGBC Green Campus Campaign was created to help colleges and universities develop a complete sustainability model on a campus-wide basis. At the campaign’s website, the USGBC offers information for college administrators on the benefits of green strategies and how sustainable efforts can both save money and attract students.

NYC Announces Proposed Green Code Plans

Last week, the New York City Green Codes Task Forcereported the results of their study on how to change the city’s building codes and laws to make current and future commercial buildings more sustainable. Some of the 111 proposals include enhancing code training for architects and engineers, reducing mold in bathrooms, phasing out dirty boiler fuels, allowing large solar rooftop installations, increasing the efficiency of large cooling systems, allowing the use of biofuels, upgrading inefficient plumbing fixtures, and facilitating the use of recycled water.

Pro Sports Stadiums LEED the Way in Conservation Efforts

Thanks to a range of efficiency improvements, the Rose Garden, home of the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, recently received a LEED Gold rating. Among the retrofits is a cooling tower VFD and sequencing improvements that will save 255,000 kilowatts a year, as well as upgrades to 60 bathroom fixtures, which were replaced with 37.5 percent more efficient flush valves, resulting in water savings of 162,000 gallons. The Minnesota Twins also are aiming for LEED certification at their new Target Field, which includes a unique rainwater recycle system that is estimated to reduce the need for municipal water at Target Field by more than 50 percent, which should equate to a savings of more than 2 million gallons of water annually.

Is Your City One of the Top 15 Most Toxic Places to Live?

Fortunately, it probably isn’t, but millions of people around the globe bathe in and drink from the world’s most polluted rivers, can’t hang their laundry outside to dry because of thick air pollution that blackens the sky, are exposed to lead concentrations five to 10 times the permissible U.S. Environmental Protection Agency levels, and never see trees because the ground is so polluted from mining or stripped from deforestation. Where are these areas? Learn more here.

U.S. Army Using Bugs to Clean Wastewater

A wastewater treatment systemdeveloped by scientists at Sam Houston State University can clean putrid water within 24 hours, leaving no toxic by-products and less than 10 percent sludge by volume. The system uses naturally occurring bacteria (“bugs”) that create a biofilm with a bio-reactor, which uses little energy, is transportable, scalable, simple to set up, and simple to operate, comes online quickly, and can be monitored remotely. The technology was developed for use in remote areas where little infrastructure exists. The first two units are being deployed by the U.S. Army to Afghanistan.

California Water-efficient Landscape Ordinance Takes Effect

As of last month, city and county government agencies throughout the state of California must adopt AB 1881, Water-efficient Landscape Ordinance, or develop an ordinance that is at least as effective. The ordinance was designed to promote the values and benefits of landscapes while recognizing the need to invest water and other resources as efficiently as possible; establish a structure for planning, designing, installing, maintaining, and managing water-efficient landscapes in new construction and rehabilitated projects; and establish provisions for water management practices and water waste prevention for existing landscapes; among other goals. It applies only to new single-family residences with outside areas larger than 2,500 square feet or to existing single-family homes with a landscaped area of more than 5,000 square feet.

Who Are the Top Purchasers of Green Power?

Of the Fortune 500 companies participating in the EPA’s Green Power Partnership, a voluntary program that supports the organizational procurement of green power such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and low-impact hydro, the top five purchasers of green power are Intel Corp., Kohl’s Department Stores, PepsiCo, Whole Foods Market, and Dell. The combined green power purchases of all the participating organizations amounts to more than 9 billion kilowatt-hours of green power annually, which is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power more than 847,000 average American homes each year.

Tampa to Revisit Toilet to Tap Idea

According to the Tampa Tribune, a city councilman has proposed the building of a new treatment plant to purify effluent to drinkable quality and then inject it into the ground before it flows into the Hillsborough River, the city's primary source of drinking water. Currently, the city’s reclaimed water is treated enough for agriculture purposes, but not for drinking.