ASPE Grassroots Budget Meeting Will Be Held This Saturday

All chapter officers and members are welcome to attend either in person or online via webcast. Call Jinnie Yoo at 847-296-0002 to register.

Increase Your Chances of Passing the CPD Exam by Taking the CPD Review Webinar Series

During this four-part series, presenter David DeBord will discuss the design methods and calculations that will appear on this year’s CPD Exam. The one-hour webinars will be held March 23, March 30, April 6, and April 13 at 1 p.m. CST. If you sign up for the entire series, you will receive a free CPD Review Manual and one free practice test. (To receive the manual in time for the first webinar, register by March 16.)

Did You Know that CPDs Typically Earn More than non-CPDs?

Don’t miss your chance to take the 2010 CPD Exam at one of 200 testing sites throughout the U.S. and Canada, April 16 or 17. The deadline to register is next Friday (March 19). 

Stock Your Professional Library with ASPE’s Blowout Publication Sale

Watch your mailbox for a special advertisement about our publication liquidation sale. Many volumes are half price, and the more you order, the more you save.

ASPE College of Fellows Nominations Are Due March 31

The nomination forms and more information about the College can be found here.

2010 ASPE CONVENTION AND ENGINEERED PLUMBING EXPOSITION

What Do You Mean Green?

To maintain our status as an innovative leader in the plumbing industry, ASPE is eliminating much of the paper handed out at the 2010 Convention. How much? We plan to cut paper by 80 percent or more to eliminate waste.

How Can You Win a Piece of the Prize?

Attend the 2010 Convention, play ASPE Poker, and walk away a winner!

Some lucky attendees may win up to $1,000 on the spot. The best part is that everyone who plays wins. Also, one laptop will be given away on the EPE floor every 15 minutes. That’s almost 40 chances to win!

Help Ring in ASPE’s Future

Want to help shape ASPE’s future? At the 2010 Convention, the delegates will elect the 2010–2012 ASPE board of directors. Now is your chance to run for national office. Click here for more information and the required forms. Want to be a delegate? Let your chapter officer know today.

Show Off 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.

EDUCATIONAL AND NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES

March 13:  Dallas-area CPD Review Classes Start

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 Larry Bartlett for more information.

April 7: Cleveland Wastewater Treatment Plant Tour

ASPE’s Cleveland Chapter will be touring the Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant in Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio from 9–11 a.m. Contact John Vargato RSVP by April 2.

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 4:30–8:30 p.m. Technical seminars offering CEUs will be held all day. Pre-register at aspe-houston.com and get three extra door prize tickets.

NEW! Portland Product Show Being Held April 14

The ASPE and ASSE Portland chapters are holding a Product Fair at George Morlan Plumbing. Contact Chris Scott for more information.

April 14: Northern California Trade Show and Seminars

ASPE’s Northern California Chapter and PHCC’s Sacramento Valley Chapter are holding this event at the Scottish Rite Center in Sacramento, California. The free tradeshow runs from 3–7 p.m., and the seminars ($50 for both) are at 1 and 3 p.m. Click here for more information.

April 15: Chicago Product Show

ASPE’s Chicago Chapter will be holding its annual Product Show with more than 90 exhibits at the White Eagle in Niles, Illinois, from 3:30–8 p.m. Technical seminars offering CEUs will start at 11:30 a.m. Contact Frank Sanchez for more information or go to aspe.org/Chicago for free show tickets.

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 John Jung Memorial Scholarship, given to a worthy local engineering student. Contact David Goodellfor participation and/or sponsorship information.

NEW! New Jersey Golf Outing Being Held May 6

ASPE's New Jersey Chapter's annual golf outing will be held at The Architects Golf Club in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. All teams that register as Platinum Sponsors will be entered in the Corporate Challenge. The team that finishes with the lowest net (Calloway) score will be crowned the Tournament Champion and receive the coveted Maloney & Curcio-PVI Perpetual Cup. Contact Fred Holzapfel for more 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.

NEW! Denver Golf Outing Being Held May 21

ASPE’s Denver Chapter is holding its annual outing at Eagle Trace Golf Club in Broomfield, Colorado. Hole sponsorships are available. Contact Tim Butts (720-217-8771) for more information.

June 4: Raleigh Golf Tournament

ASPE’s Raleigh Chapter is holding this fundraising event at Riverwood Golf Course in Clayton, North Carolina. For more information, contact Scott Sansbury.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Next Week Is Fix a Leak Week

EPA WaterSense is promoting Fix a Leak Week from March 15–21 to remind Americans to check their plumbing fixtures and irrigation systems for leaks since an American home can waste, on average, more than 10,000 gallons of water every year due to running toilets, dripping faucets, and other household leaks. At the Fix a Leak Week website, you can find more information on events and programs across the country, how U.S. citizens use water, and conservation measures to save water and lower utilities bills.

World Water Day Is March 22

The theme of this year’s campaign is “Clean Water for a Healthy World.” The overall goal is to raise the profile of water quality at the political level so that water quality considerations are made alongside those of water quantity. You can find more information about this international observance at worldwaterday.org.

NFPA Moves to Strengthen National Fuel Gas Code

At its February meeting, the NFPA National Fuel Gas Code Committee moved to strengthen safety requirements for gas purging in NFPA 54: National Fuel Gas Code. The committee initiated a Tentative Interim Amendmentto change the current edition of the code on an emergency basis. The proposed change requires the discharge of gas purging to be directed outdoors and identifies other specific requirements: the point of discharge shall be controlled with a shutoff valve; the discharge point shall be at least 10 feet from sources of ignition, located a minimum of 10 feet from building openings and a minimum of 25 feet from mechanical air intake openings; during discharge, the open discharge point shall be continuously attended and monitored with a combustible gas indicator; purging operations introducing fuel gas shall be stopped when 90 percent fuel gas by volume is detected within the pipe at the point of discharge; and all persons not involved in the purging operations shall be evacuated from the area within 25 feet of the point of discharge.

USGBC Names Top 10 Green Building Bills

The USGBC Top 10 Pieces of Green Building Legislation honors The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and spotlights nine other pending bills in the House and 10 in the Senate that represent the best proposals to advance green building. It includes bills that would enable innovative financing for homeowners and building owners to make efficiency improvements, increase and extend incentives for improving our schools and existing building stock, and encourage job growth and training in new fields of building energy management and retrofits.

Building Star Initiative Introduced in Senate

Last Thursday, Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon introduced the Building STAR Energy Efficiency Rebate Act of 2010, a bill designed to jumpstart manufacturing and job creation in the construction trades by offering incentives for energy-efficient retrofits of existing buildings. The bill’s goals are to create 25,000 jobs for every $1 billion of federal investment, leverage $2-3 in private investment for every federal dollar spent, provide direct benefits to thousands of small businesses, including the 91percent of commercial contractors that have fewer than 20 employees, and deliver real energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

Supreme Court Rulings Put Major Water Polluters Out of Clean Water Act’s Reach

According to a New York Times article, thousands of the nation’s largest water polluters are outside the Clean Water Act’s reach because the Supreme Court has left uncertain which waterways are protected by that law, according to interviews with regulators.

Tampa Bay Desal Plant Achieves Major Goals

The Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Facility is getting $31.25 million from the Southwest Florida Water Management District after achieving goals in water treatment: produce 25 million gallons of water a day for 120 days in a row and produce an average of 20 million gallons of water per day over a 12-month period. When the plant produces 25 million gallons of water a day, it is capable of providing 10 percent of the Tampa Bay area’s potable water needs.

Can a Disposable Toilet Help Grow Crops?

An architect and professor in Stockholm, Sweden, has invented the Peepoo, a bag designed to convert waste into fertilizer while destroying disease-producing pathogens found in feces. The biodegradable plastic bag acts as a single-use toilet that, once used, can be buried, and a layer of urea crystals breaks down the waste into fertilizer. The inventor plans on selling the bags for 2 or 3 cents each.

Vote on Your Favorite Watershed Protection Project

MillerCoors and River Network have joined together to award $50,000 in grants to support watershed protection programs. Among the eight finalists for the grant are a storm water treatment system to protect the Great Miami River Buried Valley Aquifer in Butler County, Ohio, and a multipart plan to reduce nutrient runoff into the Ouachita River and ultimately reduce the nutrient overload and Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Read about the projects here.