When his son went to study in Australia, Steve Lehtonen, the executive director of the California PHCC in Sacramento, spent some time online browsing around to try and get an idea of who to talk to should his son need help while down under. That browsing led Lehtonen to the site of the Master Plumbers and Mechanical Services Association of Australia.
                That was all it took.
    “I saw the GreenPlumbers stuff there and I looked through it and literally within a few seconds I thought it was an amazing thing,” Lehtonen said.
    The immediate result—after some discussions with the Aussies--was GreenPlumbers California, a 15-year agreement with the MPMSAA that allows the GreenPlumbers environmental training and accreditation program to be implemented in the United States. This agreement has highlighted the important role the plumbing industry plays in reducing the environmental impact in all aspects of the community.
    Now called GreenPlumbers USA with its own Web site that went live Jan. 21, 2008, the program has become a national training and accreditation program aimed at assisting plumbers in, “understanding their role in the environment and public health.” Within the first four months of classes being offered, GreenPlumbers training became sought-after across the country, and the group currently has workshops scheduled through California, Connecticut, and Kansas, and is in the process of scheduling workshops in Wisconsin, Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, Texas, and Arizona.
    GreenPlumbers training is made up of a five-course regimen of training in both technical and environmental issues, with titles like, “Climate Care,” “Caring for Our Water,” “Solar Hot Water,” “Water Efficient Technology,” and “Inspection Report Service.”
    Accredited “GreenPlumbers” can set themselves apart from their competition by adopting an environmentally-friendly position in their respective markets.
    The goal for 2008 in the United States is to train at least 8,000 “green” plumbers and, Lehtonen said, the group plans to train 15,000 “green” plumbers in California and 40,000 nationally over the next decade.
    Working toward these ends, Lehtonen said the group planned a seven-city “Metro City Challenge” event last month in places including Portland, Denver and Austin: “The idea was to get the GreenPlumbers name out into those cities with people taking the the classes,” he said. “We have to get interest going in those cities in a very short time to get people to those workshops.”

A 'Committed Group'

    The group has also racked up an impressive list of partners, including the EPA’s WaterSense program, California’s Center for Sustainable Energy, the Alliance for Water Efficiency, and manufacturers American Standard and Masco.
    “We urge our newly accredited GreenPlumbers to begin at home--to take the information they have gained through the training and perform a water and energy audit at their own homes,” Lehtonen said. “Only by real life experience can they put their knowledge to work in the field and identify with the conservation concerns of their business and consumer customers. There are quite a few inexpensive fixes for homeowners--newly designed flush valves that stop toilet leaks and reduce sediment build-up, showerheads that shut off when a certain temperature is reached, thereby saving both energy and water until you use it, and on-demand hot water systems. Of course, the new high efficient toilets are rapidly becoming available at reasonable prices, with the capability of saving considerable amounts of water.”
    But what about the possibility that some may attempt to slap a “green” label on a product that isn’t actually water- or energy saving in a disingenuous attempt to cash in on the awareness?
    “Yes, people can, and will, try to take advantage of ‘green’ to promote products or services that are not ‘green’,” Lehtonen said. “We believe there is a tremendous need in the United States right now for people to save both water and energy, and plumbers can have a major role in conservation. There is no reason whatsoever for GreenPlumbers to promote products or services that do not qualify, because we are training plumbers to know the difference.”
    He also said the MPMSAA, owners of the GreenPlumbers trademark and logo, are very serious about the integrity of the brand: “And a failure on our part to protect the conservation mission of the GreenPlumbers organization would constitute a breach of our contract,” he said. “The overlay of a GreenPlumbers licensing system is meant to establish a committed group of companies that agree to train all of their field employees as GreenPlumbers, and uphold the principles of conservation upon which GreenPlumbers was founded.”