Industry Report Has Contractors Seeing Green

By Jennifer Rice, Staff Writer of Fox Valley Labor News

Looking ahead to next year, publisher and editor of Plumbing & Mechanical magazine Bob Miodonski said plumbing contractors should look to building green as a way to breathe some life back into their businesses.

In addressing a group of contractors at the Plumbing and Mechanical Contractors Authority of Northern Illinois (PAMCANI) two-day conference last weekend in Downers Grove, Miodonski said the nation's environmental climate is becoming a business problem.

"Companies are taking it upon themselves to incorporate their green initiatives into their business strategies," Miodonski explained. "Many businesses are starting to implement greenhouse gas reduction on their own," he added.

Many businesses are looking at Walmart's green initiatives and are trying to model their company after it. Miodonski said Walmart is making its suppliers show how green they are. "Walmart wants to make its supply chain more efficient, which will help it lower its prices and be more competitive," he said.

Other businesses taking the green initiative and building green are Kohl's, Nike, Ford Motor Company and Hewlett-Packard.

For contractors, Miodonski said you have to ask yourself if going green would help your company's image and save your company money by lowering fuel, energy and water costs. Most of the time, he said the answer would be, "Yes."

"Green business strategies benefit companies by lowering utilities cost, reducing the carbon footprint, boosting employee morale and reducing risk associated with future spikes in energy prices," Miodonski said.

He predicts that as businesses become more green and energy efficient, they will become more competitive, asking contractors to help them go green and reach their goals. "If some of your customers have a green building project, I think the stimulus dollars will help them," he added.

Miodonski believes the plumbing industry will see an increase in attention paid to clean water, and it won't be only for developing countries, but also the U.S. It is predicted that by 2030 there will be drought-like conditions in the Midwest.

Starting in January 2011, a 2009 International Residential Code requires fire sprinklers for all townhouses built in the 2009 codes. It also will require fire sprinklers in all single-family homes and duplexes. Before this rule takes affect, the code has to be adopted by a local code authority and put into the building code. Long Grove is the first village in the area to require sprinklers in new home construction. Downstate Urbana also has adopted the code.

Miodonski is an advocate for residential sprinklers. As a former newspaper reporter, he saw firsthand the damage and destruction fire does to residential buildings. "I think fire sprinklers in houses just make sense. I've been an advocate for a long time," he said.

Since the code has been announced, builders have lobbied state and local officials to have the code implementation delayed or scrapped altogether. "Builders say the sprinklers will cost too much money at a time when the home building industry is clearly suffering," Miodonski said.

On the flip side, sprinkler advocates say the builders' estimates on the cost of installing sprinklers in homes are inflated. "They are arguing the fact that [sprinklers] do save lives and reduce property damage," Miodonski added.

What needs to be sorted out is who will install the residential sprinkler systems in the new homes. It could be fire sprinkler contractors installing stand alone systems or it could be plumbing contractors who are installing multi-purpose systems that will combine plumbing and sprinklers.

In the end, the installation of residential sprinklers may be a moot point unless the economy picks up. "With new home construction down so much, I don't see decisions having to be made just yet on who will install the sprinklers," Miodonski said. "And the economy may just force some commercial sprinkler contractors to add residential sprinklers to their business plans and it will lead some plumbing contractors to expand their services to include sprinklers."

Installations of residential fire sprinklers will be tied to whether or not new home construction increases. Good news for the economy predicts 2011 will be better than 2010 and we there won't be a double-dip recession. The bad news is economists predict the recovery will be slow and the housing market will continue to be sluggish. Jobs will come from renovations, not from new construction.

Miodonski said stimulus money will make a difference in some building categories and will significantly help moderate the downturn. "The recovery may not be around the corner, but we certainly seem to be on the road," Miodonski said.

When making plans for your business, he stressed for contractors to not be afraid to change their plan, as certain circumstances change. "Contractors around the country who have been doing good have been willing to change, have been willing to be flexible," he explained.

Economists' forecast for 2011 predicts residential spending will grow between 5 and 10 percent and total construction spending is expected to grow between 3 and 7 percent.

Photo by Achim Hering courtesy
Starting on Jan. 1, 2011, residential sprinklers like this one will be required in all newly constructed single family homes and duplexes.

This article originally appeared in the Fox Valley Labor News