The sustainable home design field has a powerful ally in the plumbing profession. The plumbing trade can create high-performance home systems that use significantly less water than comparable systems do. The fixtures that plumbers install have a large part to play in that reduced performance because they seldom part with the plumbing trades unless they’re low-flow, part of a kind of plumbing relay that nudges water through a home at slightly less than normal pressure. And yet you can lead this horse to water and it won’t want to drink unless it’s also persuaded to stay at home and not wander off, which is where the plumbing trade again plays its inexorable part.
Another area where plumbers contribute to sustainable practices is rainwater harvesting systems. These systems collect and store rainwater for use that doesn't require potable water, like irrigation and toilet flushing. Plumbers are needed for the correct installation and maintenance of these systems if they are to work properly and serve the intended purpose. The thought here is twofold: that using integrated plumbing systems with these new "nontraditional" areas of plumbing will reduce demand for more "traditional" nearby water sources (like your local reservoir or aquifer) and using plumbing systems served by "harvested" rainwater will reduce the demand for stormwater infrastructure (by, you know, not having a stupid amount of water to manage in the next storm).
The design of energy-efficient hot water systems is the responsibility of plumbers. To this end, they recommend using solar water heaters and tankless water heaters to reduce energy consumption. Their next-recommendation strategy is to adequately insulate the piping in a home. This practice is intended to minimize heat loss and, therefore, to reduce the cost of heating the water that then travels through the pipes to various outlets. Their forte seems to be in the energy efficiency of hot water systems. And yet, these next-recommendation strategies are only as sustainable as the maintenance decisions made by the homeowner. Whether the plumbing practices used to install, maintain, or repair a hot water system are negligent or not will make a big difference in how sustainable that system is.
The movement toward sustainable home design depends on a group of professionals who are not often recognized for their roles in this groundbreaking work: plumbers. As part of sustainable home design, "plumbing is possible; we just have to think differently about the way we do it," said Michele F. Gaglio, a plumbing designer with Murphy Co. and a member of ASPE (the American Society of Plumbing Engineers). Gaglio and eco-minded professionals like her are fancying plumbing in new and different ways. At the same time, they are carrying out age-old plumbing practices—faucet installation, pipe maintenance—that in the end lead to the sort of plumbing renovation that makes the sustainable home possible. And that very faucet installation, that very pipe maintenance, is service to a cause.
The increased focus on sustainable home design has created a corresponding push in the plumbing industry to adopt new green technologies. Elwood says continuous professional development is key to understanding these emerging products and the regulations that govern their use. Of even greater importance, however, is that the new sustainable plumbing practices are understood in the context of a whole-house approach. This means that DIYers and professionals alike need to think about what happens when a different kind of plumbing system is installed. To what degree does the greywater system under consideration affect the rainwater harvesting system? Do both systems do what they're supposed to do without overburdening the house's structure or any of the other systems in it? Problems of this nature require collaborations among plumbers, designers, and builders to solve. Once sustainable plumbing practices are sufficiently understood and these practices are installed in new homes, there will be a significant reduction in the use of potable water throughout the plumbing systems in those houses.
The sustainable home design landscape is quickly changing. Sustainable plumbing, however, isn't keeping up. And that's a problem because, with sustainable design inherently comes the necessity for sustainable plumbing systems, leveraging innovative technology to deliver water and energy conservation. That's the broad brush. Now, focus in on the artisans who help achieve that goal: Eco-minded plumbers. What exactly are "eco-minded plumbers"? And what do "eco-minded plumbers" offer to the sustainable home design landscape? More importantly, why does this all matter?
I'm glad you asked. Here are the answers in the roughly consultable format of a Plumbing 101 course.
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In sustainable home design, using water efficiently is a key issue that demands meticulous planning. Plumbers are fundamental to this effort, installing low-flow faucets and showerheads, as well as dual-flush toilets, which together reap big savings. By integrating rainwater harvesting systems with plumbing, these professionals can employ another set of water-saving strategies right within the house. When plumbers work closely with other home designers, they play a pivotal role in making the whole system optically coherent and plumbing-convenient. It is no good if the system is efficient but hard to use.
A large part of a home's energy use can come from heating water, making energy-efficient water heating systems a focal point of sustainable design. Plumbers can implement and advise on the use of tankless water heaters and solar thermal systems, which heat water only when needed, not letting energy go to waste. On the comfort side, smart thermostats help ensure that no energy is used unnecessarily and that any energy that is used goes primarily to maintaining comfort. When we're not in the water, we might be more concerned with energy conservation in the bathrooms, but the average person, especially the average homeowner, can make a significant dent in the carbon footprint by choosing the right water heating system.
Plumbing can be a sustainable practice, especially when the plumbers themselves make conscious decisions. Ensuring that plumbing runs smoothly and lasts as long as possible entails using a combination of sustainable materials and methods. Piping and fixtures made from recycled or sustainably sourced materials can take plumbing several steps closer to net-zero impact. Equally important is how the actual installation is executed. A good plumber minimizes waste, uses what can be reused, and makes sure that what can't be used again is disposed of properly.
Detecting and preventing leaks early are vital in the design of sustainable homes to stop water from going to waste and to keep it from causing damage. Plumbers must ensure that water systems are installed with top-notch fittings and perform all the due diligence in inspections to find and fix potential problems with the water delivery system. Plumbers working in the sustainable home industry take their work a step further in assuring the overall conservation of the home. They use new technologies to protect water systems and to maintain the home, rendering it more sustainable over a longer lifespan.
The sustainable home design movement owes a lot to plumbers, who are essential for the installation of water-efficient systems. Plumbers ensure the not-so-simple task of bringing clean, potable water inside and taking used, non-potable water outside, and they do this with remarkable efficiency when you consider the simultaneously occurring demands of 300 million Americans for water that not only is drinkable, but also is at the right temperature, tasting just the way we like it, and coming from fixtures that look and operate as if they are, and ought to be, the best that modern science and art can accomplish.
The installation and upkeep of plumbing systems that are energy-efficient are indeed within the domain of the plumber's craft. Yet, few people understand the ways in which plumbing can affect their energy use—even though many plumbing professionals have deep knowledge of the topic. Two prime examples of energy use controlled by plumbing are water heaters and the way that hot water travels through a home’s systems. First, consider the water heater. Plumbers are the main professionals in charge of their installation and maintenance. The next layer of energy efficiency that can be built into a home involves the way that water travels through plumbing from the heated part of the system to the fixtures where it is used.
A variety of sustainable materials can be utilized by plumbers in their work, such as PEX piping, which are not metal and therefore have a much lower environmental impact. These sustainable materials are not only durable but also easy to transport—they require less energy to move from point A to point B than metal does. Given that the plumbing system is a kind of lifeline for a home, health and environmental concerns must be taken seriously. Using sustainable materials goes a long way toward accomplishing that.
The role of plumbers in the implementation of water conservation is significant. They install water-efficient fixtures and appliances and can set up systems that capture and repurpose greywater. Used in this way, it can serve for irrigation or for flushing toilets. Plumbers also conduct regular maintenance checks. These are important because checks ensure that there are no leaks. Not having a leak can save an estimated 20,000 gallons of water a year, which is the amount used by the average person to shower.
Pipefitters can devise and implement systems for collecting and conserving rainwater, which can then serve any number of non-drinkable but necessary applications. Such systems consist of catchment areas (roofs will do quite nicely), storage tanks, and supply lines (if one must traverse through sand and gravel to get to the bathroom, one is having all that water piped "the right way"). And if your toilet is anything like mine, it needs some good, reconstituted rainwater to stay in the non-potable game (the personal touch really makes the rain!)
The process of reusing water from sinks, showers, and washing machines for non-drinkable uses is called greywater recycling. To do this, plumbers need to set up separate plumbing systems in the home to not only collect but also treat the greywater, which is then available for safe use in irrigation and toilet flushing. What the separate-system does is allow the plumbing to function safely, so that the pretend greywater in the plumbing doesn't pose a health risk to the humans living in the home and, in doing so, act as a sustainable plumbing design.
Plumbing that is sustainable and efficient can significantly enhance a home's market value by lowering utility costs and appealing to buyers who are conscious of the environment. Homes outfitted with water-efficient fixtures, recycling systems that make use of greywater, and rainwater harvesting systems are seen as much more desirable and sustainable in the long term. These systems make the home both environmentally and economically more appealing. They've also become much more common.
Sustainable plumbing systems are safe because plumbers make them safe. This is not mere coincidence. Plumbers ensure the safety of these systems thanks to their excellent training and great attention to detail. Plumbers are bound by law to follow local building codes and standards. These codes and standards are often quite intricate, and for good reason. They help guarantee that installations of potable (drinkable) water systems are safe and that systems carrying non-potable water (like reclaimed, greywater used for irrigation) are properly separated. Courses and vocational programs help plumbers learn these important safety issues. And of course, in the field, experience teaches them even more.
Often during installations or routine maintenance, plumbers take the opportunity to educate homeowners about the sustainable practices they wish more homeowners would adopt. Among other sustainable plumbing practices, the following are emphasized:- Carefully selecting fixtures and appliances that use substantially less water.- Regularly checking for and expeditiously repairing any leaks.- Using fixture- and appliance-recommended amounts of water to avoid overuse in plumbing systems.- Best-r practices concerning the use of systems like greywater recycling.
Plumbers constantly update their expertise to stay current with the evolving home-design sustainability standards that tend to not only follow the latest fashions but also the latest governmental mandates. And these are the standards most homeowners would like to meet. Like electrical work, plumbing is a tradesman’s science, part art and part workmanship. All plumbing works the same way, from city to city and state to state, because water always flows downhill and obeys the other immutable physical laws—like the one that says, if it doesn’t leak now, it will someday. So should you be a leaky-pipe passivist or a solar-water-heater sun worshipper?
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