Transcript:

Christoph Lohr: Welcome to The Authority Podcast: Plumbing and Mechanical. When talking about the built environment, we would do well to remember: We shape our buildings, and afterwards, our buildings shape us. Therefore, on each episode, we’ll discuss the latest trends from IAPMO in plumbing and mechanical safety, sustainability and resiliency. Join me, your host, Christoph Lohr Christoph Lohr, and together we’ll explore the ways we can make our buildings shape us for the better.

Christoph Lohr: Welcome back to The Authority Podcast: Plumbing and Mechanical. I’m your host, Christoph Lohr Christoph Lohr. And joining me this week is Sara Gutterman, chief executive officer of Green Builder Media. Welcome to the show, Sara.

Sara Gutterman: Thank you so much, Christoph Lohr. It's a pleasure to be here.

Christoph Lohr: It’s an absolute pleasure to have you here. This week, we’re going to be talking about a panel which, actually, Sara, you’re going to be moderating and I’m going to be participating on, at KBIS, the premier trade show for the kitchen and industry. And the name of the panel is Drops of Impact. I’m really excited to get a chance to talk about a little bit about that and then some other questions here. But really excited to meet you in person there, Sara.

Sara Gutterman: Well, thank you, Christoph Lohr. We have that most respect for IAPMO and all of the work that you do, so again, it’s very much a pleasure to be here with you today.

Christoph Lohr: Likewise. Likewise. Well, tell us first and our listeners, in case they’re not familiar, with Green Builder Media.

Sara Gutterman: Sure. Green Builder Media is North America's leading media company focused on green building and sustainable living. We do a lot of different things, starting with our media and communications channels. We also do demonstration projects, live and virtual events. And last but not least, we have a really cool suite of market intelligence and data services that we call cognition smart data.

Christoph Lohr: Excellent. Now, obviously, Green Builder, you guys put out a lot of of written work as well. And four years ago you wrote this really amazing piece I think that we’ll link in the show notes called, you talked about how water is the most pressing issue of our time. You noted in there one of the threats to our water systems as weak governance.

What steps should jurisdictions be taking to encourage smarter water use?

Sara Gutterman: Indeed. So I want to emphasize again, water is absolutely the most urgent and important challenge that we need to solve for right now. We’ve kind of already solved for energy, but we really need to get very innovative about water. And with respect to municipalities, let’s be honest — anyone in municipalities and in the building industry, for that matter, should have water as their top area of focus right now because it has the potential to become the chief limiting factor to growth.

If there’s no water there are no permits, right? And if we look at some of the fastest new home markets, excuse me, some of the fastest-growing residential markets in the country, they are areas that are extremely stressed with respect to water sources. There’s been a huge population shift from the north to the south and into arid regions and the Sunbelt and southwestern part of the country.

And there isn’t, there is major water availability issues. We’re of course also seeing water quality issues across the country in different municipalities. So I think that with respect to what municipalities should be thinking about and doing, first and foremost, I am an advocate for — and some of my builder friends will probably cringe at me saying this — but I very much believe that we should have net-zero water impact plans that are required when builders and developers go in to get their entitlements and their permits for new projects and communities.

I believe that it’s really important to show innovative thinking around water. We are also seeing municipalities increase water tap fees, or utilities increase water tap fees, and just charge for water appropriately. I think water has been highly subsidized in the past and I think that ultimately ends up being to our detriment because people just think water just comes out of the tap, and it doesn’t.

So I think that we should see smart growth and zoning plans for municipalities — again, effective and appropriate water pricing. I’d like to see more water offset programs, water rating programs. We are starting to see water-related moratoriums, like, for example, in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area. We’ve even seen it in places like Bainbridge Island near Seattle. It’s an island; you wouldn't think that they would have water problems, but they had a building moratorium because of water shortages.

So I think that regulations and codes have to play a pivotal part in solving for our water availability and quality challenges moving forward.

Christoph Lohr: What I think really is impactful about what you’re saying, Sara, and really struck me — especially considering that you wrote this four years ago and you just mentioned it — I live in Phoenix, Arizona, and the part of the moratorium here in the Phoenix Metro Area, that’s the 100-year groundwater supply rule, I think that you're mentioning.

And like you said, there’s a moratorium on new developments because we don’t have that 100-year supply. I think you’re completely spot on and I think very prescient in that article because that just happened this last year. So three years ahead of time, you’re kind of noting some of these things. With that having been an article four years ago, I also enjoyed a thought-provoking piece which you recently published, which we’ll also put in the show notes, about changing the way we talk about climate impacts.

So what do you think our industry does well about educating consumers about the living spaces, and where do you think we could do better?

Sara Gutterman: Christoph, that is a question that I could probably a question that I could probably take three days to answer. I won’t, given that we have a much shorter time frame for this podcast. I think that our industry is doing OK with respect to energy. I think a lot of builders and manufacturers and building professionals have kind of gotten on board with respect to energy efficiency, net-zero energy and electrification even, and I think that there’s a lot of innovation and a lot of response to consumer demand and the environmental urgency. And now particularly with Inflation Reduction Act funding and some of the rebates and incentives that are being offered, not just by the IRA but also utilities and municipalities, there’s a lot of pull through on the energy side. And then I think COVID brought healthy home to the forefront of our national dialogue because just like the 2008 recession was in some ways the best thing that happened to energy efficiency because it made everybody super cognizant of their energy bills, COVID obviously made us extremely aware of health and wellness inside of our home, and frankly we were told for a couple of years that our home was our sanctuary and the safest place that we could be, so it really evolved the conversation around healthy home. So I think we’re making strides with respect to healthy home, but again water I think is still lagging behind with respect to awareness and adoption of innovative technologies. There are simple low-hanging fruit — low-flow faucets and fixtures and toilets — but also whole-home water filtration and purification systems; gray water systems where appropriate. Even now some of the innovations like atmospheric generators that pull water out of the air for potable water, again, in certain applications. They’re making a lot of advancements in those innovative product categories and areas, and I think our industry, frankly, can and should do a better job of listening, of educating ourselves, of educating consumers, because of the urgency of the water issue.

Christoph Lohr: Again, I think you’re hitting on a point in terms of talking about this more. And one of the things, just as you were talking about sort of the oversight of water systems that’s out there, it reminds me of a study that was recently done by a media outlet that talked about the various smart building technology adaptations, mostly in commercial spaces, but I think it includes some multi-family residential.

And interestingly enough, HVAC and electrical systems had the highest smart building technology adaptation — 60% in many cases. Plumbing was the lowest one on the list; lower than irrigation, actually, in many respects, save for health care facilities. I think your point is spot on. We see it out there. The data is out there showing us that that we’re not thinking about it, and as you mentioned before, we really need to because it is having an impact and if we’re not being smart about it, it is going to impact a lot of things in terms of what we’re even able to build. With all of that then, obviously you were selected as the moderator for our KBIS panel called Drops of Impact.

Christoph Lohr: What do you hope will be the impact on the audience of kitchen and bath designers from our Drops of Impact session?

Sara Gutterman: Yes, I think that I would like for the attendees to walk away with a better understanding of, one, just the urgency of the water topic — again, both availability and quality — and two, ideas that they can implement in their day-to-day interactions with their customers, whether those are builders and developers, or homeowners and homebuyers. Because there is some very low-hanging-fruit opportunity for us to seize to make some pretty big strides in the water arena.

And actually you alluded to two really important ones that I hadn't mentioned earlier. One is water monitoring and leak detection devices like Flo by Moen and Phyn. And we’re actually seeing a fair amount of interest in, and adoption of, those types of systems, partly for water management, but really more so for enhanced resiliency. Especially with respect to leaks and flooding and mitigating risk around water damage.

So I think that those are really important systems to implement and frankly, not that expensive. The other one that you alluded to is smart irrigation, using products like Rachio that sense soil moisture and temperature and weather conditions, and can reduce outdoor water use, which we all know is a big water user in homes for landscaping.

I think those are some simple, easy and again, cost-effective, not-very-pricey solutions that designers can recommend, again either to builders or homeowners and homebuyers — depending on who their clients are — in order to significantly increase water conservation in homes.

Christoph Lohr: That's a great point, Sara, and actually in the notes for our podcast we’ll also include a link to the free-to-view IAPMO standard on leak detection and smart metering devices that is out there. Because that's a great point; that’s one of the simple ways that designers could really easily find ways to minimize leakage. I think there’s, EPA did a study, it’s like 10,000 gallons per year per home from just toilet leaking. Obviously, that’s not in the kitchen, but obviously leaks are something that we want to impact because a very small leak can take up and use a lot of water and in not an efficient way.

My question to wrap things up: You mentioned you had three days’ worth of talking about content, and I would absolutely love to have you back on the podcast, Sara. The next time we have you back on the podcast, what will you be talking about?

Sara Gutterman: I think that I’d like to get a little bit further into the weeds with respect to water innovations, the impact that those have in terms of, again, either conservation or enhancing water quality. So maybe talking about some specific product categories and looking at maybe a cost-benefit analysis for those. Again, I know this is a short podcast so probably can’t get too much into the weeds, but then also maybe some more advanced products like structured plumbing systems; you know well that those also have a big impact, but they’re not quite as easy, low-hanging fruit, say for designers; you’ve got to get builders and the right contractors’ heads wrapped around that.

So maybe just kind of taking this conversation to the next level in terms of understanding really high-impact products and solutions that can be specified for homes and communities and buildings.

Christoph Lohr: Sara, normally our podcasts are a little bit short, but maybe we have to do a special episode and do a deep dive into that; I think that’d be a fantastic conversation. We’ll have to definitely look into that and find a way to make that happen. I love that idea.

Sara Gutterman: All right. Wonderful, Christoph. Well, thank you so much.

Christoph Lohr: Thank you. Well, for our listeners, if they want to get in touch with you or Green Builder Media, what’s the best way for them to get in touch with you?

Sara Gutterman: Our website is greenbuildermedia.com, and my email address is the best way to get in touch with me, sara.gutterman@greenbuildermedia.com.

Christoph Lohr: Excellent. Well, on behalf of The Authority Podcast: Plumbing and Mechanical and IAPMO, I just want to say, Sara, it was an absolute pleasure to have you on the podcast with me today and looking forward to a conversation and doing a deep dive sometime in the near future.

Sara Gutterman: Absolutely, Christoph Lohr. I look forward to that as well.

Christoph Lohr: Thanks for joining us on this week’s episode of The Authority Podcast: Plumbing and Mechanical. Love this episode of the podcast. Head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate and leave a review. Please follow us on Twitter @AuthorityPM, on Instagram at The Authority Podcast or email us at iapmo@iapmo.org. Join us next time for another episode of The Authority Podcast: Plumbing and Mechanical.

In the meantime, let’s work together to make our buildings more resilient and shape us for the better.