Green Plumbing and Mechanical

MCAA Backs Green Initiatives In Congress

The Mechanical Contractors Association of America announced that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) introduced the MCAA/PCA-backed Water Efficiency and Conservation Investment Act (S.1711), co-sponsored by Nevada Senator Ensign, providing tax incentives for water efficient residential retrofits and new construction.

Senator Reid also introduced a companion bill, S. 1712, the Water Efficiency, Conservation and Adaptation Act of 2009, that would authorize the EPA's Water Sense Program. Companion House bills are expected soon.

According to MCAA’s National Update newsletter, the High Performance Building Congressional Caucus Coalition (HPBCCC), in which MCAA is a participant, also announced draft legislation that would improve federal building design, construction and operations contracting and operations procedures. The draft measure would encourage life-cycle costing for federal facility development and require:

Total building commissioning for federal facilities
The use of integrated project design and delivery systems
The use of Building Information Modeling on federal projects
Comprehensive education and training in high-performance building systems for federal facility design, procurement and building operations personnel
Performance tracking of federal facility energy performance

The measure also calls for government agencies to develop (in consultation with professional and industry organizations) curriculums and community college programs for facility management and operation of high-performance buildings, and would require the same level of training and certification of government contractor personnel when those functions are contracted out.

As the proposal moves forward, MCAA says it will seek federal agency recognition of its Green programs and certifications, and encourage outsourcing of federal facility energy audits, commissioning, operations, service and maintenance functions.

Source: MCAA