Jaipur, India – The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO), the Confederation of Indian Industry-Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) and the Indian Plumbing Association (IPA) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the goal of implementing the Water Efficient Products — India (WEP-I) 2017 standard in India.
As a result of the MoU, the IGBC will adopt the WEP-I 2017 standard for green product certification for plumbing products, considering an Indian context. The three organizations agree to work together on the following areas:
• Use of WEP-I 2017 for plumbing products for India, implementing green measures for the entire life cycle of the products, including the design, manufacturing process, product use and end-of life management.
• Recognition of WEP-I 2017 for plumbing products in IGBC and GreenPro — Green certification rating systems.
• IGBC and IPA endorsement of IAPMO’s testing and certification within India for plumbing and water treatment products, ensuring water conservation, energy efficiency and performance targets are met in accordance with WEP-I 2017 requirements.
• IGBC and IPA recognition of IAPMO India as a third-party inspection body for assessing the sustainability of IGBC-approved green projects.
• Identifying new avenues to further IGBC’s green footprint throughout the plumbing industry.
• Participating in and supporting each other’s events without any financial commitments; conducting joint events; and creating opportunities to enhance networking among the groups’ members.
The MoU was signed Oct. 5 by IAPMO CEO GP Russ Chaney; IPA National President Gurmit Singh Arora; and V. Suresh, Director of Advocacy for the IGBC, at the Green Building Congress in Jaipur.
The MoU is valid for three years, and may be renewed for an additional three years.
“IAPMO has had a 10-year partnership with the Indian Plumbing Association and a very good working relationship with the Indian Green Building Council,” IAPMO Group CEO GP Russ Chaney said, “so this MoU serves to strengthen those relationships by providing IAPMO India’s Water Efficiency Products – India program as the baseline for the IGBC’s green rating schemes that serve to enhance the energy and water use efficiency of new buildings being constructed throughout all of India.”
Dr. Prem Jain, Chairman of the IGBC, said the organizations will work together to protect the water supply for future generations. “India is facing a grave crisis of acute shortage of domestic water,” he said. “Over the last 60 years since the industrial revolution came to India, our rivers, water bodies and even underground water reserves have gotten heavily polluted from chemical waste. The CII-IGBC, a nonprofit organization founded in 2001, has been actively pursuing restoration of water resources and conservation of domestic water. The IPA and IAPMO have been our esteemed partners in developing and training our engineers and work force in green plumbing practices, and also providing testing and rating of locally manufactured plumbing fixtures and fittings. Together we will ensure that our younger generations, and generations not yet born, enjoy the abundance of safe and clean domestic water and bounties of our natural resources.”
IPA National President Gurmit Singh Arora said the MoU would play a key role in saving valuable resources. “I am delighted at the acceptance of the Water Efficient Products India 2017 code by the CII-IGBC for all its 21 ratings being prescribed for Green Project Ratings today,” he said. “This will universally help IPA in achieving its goals of saving precious water, without compromising on the comfort of the user. CII-IGBC, with a green footprint of 4.65 billion square feet and 92 percent market share in India — aspiring to touch 10 billion square feet by 2022 — will help in achieving this goal in saving billions of liters of water.”
Last modified: November 6, 2017