Local Company Receives “Green Building” Accreditation
Posted June 16, 2009
Mike Thompson, the Representative for the United States 1st District, is known for his environmental stewardship in Northern California. His interest was underscored again when he recently paid a special visit to the Maples plumbing company to celebrate Dale Maples becoming an accredited LEED plumbing & heating contractor.
Dale Maples, co-owner of Mapleservice and Wayne Maples Plumbing & Heating, has been certified by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) as a LEED Accredited Professional (known as an LEED AP). LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. This organization sets the standards for a Green Building Rating System based on existing proven technology. LEED Accredited Professionals evaluate the environmental performance from a whole building perspective over a building’s life cycle, which provides a definitive standard for what constitutes a “green building”.
LEED is organized into five environmental categories: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials & Resources, and Indoor Environmental Quality. These five categories constitute a measurement system for new and existing commercial, institutional and residential buildings. “Of course, as a plumbing & heating contractor our offers are specific to Water Efficiency and Energy & Atmosphere”, Maples says. He also stated that “in this ever emerging green market we wanted to acquire the knowledge and skill to help our customers with green solutions that make sense”.
To become a LEED Accredited Professional, Dale Maples successfully passed the LEED Accreditation examination. Preparation for the exam required attendance and study offered and administered by the USGBC. The workshops included details, calculations, case studies and documentation examples required to achieve all five environmental categories. Maples said he “studied for nearly 100 hours, often right alongside his school age children at the kitchen table in preparation for the exam.”
Soon, Dale and Rodney Maples will be attending the USGBC’s 2009 Greenbuild International Conference in November. This year’s theme will be specific to residential water efficiency and energy & atmosphere. “Like so many of our customers, we value environmentally sound building methods and we pride ourselves in continuing to set the standard in this field. Our goal is to ensure our customers are on the cutting edge of new technology”, said Dale Maples.
