February 2021

Disclaimer Note

Chapters are not authorized to speak for the Society.

Back to top

This Month's Meeting

Back to top

President's Report

I think it’s really hitting me, what I’ll call “COVID-depression”.  At the end of February last year my employment status changed to unemployed. Before I was able to find another job, the pandemic took hold of Utah and just like that all employment opportunities in our field dried up for a significant length of time.  With nothing to do besides sit home and watch TV, my normal daily routines slowly changed, and I would stay up later and later which lead to sleeping in later and later.  I found another job in July and have been happy here since.  It was great to get back to a routine, but thanks to COVID, I only leave the house for work, groceries and drive-thru or pick-up restaurants.  I really miss our in-person ASPE meetings, even the board meetings! I miss going to a bar to watch football with friends. I miss going out to a restaurant to eat. Now I can do some of these, when a weigh the risks against the rewards, it just isn’t worth it to me.  Our virtual meetings are a great option for the time being, but they just aren’t enough. I miss seeing you each month.  I wish I could snap may fingers and have COVID disappear. 

But there is hope, recently it was reported, the Utah Department of Health said that 80% of adults in this state could be fully vaccinated by the end of June.  While this in no guarantee, it sounds like we can be playing in a golf tournament this summer, which really lifts my spirits!  There is light at the end of the tunnel, we are almost there just a little longer.

Back to top

Special Announcement

Back to top

VP Legislative Article

I’m a big fan of short and sweet.  Hope everyone is well.  Nick says I have to write an article.  Not much to say.  I’m looking forward to spring.  I like chocolate.

Back to top

Special Announcement

Back to top

VP Membership Article

As we meet as a board many ideas are brought up regarding future technical presentations and activities. I look forward to the time when we can once again meet in person for our monthly technical meetings. As time goes by, it seems that a Golf Tournament will be more likely. What are your thoughts? Let us know if you have any ideas or recommendations on things you like our chapter to be involved with.

As the winter months pass by, it is important that we stay engaged in activities that will help us release stress and help us stay physically and mentally healthy. I have recently found out that mountain biking during the winter months is a very enjoyable activity as long as you’re wearing enough layers. You may feel a little cold at the beginning, but after just a couple of minutes of pedaling, the cold is no longer an issue.

Back to top

Affiliate Liaison Article

As the Covid-19 outbreak shows signs of slowing and we start to get back to work and school and life we might be looking at new issues with water quality as we look to reopen buildings.  I have included several links and information to help you support our building owners recommission their systems.

Ensuring Building Safety Post COVID-19

As a result of building closings due to COVID-19, there is now an additional risk to consider when reopening dormant buildings with stagnant water systems. Several weeks of zero flow and tempered water can result in an increased risk of Legionella, microbiological growth, leeching heavy metals, and increased corrosion within our plumbing systems. Navigate the reopening process for optimal levels of safety and efficiency with digital resources developed by our water quality experts.

Best Practices for Water Quality Post COVID-19 (watts.com)

wp-p-key-considerations-for-opening-a-building-post-covid-19 (watts.com)

pf-2020-opensafe-checklists-waterquality (watts.com)

Hoping this helps you when you get the phone calls to assist in recommissioning buildings from the Covid shut down.

I look forward to the day to seeing you all in person once again.

Be safe and healthy.

Scott

Back to top

Special Announcement

Back to top

AYP Article

Hello my AYP Friends,

It is a new year with new opportunities to learn new skills. A great way to obtain new leadership skills is to register for the new AYP three-part leadership webinar. The International AYP (ASPE Young Professionals) division is offering a new three-part webinar series on leadership and conflict resolution.

“AYP is proud to present a new three-part webinar series that includes interactive learning and seeks to create confidence in the use of conflict resolution tools. Each webinar will increase the participant's knowledge and confidence in how to resolve conflict and seek opportunities within the situation. This series is catered to the young professional but any engineer or designer at any stage in their career will find use in this series. You can register for the series or individual on-demand webinars. This series does not award any CEUs and is FREE for ASPE members.”

 Testimonials:

"The Leadership Development Series (presented by AYP) was an incredibly useful learning opportunity for those folks who are preparing to step into leadership, or already are in leadership.  One thing that stuck with me was the examples that Christina went through on friction points and looking at friction points as opportunities has really been helpful as I am working through scheduling challenges for my team."  - Christoph Lohr, P.E., CPD, LEED AP BD+C, ASSE 6020, Phoenix Chapter, Society AYP Liaison to the Board of Directors.

If you are interested in this webinar, please follow the link below for more information.

https://education.aspe.org/products/leadership-development-series-presented-by-aspe-young-professionals-ayp

Happy Leading,

Dallan

Back to top

Special Announcements

Back to top

Education Chair

For the past 11 months like all of you I have been homebound.  For me this is a massive change as I used to be on the road every other month visiting the states within ASPE Region 4.  My goal as ASPE Region 4 Affiliate Liaison was to visit each ASPE chapter once a year.  Other chapters were visited more often. I enjoyed visiting chapters as I like to see what they do differently, what makes each chapter a success.   I looked at this to help the Region 4 Director as they often were not able to visit the chapters.

I wrote about this when I was Vice President Technical of the Orange County chapter.  I wrote that I like to look for things done differently, whether it was how the Phoenix chapter made a nicer appreciation plaque for the person doing the technical presentation or how the Denver chapter would have a fun speaker each December, with a nice Turkey dinner and pie.  I would then take that information and share it with other chapters when I attended their board meeting or chapter meeting. 

However, in the last year I have not been able to do that, to witness that as many of the old customs had to be eliminated when we moved to a virtual world.  One of the most noticeable things I have noticed is how there are a few manufacturers doing most of the webinars.  In the old days, when we did in person meetings this was not an issue.  If you only attended one meeting, then your chance of seeing that presentation again was almost zero.  In the virtual world, all you have to do is log onto the education page for ASPE and you can “attend” another chapter meeting and see a presentation multiple-times.

Here at the Intermountain Chapter of ASPE we will have Peter Kraut of SCEG in Calabasas, CA doing the third and final part of his presentation on commercial kitchen design.  We hope that you can join us.

For next month we are working on several different presentations.  Options are:

• Having an inspector talk about issues at plan submittal
• Booster Pumps
• Efficient Toilets
• Balancing valves
• Radiant and Snow Melt
• Swimming pool/water feature design

If there is a certain subject which you are interested in, please let us know.

Thank you,

Kurt Bramstedt

Education Chair – ASPE Intermountain

Back to top