A green revolution
From manufacturers and distributors to retail stores and construction and service professionals, all members of the pool and spa industry can work together to build a robust, energy-efficient, sustainable future. Each link in the chain influences the others. Greening together is a golden opportunity, not only for a sustainable environment but also to ensure the industry has an even brighter future.
The author invites to the reader to comment through an online threaded discussion. What are some of the methods you, as a pool professional, have implemented in your own businesses to achieve a successful sustainability strategy? What are some areas you feel should be the initial focus on achieving sustainability? You can e-mail your experiences, thoughts and suggestions on how to implement a strong sustainability strategy to ccentrella@keiseruniversity.edu.
| WATCH OUT FOR ‘GREENWASHING’ |
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 Pool and spa professionals need to be sure the message they send to their customers is based on proven facts. Greenwashing—a deceptive practice that works to promote products as ‘green’ without the evidence to back it up—doesn’t sit well with educated consumers. Professionals must always be honest and provide authentic products with quantifiable energy usage. Thankfully, there are readily available tools to tell the true story.Pool pump and motor manufacturers are providing energy-savings calculators to demonstrate the immediate and long-term results that come from changing over to energy-efficient products. The same holds true with heating technologies. Comparison charts are now accessible online; customers can easily and quickly assess their future savings when doing a retrofit. Ultimately, consumers are most interested in the payback period—the time it takes to recoup their initial investment in the newer technologies through energy savings. When discussing these figures, be honest and transparent. |
Connie Gibson Centrella, MBA, is professor and program director for the online Aquatic Engineering Degree Program at Keiser University eCampus, as well as director of education for Team Horner and a member of the National Swimming Pool Foundation (NSPF) Education Committee. She is also a sustainability officer, having been certified in the principles of green and sustainable business practices. Centrella, five-time recipient of the Evelyn C. Keiser Teaching Excellence Award, is celebrating more than 40 years in the pool and spa industry.
