BUSI 1092 | The Greening of Business

Final Written Report

Business Name:

D. Peck Plumbing

Submitted by:

Jennifer Dunlop - Consultant

Student No: 0710333
Michelle Ennis - Consultant
Student No: 0708660

Submitted to:

Professor Tanya Wickett

Lawrence Kinlin School of Business
Fanshawe College

Submitted on:

April 9, 2016

Executive Summary
Plumbing has become one of the most wasteful industries (Dunlop Plumbing) Many customers
place pluming under this category of helpless environmental destroyers. At Ennis Dunlop
Environmental Consulting we aim to take on the most challenging of businesses and make them
sustainable and green.
When approaching D.Peck Plumbing it was made apparent that they were in serious need of an
environmental assessment. New business owner Dylan Peck was unaware of the serious
impact his business had in contributing to polluting the environment. His storage facility was in
need of a few minor changes of lighting, and air flow. The most effective way his business could
make a positive impact is in the area of water and environmental consumption.
A simple and effective way to reduce water and environmental consumption is to stop leakage
and recommend that customers upgrade to low-flow plumbing fixtures. By doing this it can also
reduce your energy cost of heating the water.
If D.Peck Plumbing were to implement these greening business practices he would be the first
green-plumber in all of Chatham-Kent and Ridgetown area. This would provide his business
with a large competitive advantage. Many people are becoming increasingly concerned about
reducing their environmental impact, they may prefer to work with a plumbing contractor who
shares the same values.
The cost of turing the business green will be minimal and comparable to other non-green
fixtures. Consultant Jennifer having worked in the plumbing industry for the past 6 years has
see first hand the environmental destruction caused by plumbing and the ways it can be
improved. Consultant Michelle has always been environmental cautious, and is extremely
innovative in finding new ways to improve the most challenging of businesses for the good of
the planet.
Is Dylan Peck of D.Peck Plumbing ready to become a green-plumber?

Introduction
D. Peck Plumbing is a fully licensed and insured plumbing company based out of Ridgetown,
Ontario. D. Peck Plumbing is a fairly newer business that started around December of 2015 and
is owned by Dylan Peck. His plumbing service offers repairs or fixtures to renovations. His
company is a well-known plumbing service in Ridgetown due to the small town atmosphere.
Our goals and objectives for Peck Plumbing are to help his company become greener and save
money. Some ways we will be implementing these are;

Detailed Findings
After taking a look at our eco-business checklist we came to a conclusion on what the main
focuses of Peck Plumbing should be in order to green their business. Peck Plumbing should
focus more on using more eco-friendly products as well as promoting them to customers. Some
of the ways Peck Plumbing can be more eco-friendly as a business is:
Internal: Use eco-friendly lighting, use alternate ways of electricity, use biodegradable cleaners,
use electronic invoices, recycle/re-use leftover materials, use rechargeable tool batteries
(Rechargeable batteries last anywhere from 60 days to a year, so they can save you money
depending on the amount of batteries you would need per year.), etc.
Externally: Recommend waterless urinals, recommend dual flush toilets, recommend
composting toilets with no water, add pipe insulators to both copper and tex tubing to reduce
heat loss, recommend water saving pipes to reduce leakage, etc.

Some Examples of Financial/Potential Savings

Financial Spec
Product

Price

LED lights

Can save up to $10

Rechargeable batteries

Can save up to $70 and up a

year depending on how long
you can make the
rechargeable batteries last
compared to how much you
spend on batteries a year.

Ceiling fans instead of air

conditioning.

Which will save you money on

energy costs.

Air Conditioning uses

3,500 watts of energy
while ceiling fans only
use 60 watts.

Eco-friendly toilets

Can save around $1,919/year

4,095galls/year of water

Low flow showerhead

Can save around $67 a year.

250 billion gallons of

water annually

Water saving/ insulated pipes

Potential Savings

Water saving pipes can

save you from leakage
and water waste while
insulating you pipes can
raise the heat from 2-4
degrees F.

Limitations
A large limitation that impacts our plan and D.Peck Plumbing is the willingness of the customer
to implement low-flow plumbing fixtures. All D.Peck is able to do is recommend that the
customer consider using them, these upgrades cannot be enforced. It is typically the customers
responsibility to pick out their fixtures, and the plumber just installs them.
A limitation that we encountered while conducting our research was finding reliable statistics on
the harmful effects plumbing has on our environment. If Jennifer hadnt worked in the plumbing
industry and seen first-hand what these problems/ challenges were we truly wouldnt know what
to look for. Luckily Dunlop Plumbing, another plumbing company with 27 years experience was
consulted.
Another limitation we encountered was conducting research on D.Peck Plumbing. Since D.Peck
is a new business they dont exactly have a record of information on their business practices.
However, D.Peck Plumbing being a new business did provide us with a great opportunity to
green the business before it got into destructive habits. We were able to suggest alternatives
that we feel the business will implement.
We could not find a clear/ consistent statistic on water savings by using low-flow fixtures. We
believe the data was different for each source we found because each fixture is created by a
different model and a different company. Each company will have conducted their own unique
research and statistics based on their unique product results.

Conclusions and Recommendations

References
Battaglia, S. (2014, February 13). Will That $25 Light Bulb Really Save You Money? Retrieved
April 08, 2016, from http://www.theenergycollective.com/sbattaglia/340341/will-25-light-bulbreally-save-you-money
Dunlop Plumbing. (2016, March 27). Statement on the environmental impact of plumbing
[Telephone interview].
EcoFlow Low Flow Shower Heads | Save Water, Save Money. (n.d.). Retrieved April 08, 2016,
from https://www.waterpik.com/shower-head/buying-guide/low-flow-shower-head/?
gclid=Cj0KEQjwrZ24BRC098frOqnuMkBEiQAKQ9lgGOBgQAuAzao1olx3V9ebsy2Qhs0KuF8XGnClR9Q44kaAt1b8P8HAQ
Hamm, T. (2015, June 17). Ceiling Fan Hacks to Save Energy (and Money) - The Simple Dollar.
Retrieved April 08, 2016, from http://www.thesimpledollar.com/ceiling-fan-hacks-save-big-onenergy-use/
Staff, K. (2014, August 30). Disposable vs. rechargeable batteries: Which saves you more
money? | One Page | Komando.com. Retrieved April 08, 2016, from http://www.komando.com/
tips/256541/disposable-vs-rechargeable-batteries-which-saves-you-more-money/all
Toilets. (n.d.). Retrieved April 08, 2016, from http://www.ecooptions.homedepot.com/waterconservation/toilets/

Appendices