HAIKOU, CHINA — Jay Peters, Plumbing, Mechanical & Fuel Gas Group executive director for the International Code Council, is one of three 2011 honorees inducted to the World Toilet Organization Hall of Fame. The recipients are chosen based on their efforts and contributions to solve the global sanitation crisis that claims the lives of thousands of people every day, most of whom are children.
Peters was selected in recognition of his and the ICC’s contributions to the global sanitation movement, especially in pioneering and initiating the official launch of the United Nations International Year of Sanitation in 2008. During that year’s World Toilet Summit & Expo (WTSE), he conducted an education track on Global Sanitation Policies & Standards. The Code Council sponsored the track, in addition to the first-ever ICC USA Pavilion at WTSE, which offered U.S. companies a cost effective way to reach Southeast Asian prospects.
This year’s induction ceremony took place at the World Toilet Summit in late-November in Haikou, Hainan, China. The other two honorees are Lin Jiang, vice director for the Ecological Society of China and Kenzo Hiroki, principal of the International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM) and Secretary of the United Nations Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Sanitation.
“To be recognized with Kenzo and Lin is an honor. Whether we were leading expert panels in Macau, Singapore or Philadelphia, creating the first Global Guideline for Proper Toilet Design or just spreading the word of the sanitation crisis, the ICC leadership and Members have always been encouraging and supportive," Peters said. "For that, I am extremely appreciative.”
Although access to toilets is not a major sanitation issue in the U.S., the Code Council, led by Peters, has collaborated on multiple initiatives with the World Toilet Organization to help solve the global sanitation crisis, including spearheading the first ever U.S.-based World Toilet Summit last year. Industry leaders and businesspeople from around the world participated in the event, which also brought the global sanitation issue to U.S. plumbing engineers, businesses and the media.
While moderating an education track and presenting a report on potty parity at WTSE 2009 in Singapore, Peters and Jack Sim, founder of the WTO, formed a committee of global sanitation leaders to draft the first-ever standard toilet design document. Published this year, ICC G3-2011 Global Guideline for Practical Toilet Design standardizes the design, installation and maintenance of public toilets to reduce construction costs, which should enable more installations around the world.
“We congratulate Jay for receiving the prestigious WTO Hall of Fame award,” said ICC CEO Richard P. Weiland. “His dedication to the issue of global sanitation is the type of initiative that benefits ICC’s overall mission of people helping people build a safer world.”
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