METRIC SYSTEM – Time for US to Change

When I moved to the United States (US), besides American English and culture, I found many things different, - Driving on the right side, using mm/dd/yy date format instead of dd/mm/yy, turning lights on by pushing the switch up and not down, seeing weather reports with Fahrenheit reading instead of centigarde, and so forth. Initially, I had to make sure that I was driving on the right side, wrote the date correctly starting with the month and double check if the light switch was turned on or off or I had to change the bulb, but slowly, I could become habituated to the changes.

Having grown up outside of US, it took some time to get used to the changes. However, one change that took me more time to adapt was the change from metric to imperial system. I had been used to the metric system for many years since my schooling in India and later in my work outside of US. In fact, when I came here, it was a surprise for me to find that US still continued to use the imperial units. Reading construction drawings in feet and inches and understanding specifications was a new experience and it took me time to conceptualize the size, weight or volume during quantity take-offs and pricing for construction cost estimates.

Though there have been efforts to implement the metric system in US, it is not yet enforced officially.

While there is reluctance and opposition, the cost and time involved in the conversion also may be holding the implementation.

Just imagine the mammoth task involved in changing the road signs, rewriting building codes, recreating as built drawings, producing measuring devices, etc. However, it is said that “long term benefits will be realized and should more than off-set any one time conversion costs” [1].

Imperial to Metric - Reasons to consider

• Metric system is easier to use
• Metric System is followed all over the world
• Standardization is advantageous

Metric System is Easier to Use

In the Imperial system, you need to remember many conversion factors – Some examples are given below.

Inches to foot (divide by 12)

Square feet to Square yards (divide by 9)

Cubic feet to Cubic Yard (Divide by 27)

Pounds to Tons (Divide by 2000)

In the metric system, conversion is simplified as you have to use only the power of 10. You can convert millimeters to meters dividing by 1000 (10 power 3) and after calculating the Square meters or Cubic meters, you do not require further conversions. Similarly the Kilograms can be converted to metric ton simply dividing by 1000 (10 power 3)

The intermediate and final conversions required for the imperial units involve extra steps for arriving at the quantities of different items. Of course it is easy to build formulas in excel sheets but after using both the systems for a long time, I find the metric system is much easier to use. It is also odd to see the same unit of measure being used for unrelated items. For example, weight is expressed in ‘tons’ and the same ‘tons’ is used to denote Air conditioning capacity! Asphalt paving quantity is calculated in Square foot, Square yards and also in tons! Similarly, Carpet area is calculated in Square foot but priced per Square Yard! In the metric system ‘tons’ refer only to weight, carpet area is quantified only in Square meters and liquid volumes measured only in liters. Metric system does not have the same unit of measure for different items or vice versa. Instead of imagining the quarters, halves or the one eighths, visualizing their metric equivalents - 6 mm, 12mm, or 3mm, etc., is much easier.

Metric system is followed all over the World

According to an article titled “Toward a Metric America – The United States and the Metric System – A Capsule History”[1], 95% of the world is following the metric system with the exception of three countries – USA, Myanmar and Liberia.

Here in US, when I was employed with some UK based firms, occasionally I could work on some overseas projects located in the Middle-east, India, Korea and China. The architects, though located in New York had to follow the metric system for projects outside US. This is a good example to show how essential the metric system is to do global projects. Not only engineering, business and trade also require metric system in the global market.

Standardization is Advantageous

It is needless to say how standardization of measurements will help the US and other countries. If the same metric system is used everywhere, dual system will be eliminated and it will benefit science, engineering, education, all services, imports, exports, trade and commerce.  

Conversion Efforts in the US

Efforts for the conversion have been going on since 1790 in the US. This was followed by the Metric conversion Act of 1975 with later amendments. In the late 90s and early 2000s, I worked on a few public projects when one of the public agencies was trying to implement (beta test) the metric system. It was given up later as contractors found it confusing and made many errors in their bids. Such initial problems can be overcome easily and shouldn’t deter the change from happening. It is left to happen voluntarily [1] and we do not find any change happening effectively.

Just for the sake of learning, schools teach the metric system but it is not encouraged or followed in the industry.

As it will be beneficial in the long term, it is time for the US to come out with a better plan to introduce the metric system in a phased manner over a couple of years, following dual units initially.

Perhaps we can take some tips from our neighbor, Canada! Just as we have become familiar with a 2 liter coke bottle, it is easy for us to become conversant with meters, kilograms and kilometers and other metric units everywhere – Science, Engineering, medicine and the common market.

References

1.    https://www.nist.gov/metric

Recommended Reading

1.    https://www.metrificationmatters.com

2.    https://www.metric4us.com/whynot.html

3.      https://www.metric4us.com/why.html