Advice provided by: John Schafer, LEED AP, ISSA, Staples Facility Solutions

Share

It is estimated that 6 billion pounds of chemicals are used each year in the United States alone to clean commercial buildings 1. The United States EPA has found indoor air to be at least 2 to 5 times more contaminated than outdoor air. Many of the cleaning chemicals used to clean our commercial buildings are contributing to this poor indoor air quality. As such, there exists a great opportunity today to invest in knowledge and training to promote green cleaning programs and practices.

Green Cleaning and LEED EBOM

LEED 2009 EBOM devotes 15 points and 3 Prerequisites to Indoor Environmental Quality. Clearly we have an opportunity to improve the quality of our commercial indoor air and the health of those occupants with a Green Cleaning Program.

Green Cleaning is defined as "cleaning to protect health without harming the environment". So what does that mean? First let’s explore why we clean our commercial spaces. We clean to remove soils and to present a visually pleasant experience. Soils can provide a food source for unwanted bacteria or germs. Soils can also cause unpleasant odors. We’ve all experienced the dread upon entering an unclean, smelly and unsightly public restroom. We’ve also experienced the opposite feeling of comfort upon entering a public space that is clean, neat and shiny. Many of us today still think that we have to “smell” the cleaning process for it to be effective. Unfortunately, this is a common misconception. Those smells associated with our cleaning products "working" are actually VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds) that contribute to poor indoor air quality. They are unnecessary to the cleaning process and all Green Certified cleaning products have significantly reduced or eliminated VOCs.

No "Green" Disinfectant

Disinfecting is a part of Green Cleaning. We cannot protect our heath without disinfecting. Yes, effective cleaning can remove many harmful bacteria but not all of them. To effectively protect our building’s occupants from harmful bacteria our cleaning staffs must disinfect. All disinfectants must be registered and are regulated by the US EPA. The EPA regulates disinfectants because by their very nature they are pesticides and because of that there is no such thing as a “Green” disinfectant. However, there are environmentally preferable ways to disinfect.

- Clean first with a green all purpose cleaner.
- Disinfect “touch points” last
- Always follow the disinfectant’s label as to contact time

All disinfects have a contact or dwell time that must be met for the disinfectant to be able to effectively kill the bacteria it is registered as being able to kill. These contact times can vary from 1 to 10 minutes. Therefore it is critical that the disinfectant be allowed to “dwell” on the surface for the proper amount of time. To be able to do this most effectively we need to clean first and disinfect last. Spraying and immediately wiping the surface with a disinfectant cleaner does not disinfect. Your Janitorial Supplier will be able to assist you in training your cleaning staffs to effectively clean and disinfect and can help you in choosing Green Certified Cleaning Products.

1: (Steve Ashkin Green Cleaning University)

Related Advice:

• Green Cleaning Products: Can My Products Earn LEED Points?



• Green Cleaning Services: How Do I Design a Green Cleaning Program?



• Green Cleaning Programs: How can I Gauge their Effectiveness?