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

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In my last article, I discussed indoor environment quality (IEQ) prerequisites for determining what disinfectants to use in LEED facilities. The purpose of these prerequisites is to help reduce, not eliminate, environmental hazards. Now that we have discussed the LEED IEQ prerequisites, it is time to address how to incorporate the use of disinfectants into the maintenance of a LEED-certified building.

What Is a Disinfectant?

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines disinfectants as, “substances or mixtures of substances used to destroy or suppress the growth of harmful microorganisms, whether bacteria, viruses or fungi on inanimate objects and surfaces".

All disinfectants are regulated by the agency under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and are considered to be antimicrobial pesticides. Antimicrobial products can contain about 275 different active ingredients and are marketed in several formulations − sprays, liquids, concentrated powders and gases.

According to the EPA, there are two types of antimicrobial pesticides: non-public health products and public health products. Public health products are intended to control microorganisms that are infectious to humans in any inanimate environment.

All disinfectants sold in the United States must have an EPA registration number. This number allows the product user to verify which microorganisms the product will kill. The registration number also addresses the contact time (or “dwell time”) needed for the product to kill those microorganisms.

While the use of a pesticide seems to counter the concept of green building, the use of disinfectants are actually an integral component of green cleaning.

Green Cleaning Strategies for LEED Buildings

Green cleaning must be done in a way that reduces the impact on the environment while protecting the health of building occupants. Simply cleaning will not kill harmful bacteria or viruses that inhabit many surfaces in our buildings. Many of these microbes cause the flu, the common cold or other sicknesses. To protect the health of tenants, green cleaning must regularly incorporate the practice of disinfection.

When selecting disinfectants, most broad-based commercial products will kill the most troublesome pathogens. However, if you have serious concerns about a particular microbe such as Tuberculosis or E. coli, you need to verify that your chosen product kills them. To do this, simply check the EPA registration number.

Simply spraying the disinfectant on an area and wiping it does not disinfect for a few reasons. First, the shortest kill time is one minute, which means the product must stay on the surface for one minute in order to kill that listed microorganism. Second, some disinfectants do not work as well when there is soil on the surface.

Therefore, the key to proper disinfection is to make sure that you engage in a two-step cleaning and disinfecting process. First, clean the entire area then spray disinfectant on the high-touch spots that present the greatest risk for transmission of unwanted microorganisms – such as door knobs, faucets and flush handles. Applying disinfectant to a clean surface and focusing that application on high touch areas not only increases its effectiveness, it also reduces the amount of necessary product and reciprocally the amount introduced into the environment.

Disinfectants and LEED EBOM

When properly used, disinfectants fit naturally with green cleaning policies and meet the requirements put forth in LEED 2009 for EBOM.

The Green Seal Environmental Leadership Standard for Commercial Cleaning Services (GS-42) and the Cleaning Industry Management Standard Certified Green Building (ISSA CIMS-GB) are both designed to meet the IEQ Prerequisite 3 and IEQ Credit 3.1. Each of these standards addresses the use of disinfectants.

Furthermore, the LEED EBOM 2012 Draft version – Indoor Environmental Quality Prerequisite – Green Cleaning Policy specifically lists under Option 2 for compliance GS-42 or ISSA’s CIMS-GB as meeting the requirement.

Related Advice:

• Green Cleaning: Six Requirements for LEED Compliance



• An Introduction to Green Cleaning



• LEED EBOM and Green Cleaning: 3 Credits and Prerequisites for Disinfectants