Facility Management Expert To Speak At ISSA Event

ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, announced today that Sven Dekker, president of the International Facility Management Association Holland Chapter, will address a group of European architects, property owners, facility managers, and cleaning professionals May 18 during the upcoming ISSA/Polish Cleaning Chamber of Commerce (PIGC) Educational Conference, held during ISSA/INTERCLEAN Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) 2011, which takes place May 18-20.

The special program, titled “Designing, Furnishing and Maintaining Clean Friendly Buildings,” will be held from 1:45 p.m to 4:00 p.m. at the Warsaw International Expocentre EXPO XXI, Warsaw, Poland. It is the first time ISSA and its partner PIGC have brought together a mixed discipline group in Europe to discuss the issues of planning facilities with a focus on their cleanability.

“We are thrilled to have such a knowledgeable facility management expert address a critical mix of market decision makers,” said ISSA Europe, Middle East and Africa Services Director Keith Baker. “By bringing the right mix of people together to discuss how to plan facilities for better cleaning, we can more easily change the way building owners and managers view our profession, its importance, and its cost effectiveness in relation to their long-term goals.”

Dekker specifically will discuss strategic cleaning techniques and the cost-saving opportunities available if building designers consider these techniques during the right planning phases. Dekker, owner of the Netherlands-based consulting group Sven en Sabine, has addressed similar facility management topics in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South Africa, and the Americas.

Also addressing the group will be Tibor Ritz, cleaning and technical advisor to Matisz, the Hungarian Cleaning Association. Ritz will discuss what cleaning elements architects should factor into building design and the benefits of doing so. Jolanta Kowalska, a cleaning consultant based in Poland, then will cover practical cleaning tips for entrances, dirt collection, high traffic areas, and other locations that can easily be incorporated into a facility’s cleaning and maintenance program. A roundtable discussion will follow to allow members of each discipline to share ideas on the best ways to address the issue of facility cleanability.