The First Facility Management Blog

To promote cleaning products that are both green and effective, the International Executive Housekeepers Association (IEHA) and the University of Massachusetts Lowell’s Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) have launched a program to test and validate high performance products. The fee-based program will test soil removal efficacy of hard surface cleaning products—both those certified as green by third party organizations such as Green Seal, EcoLogo, and EcoForm, as well as products with green attributes—and recognize products that perform well in standard and customized cleaning tests.

“While it is accepted that lower toxicity, environmentally preferable, or green cleaning products are better for human health and global ecosystems, the question remains: Do such products clean well when compared to conventional or even other green products?” asks Beth Risinger, CEO and executive director of IEHA.

Products accepted into the program will be tested using a variety of scientific methods and devices producing a detailed analysis of product performance. Manufacturers can use this information to improve their formulations as well as promote their products.

“For institutions and consumers, the value we provide is unbiased performance testing to enable product selection based on objective data rather than on anecdotal information,” says Jason Marshall, laboratory director of the Toxics Use Reduction Institute at UMass Lowell. “For vendors, products that are effective cleaners will have a clear scientific basis for associated marketing claims.”

Manufacturers of cleaning products that qualify after testing will be entitled to display the IEHA “High Performance Cleaning Product” designation and logo.

“The logo will mainly serve as a way for purchasers to determine at a glance those products that clean well, but it also may be used by manufacturers for marketing purposes with certain restrictions,” says Risinger. “This is really about performance, not marketing, but products that are validated in this program have a powerful marketing tool at their disposal.”

In response to interest in the IEHA High Performance Cleaning Product (HPCP) Testing program associated with TURI, the following Q&A is provided.

Q: With so many certifications and recognition programs in existence, why does the cleaning industry need another?
A: While there are several green and other certification and recognition programs, there are none that focus solely on performance of hard surface cleaning products. Green Seal, EcoLogo and others have wisely included product efficacy requirements as part of the certification process, but it is our belief that these requirements do not go quite far enough nor do they encourage manufacturers to strive for optimal performance in a wide variety of specific applications.

Q: Is the IEHA High Performance Cleaning Product designation a certification?
A: No—it is merely a recognition program to acknowledge and encourage high-performance products—ideally those certified or recognized by Green Seal, EcoLogo, EcoForm, DfE, and other reputable organizations.

Q: Is the IEHA High Performance Cleaning Product (HPCP) program based on—or designed to produce—a standard?
A: No, the program is designed to encourage continuous improvement, rather than set a rigid standard.

Q: How will the HPCP program foster continuous improvement?
A: Products will be designated as “high performance” only in the specific areas where they perform in a superior manner. For example, a product that is an exceptional glass cleaner will receive a letter code such as “GC” that will accompany the HPCP logo. If it performs well as an all purpose cleaner/light duty, it may receive an “APL” designation. There will also be application specific criteria and recognition codes (e.g., White Board cleaning or “WB”). We believe this will provide manufacturers with incentive to continue to improve products and earn additional designations.

Q: Why does HPCP focus on a single attribute performance?
A: We believe specializing enables developing a high degree of proficiency in the area of specialization—namely product performance.

Q: What test methods are used?
A: Test methods are based on, but not limited to: ASTM G122, ASTM D3556, ASTM D4488 (A5), ASTM D5343, ASTM D4009, ASTM E1593, ASTM D1792, CCD 110, DCC09 &09A, DCC16 I & II, Marble block test, DCC17, DCC05A, DCC10, and DCC12.

Q: Why is this program specific to green products?
A: The UMass TURI lab tests only products that meet its safety and environmental criteria—this means products must be on the “green side” of the safety and environmental continuum.

Q: How will you prevent the HPCP logo being used for greenwashing?
A: The logo will not be permitted to be used in connection with communications or marketing that designate products as Green High Performance Cleaning Products unless the product has also been certified or recognized by Green Seal, EcoLogo, EcoForm, DfE, etc.

Q: Will the program work collaboratively with existing Green Certification groups?
A: Yes, it is our express desire to help industry groups and our colleagues address product performance issues and improvement by raising the bar and sharing our data.

Q: What is the cost of testing?
A: Fees start at $2,500, and overall costs depend on the number of tests, contaminants, and surfaces involved.

Q: How long after testing is complete will a manufacturer be notified whether or not the tested product qualifies for use of the logo?
A: Optimally, within two weeks, a committee will review the data and decide whether or not the product meets criteria to be designated a High Performance Cleaning Product.

Q: Is there an annual licensing fee to use the logo?
A: Not at this time.

Q: How often will products need to be tested or re-tested to continue to qualify to use the High Performance Cleaning Product designation and logo?
A: There is no set time period. Criteria are being established for re-testing triggers (e.g., when products are reformulated or methodologies updated) but these have not been finalized.

Q: If a manufacturer has many products, are volume discounts available?
A: Yes. This is determined on a case-by-case basis.

IEHA and TURI are now accepting applications from manufacturers who wish to have their products evaluated.

Major Leage Baseball team Philadelphia Phillies has expanded the use of environmentally preferable cleaning products and practices at its 43,500 seat Citizens Bank Park following a new agreement with xpedx, a cleaning supplies and equipment distributor with locations across the U.S.

xpedx has been servicing Citizens Bank Park for six years.

The six year relationship between xpedx and the Phillies continues to evolve with this agreement under which xpedx is the preferred distributor of facility supplies to the 2008 World Champion Phillies and Citizens Bank Park.

Ross Leiman, operations manager for Global Spectrum at Citizens Bank Park, said the logistics capabilities, strong customer service, and broad range of branded products from xpedx helps the Phillies maximize quality of care for the ballpark, reduce the use of harsh chemicals, increase cleaning efficiency, and tightly manage total costs.

One of the products used at Citizens Bank Park is JohnsonDiversey’s Alpha-HP Multi-Surface Cleaner, which uses a patented new hydrogen peroxide-based technology, and is Green Seal certified. “This is the kind of product that provides strong benefits to owners and managers of large, high-traffic facilities—products like this are safe for the environment and also deliver healthy, high-performance cleaning,” said John Hardin, JohnsonDiversey’s area vice president for corporate distribution. “Through xpedx, we can provide a total cleaning program, including green cleaning practices, that get a facility looking its best at very competitive pricing.”

The Phillies' stadium is a 1.15 million square foot facility.

The agreement between xpedx and the Phillies specifies that xpedx will supply products and equipment that are environmentally preferable, including towels, tissues, hand soap, trash can liners, floor and carpet care cleaners, and equipment and other janitorial supplies designed to have minimal impact on the environment through one or more of the following: reduced product waste, increased use of recycled content, and reduced use of cleaning chemicals, water and packaging materials.

xpedx, which represents major manufacturers including Kimberly-Clark, JohnsonDiversey, Tennant, Rubbermaid Commercial Products, and Heritage Bag, will supply environmentally responsible products from each company’s “green” portfolio.

Under the terms of the contract, xpedx will provide training and on-site support to the Phillies ballpark staff as well as facility manager Global Spectrum. Cincinnati, OH-based xpedx serves the Philadelphia market from its Mid-Atlantic regional headquarters.

“Citizens Bank Park looks as great today as when it first opened five years ago,” said Gary Henderson, xpedx sales manager for the greater Philadelphia market. “That’s significant, considering more than three million people visit the ballpark every year.”

“We can help facility owners and managers increase overall cleaning effectiveness and get a higher return on their total spending while they reduce environmental impact,” explained Michael Feenan, vice president of marketing-high traffic facilities for xpedx.  “That’s a winning combination of benefits.”

(Bottom photo: http://phillies.com)

The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) and the International Executive Housekeepers Association (IEHA) have joined forces to advance the greening of the more than 4.5 million guestrooms in the 48,000 U.S. hotels. The partnership initially focuses on encouraging IEHA members to adopt AH&LA’s recently developed 11 Minimum Environmental Guidelines in hotel housekeeping departments.

The AH&LA 11 Minimum Environmental Guidelines are part of more than 60 overall guidelines that encourage hotels to measure performance in energy, water, and waste reduction, and include case studies, business cases, and resources. IEHA is encouraging its members, who often are on the front lines of hotel housekeeping operations, to incorporate specific tasks that correspond with each of the Minimum Guidelines.

“The housekeeping department affects the hotel property, environment, employees, and guests in profound ways: from the levels of dust in the indoor air, to the VOC impact of cleaning products and fragrances used in guestrooms, to the protection of guest health and safety when proper sanitation techniques are used, to reduction of energy used in facilities when room attendants monitor and control room thermostats,” said Beth Risinger, CEO of IEHA. “By proactively integrating green housekeeping practices with the overarching goals of the Minimum Environmental Guidelines, we are encouraging hotels associated with IEHA to help transform the way things are done to affect the triple bottom line—people, planet and profits—in a huge way.”

The Minimum Environmental Guidelines are culled from more than 60 criteria included in national and state certification and rating systems, including Energy Star, Green Key, Green Seal, Green Globe, the Global Green Hospitality Consortium, the Sustainable Tourism Stewardship Council, the Rainforest Alliance, Sustainable Travel International, Prince of Wales Foundation (ITP), the U.S. Green Building Council, and the Green Building Initiative Group. Future guidelines will cover hotel design and construction, chemicals, and indoor air quality.

“The green initiatives AH&LA is creating with a variety of partner organizations such as the IEHA will be a resource for hotels committed to becoming more eco-friendly,” said Joseph A. McInerney, CHA, president and CEO of AH&LA. “These will provide hotel owners and employees with a variety of options in which to create an environmentally-sustainable hotel that also protects employee and guest health.”

Earlier this year (1/8/09), FacilityBlog posted an article announcing the withdrawal of support from the Carpet and Rug Institute for Green Seal’s GS-37 (as a Green Certification for its Seal of Approval Carpet Cleaning Solutions). The following response comes directly from officials* from Green Seal.

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Green Seal, a third party certifier of green products and services, first published its standard for institutional cleaning products—GS-37—on October 2, 2000. GS-37 has become the single most-referenced environmental standard in the cleaning industry. Increased concerns about the impact of chemicals on health, particularly our children’s health, and the environment led to the recent revision of this standard. The final result of the 21-month revision process, completed on August 29, 2008, is a standard that represents leadership in the industry and takes environmental stewardship and the protection of human health to a whole new level.

In the final analysis, the success of the revision of GS-37 will be measured by the extent to which it changes the landscape of cleaning products. “We trust that government agencies that are charged with protecting the health of their citizens will choose to support a standard that protects the health of children and other vulnerable populations,” says Dr. Arthur Weissman, President & CEO of Green Seal, “and anticipate that many progressive manufacturers will see the benefit of conforming with a leadership standard that promotes more sustainable cleaning products that will ensure a healthier, cleaner environment for all.”

The Guidelines Are Clear
The Green Seal process strictly followed the ISO 14024 standard. These guiding principles for environmental labels are different from ANSI guidelines in that they require that reasonable efforts be made to achieve consensus but do not require that all stakeholders vote the same way. While Green Seal standards have achieved 100% consensus in the past, the votes for GS-37 were split. Given the significance of GS-37 and the controversy that surrounds all chemical restrictions, this was to be expected. It is difficult to reach total consensus with leadership standards that may exclude many products in a market and potentially many manufacturers as well. It is therefore no coincidence that a number of trade associations object to the standard, as they are constituted to uphold the interests of all their members and members’ products.

There were 400 registered stakeholders engaged in the standard development process, including chemical manufacturers, children’s health advocates, facilities workers, government agencies, and institutional purchasers. Having a scope of work available at the onset of the project that outlined the procedures following ISO 14024, all stakeholders were fully aware of the process being followed, the number of votes required and the type of standard they participated in developing.

The Participation Was Open
The process to develop GS-37 was open and transparent, as required by ISO. Any interested party was allowed to participate in the public review periods and given several opportunities to register as a stakeholder, for involvement throughout the process. Project progress and discussion were continually accessible through several electronic means (e.g., Web site, on-line forum, and e-mail). Stakeholder discussions were also conducted through teleconferences with open participation. Green Seal took measures well beyond the requirements to ensure that stakeholder input was carefully considered. This even involved the use of a professional, independent facilitator to address unresolved issues. The result was a balance of all the viewpoints of the stakeholders involved in the project, noting that there were divergent perspectives on many issues where parties were not able to find areas of agreement or compromise.

The Criteria are Science-Based
ISO 14024 also requires that the criteria of a standard be based on sound scientific and engineering principles and be derived from data that support the claim of environmental preferability. The revised GS-37 is based on peer-reviewed scientific data. For specific chemicals of concern, if there was evidence of a safer alternative, this warranted replacement of such chemicals. Peer review is also included within the other criteria in the standard by citing chemical lists that are compiled based on expert review of literature supplied by IARC, NTP, ACGIH, AOEC among others.

As a general principle Green Seal standards reference other widely accepted standards in their criteria. In the case of carpet cleaners, there are a number of methods of testing efficacy. If there were a singular standardized method to which stakeholders referred, it would have been referenced. In the absence of an approved standard, the new GS-37 references CRI or WoolSafe methods or comparison tests as the best means for assessing if the product performs as required.

Supporting the Health of Children
In environmental leadership standards, the accepted practice is not to use less of a potentially harmful component, but rather to use less harmful alternatives to begin with. One reason for revising GS-37 was to address the health concerns of children, since green cleaning products are being used increasingly in schools. But current risk assessment studies are limited and are primarily focused on adults. The many uncertainties inherent to health risk assessment are compounded when applied to children. The differences between children and adults, critical developmental windows, and uncertainty in the risk assessment process all support taking a precautionary approach to protecting children from chemical exposures from cleaning products. This approach is well accepted by Federal and State agencies as well as global and international regulatory bodies.

The Standard Has Broad Support
It has been Green Seal’s mission and work for twenty years to develop environmental leadership standards for products and services. These standards are only as strong as our credibility and adherence to a strict, open and transparent process such as defined by ISO. While the standard did not achieve 100% consensus, we have already received a number of GS-37 recertification applications, and we have now certified products to the new standard. The majority of stakeholders, including government agencies, environmental and public health groups, accept the published standard and continue to support it. And Green Seal will continue to do the challenging and often controversial work of protecting the health of adults, children and the environment in which we all live.

*Disclaimer: FacilityBlog has been asked to present both sides of the issue; it does not support or dismiss the views of either organization.

Citing shortcomings in the process used to develop the well-known environmental standard, the Carpet and Rug Institute has announced it will no longer recognize Green Seal’s GS-37 Standard as a Green Certification for its Seal of Approval Carpet Cleaning Solutions. According to CRI, Green Seal failed to follow its own written guidelines for consensus standard setting, specifically in the areas of stakeholder input and risk assessment.

“GS 37 is flawed and CRI cannot support it,” said CRI president Werner Braun.

Prior to its decision, CRI had accepted GS 37 as a component for its Seal of Approval Green designation, which identifies spot cleaners, pre-sprays, and in-tank cleaning solutions that are environmentally responsible as well as effective. CRI continues to recognize the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Design for the Environment (DfE) certification, as well as the Canadian government’s EcoLogo and EnviroDesic certifications. Products that were certified under a previous version of GS 37 will retain their SOA Green designations, Braun said.

CRI’s concerns:

• GS 37 measures product efficacy against a “nationally recognized” product rather than against an approved standard.
• GreenSeal did not allow the participation of all stakeholders in the development process for GS 37
• GS 37 arbitrarily bans chemicals according to a list, without regard for proper risk assessment—a practice which runs contrary to accepted scientific practices.
• At various points, it seemed that peer reviewed scientific data was discounted in favor of preconceived bias on the part of the standard developers.
• GS 37 was released without a second ratifying ballot, even after a first ballot failed to achieve a majority.

Noting that Green Seal is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as a standard setting body, Braun said he would expect the company to follow the ANSI process of standard development. He added that CRI would reconsider its decision if Green Seal were to “reopen the GS 37 standard and develop it in an environment that respects the consensus standard-setting process.”

To request a PDF of GS 37, send an e-mail to tfm@groupc.com with the words “Green Seal Standard” in the subject line.

UGL Unicco has extended its UGL Unicco GreenClean® initiative to encompass energy, water, operations & maintenance, and several other categories where the company has expertise to share with customers. Launched in October 2004, UGL Unicco GreenClean is a comprehensive sustainability program that fundamentally changed the way the company purchases equipment and supplies, manages worksites, and measures results.

With its recent announcement UGL Unicco GreenClean now addresses sustainability on more levels through a broader portfolio of services. The company also has several U.S. Green Building Council LEED AP experts who are available to guide facility managers through the certification process.

The expanded program takes a more comprehensive approach to many core functions. For instance, the effects of cleaning operations on energy usage are considered, and have resulted in new site level policies and procedures to reduce energy usage on a case-by-case basis. Additionally, to meet the needs of customers in the U.S. and Canada, the list of approved cleaning supplies now includes Green Seal-certified products, as well as products approved by Environmental Choice.

The UGL Unicco GreenClean program now also supports a wider range of services that are relevant to LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance guidelines in order to help customers achieve certification and to retain the status going forward. It also helps others that have not gone through the formal process but want to follow a best practices approach to sustainability.

Specifically, UGL Unicco GreenClean addresses several LEED Registered Building Checklist categories including:

• Sustainable Sites: In addition to core indoor and outdoor facilities services, UGL Unicco helps customers improve sustainable transportation options, as well as reduce light pollution.
• Water Efficiency: The company brings its expertise to bear on water metering, as well as efficient indoor and landscaping water uses.
• Energy & Atmosphere: UGL Unicco introduces customers to energy & atmosphere best practices, and monitors and manages renewable energy, refrigerants and other operations that affect indoor air quality (IAQ).
• Materials & Resources: The company continues its sustainable purchasing and waste management practices and extends these services to customers for use with their internal systems.
• Indoor Environmental Quality: In addition to continuous progress in cleaning operations, UGL Unicco offers HVAC services including thermal monitoring, filter maintenance and other services that improve IAQ metrics.