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Commercial Cash Flow
By Fred Geyen
October 13, 2010
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Speaking of "green", an Irish priest decided to offer "eco-sinners" the chance to confess in what is thought to be the first green confessional booth.
A carpet cleaner was the first guilt-ridden "eco-sinner" to visit the booth.
He confessed that he had used five gallons of butyl and 100 gallons of water to clean 500 square feet of carpet.
He was paid very well and the carpet was clean.
"Are you green certified," the priest asked.
"Yes," the carpet cleaner replied.
"Then you are OK," answered the Priest.
A funny story, but it plays out over and over everyday where sincere carpet cleaners are doing everything they can to be green but are not sure if they are hitting the mark.
More and more commercial carpet cleaners are being asked to "submit your proposal with green cleaning".
It is a dilemma of epic proportions in our industry, and it certainly is the case for a carpet cleaner who was asked to give their first "green carpet cleaning proposal".
A real dilemma
So, here you are, faced with presenting a green cleaning sustainable system to a potential high profile customer.
What do you do? Where do you turn for the "real deal"?
The most recognized standard in commercial settings is the U.S. Green Building Council''s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.
Certainly, the USGBC has its critics and detractors with some of it deserved, but it remains king of the hill when it comes to green.
If you have heard of or want to work in a LEED-certified building, you will be required to follow their standards for cleaning. The JanSan industry is leaps and bounds ahead of the carpet cleaning side of the industry in understanding and meeting the LEED platform.
The good news is that there is a lot of information now available on the Internet. Look up LEED and USGBC to begin your search for greater depth on LEED green cleaning points.
To offer a fast explanation, a building becomes LEED-certified by accumulating points for meeting several standards, from air handling to landscape. Certification also includes a section for cleaning. That is why we can help companies achieve and keep points by meeting cleaning standards.
Meet the criteria
To be more specific, let''s go over the points that a carpet cleaner must meet for LEED specifications in the commercial marketplace.
The first on the list of criteria is to have a "green cleaning policy manual". Under "Prerequisite 3", it clearly states that each building must have a manual and the management expects you to produce it. For most people, this will be the most difficult thing to do as just producing any manual can be difficult. If you look carefully, you may be able to purchase a format to accomplish the task.
Second is the LEED credit 3.1 which outlines what a high performing green cleaning program looks like, including staffing obligations, equipment training and chemical handling.
Third there is the LEED credit 3.4-3.6, which helps you understand the products and equipment that are sustainable and meet Green Seal or EcoLogo standards for the specific job you are doing. Carpet and upholstery products must meet GS-37 or CCD-148 specifications and hard floor products must meet GS-40 or CCD-147 specifications. The equipment you use needs to meet…you guessed it… CRI standards.
Fourth on the list are credits 3.2-3.3, which deals with custodial effectiveness assessment. Granted, for the purpose of this topic, carpet cleaning is an outsourced activity — but our set-up has to be neat and orderly with the use of sign-off sheets stating that the jobs were inspected and done according to standard operating procedures (SOPs). You must establish a communication log available to the customer.
Riding the green wave
All of these are great business practices, and the green manual is really an operations manual that overdoses on green.
The manual will include SOPs, training logs, chemicals and their use, equipment training with manufacturer names and other regular specifications that are needed for any business.
If you plan to pick a standard for your green cleaning program, consider LEED to be that standard as it will always be required in LEED buildings and it is a high enough standard that you should be set for other green requirements.
Commercial carpet cleaning is all about sales, but out of necessity and good business practices, technical matters — such as green cleaning — must be considered.
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Fred Geyen is president of the Geyen Group (www.geyengroup.com). His background includes commercial product sales and program development for residential, commercial and disaster restoration with ServiceMaster. He has a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED-AP) designation and is on the board of directors with the LMCCA. Geyen can be contacted at (612) 799-5111.
