Articles

Adopt Green Cleaning to Maximize the Benefits of the Green Building Trend

Categories: Cleaning Best Practices, Cleaning for Health & Safety, ISSA Insights, Sustainability & ESG

The growing acceptance of global warming, the volume of plastic pollutants in our oceans, and increasing resource scarcity are some of the topics focusing minds on environmental concerns like never before. The symbiosis between issues that were once highlighted in isolation has added weight to the understanding of just how interlinked our environment is. Unless we adopt a sustainable approach to everything we do, we run the risk to negatively affect our day-to-day health, well being, and productivity.

Green cleaning is mutually beneficial to this mission. However, there is far more to green cleaning than moving away from toxic chemicals and the use of non-recyclables. Green cleaning is a major driver in the industry, reflecting sustainable trends and increasing expectations among customers for products and services that respond to the environmentally friendly agenda. Improving air quality with the aim of preventing allergies, asthma, and infections is a key focus, along with maximizing resources and identifying more efficient cleaning methods.

Reducing the health and environmental impacts of chemicals, products, and processes employed in building cleaning and maintenance—while raising the profile of cleaning as a whole through the “value of clean”—demonstrates that clean is not just a cost burden. The role cleaning plays in a building is becoming clearer as an investment—especially the green component—and the financial ROI from proper cleaning contributes significantly to a company’s bottom line. Green cleaning is a natural ally for green building due to its positive impact in preserving asset value, ongoing efficiencies of use, and the health and safety of everyone, including cleaning staff, where it can also contribute to reducing absenteeism.

One way to display a commitment to green cleaning and differentiate your business, is to gain ISSA Cleaning Industry Management Standard Green Building (CIMS-GB) certification built on the six pillars of cleaning management best practice. Applying ISSA’s green cleaning standards benefits the environment and adds considerable value to your proposition.

It also ensures your organization is equipped and capable to meet the demands of a client base that is searching for more sustainable facilities and greener building environments.

This article originally appeared in Cleaning Matters.

About the Author.

Manuela D’Agata is ISSA's director of international education and certification. She can be reached at [email protected].