For Facilities Managers, Building Owners/Operators...

As building owners and managers examine their overall environmental impact and strive to operate sustainable, high-performance buildings, it makes sense to examine cleaning strategies and implement practices that use less energy and less chemicals considered environmentally unsound.

In addition to being good for tenant health and the environment, green cleaning can serve as a competitive advantage. Sarah Thurston in her article titled “Making Sense of Green Cleaning” cites Jerry Yudelson, author of The Insider’s Guide to Marketing Green Buildings, who says that green cleaning is “good for business.”

Green cleaning is an opportunity for BSCs

Building services contractors (BSCs) are seeing LEED and green cleaning as a significant marketing opportunity. While a small, but growing, number of their clients are interested in LEED-EB and other LEED certifications, a BSC’s ability to offer green cleaning is a selling strength even to clients not working toward building certification.

For Health Care Providers...

The healthcare sector is recognizing that chemicals can play a significant role in the development of disease - even at miniscule levels—and is finding ways to not only increase its compliance with chemical regulations and guidelines, but also go beyond those regulations to develop a framework for choosing safer chemicals where possible.

Hospitals have begun robust programs to segregate and manage pharmaceutical wastes, eliminate the use of mercury, PVC and DEHP, and brominated flame retardants, utilize greener chemicals and equipment for cleaning and maintenance processes, as well as transitioning to safer sterilants and disinfectants - to name just a few successes.

The nation's 6th largest hospital converts to green cleaning, yielding a 15% cost savings:
* Hackensack University Medical Center, 683 beds and 7,200 employees.
* Modified cleaning processes to reduce the toxicity of cleaning chemicals and waste generated.

It simply makes sense: Organizations that care for the health and well-being of people should clean for health too.
Source: Practice Green Health.

For Our Schools...

Some 55 million students spend their days in schools that are too often unhealthy and restrict their ability to learn.

Studies have demonstrated the direct benefits of better lighting, air quality, acoustics and temperature control on student health and academic performance. Here is some of the available research about the benefits of green schools.

The National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities has a comprehensive list of studies free

Environmental Law Institute's Green Cleaning in Schools: Summary of Selected State and School District Policies (2007) explores how "Green cleaning" can reduce environmental and health risks by a building’s occupants, while recognizing that cleaning products are necessary to maintain a sanitary environment in schools. It also summarizes selected state laws, proposed state legislation and school district policies that promote green cleaning in schools.

Energy Cost Savings in Green Schools

Green schools use an average of 33% less energy than conventionally designed schools. Typical energy performance enhancements include more efficient lighting, greater use of daylighting and sensors, more efficient heating and cooling systems and better insulated walls and roofs. For more research about these savings refer to Gregory Kats' Greening America's Schools - Costs and Benefits.