News

Study: Gloves Essential in C. Diff Infection Control

Six Tips To Preventing Slips, Trips & Falls

Survey: 1 in 10 Americans Touched by Bed Bug Problem

Unique Program Boosts Green Hotels

Sign up to receive weekly news e-mails at www.cleanlink.com/misc/form.asp

Of Note...

LEED Update Opens for Public Comment — Deadline Extended

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) opened the proposed update to the LEED green building rating system for its first public comment. The public comment period, which will now close on January 14, 2011, is the next step in the continuous improvement process and the on-going development cycle of the LEED program.

The proposed update builds on the foundation of LEED 2009, including the alignment and weighting of credits and further advances the framework where credits are applied to specific building types. In addition, the draft of LEED that is opened for public comment places increased emphasis on integrated process and building performance.

Some of the many proposed changes include:

• Requiring the replacement of folded towels with large roll towels.
• In addition to purchasing sustainable cleaning, hard floor and carpet care products, facilities are required to also purchase sustainable hand care, sanitary paper and plastic liners.
• Require the purchase of products that are environmentally friendly, but are not recognized by a third-party certification — mop buckets and wringers, carts ,floor pads and microfiber that address environmentally preferable attributes such as durability, reparability, recycled content, and non-toxic materials.
• Promote the conservation of energy, water and chemicals, and reduce the toxicity of the chemicals used for laundry, ware washing and other cleaning activities.
• The recognition of chemical-free cleaning products and equipment.

Proposed revisions also indicate that the number of required green products will double to 60 percent and requirements for green equipment will jump to 75 percent. To help reach these requirements, the revisions will recognize products that meet the EPA's Design for the Environment (DfE) or EcoForm's Information-Based Environmental Label, in addition to Green Seal and EcoLogo certifications. Facilities that are cleaned by professionals certified with GS-42 and/or CIMS-GB will also be eligible to use these credentials to earn the point for a high-performance cleaning program.

For more information and to provide comments regarding the LEED updates, click here.

Ask Your Peers...

In-house Vs Outsourced Cleaning
Is there proof that in-house or outsourced cleaning is a better or more cost effective solution than the other?

Training
How does one begin training a new supervisor?

Steam Cleaning
Does anyone have personal experience using steam technology?  Is it cost effective?  What types of bacteria does it kill?

Click here to ask your own question or join an ongoing discussion.

Editors Note

Show Appreciation
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the readers that stopped by our booth at ISSA/INTERCLEAN in Orlando. It was a busy and very successful show and I really enjoyed finally putting faces to all the names.

Also, thank you to those who openly shared their on-the-job experiences and challenges with me. Sharing your feedback with others in the industry will help drive solutions to those difficult tasks that many departments experience.

For those who weren’t able to travel to Orlando, click here to check out some of the many new product offerings that were on hand. Also, click here to review the show highlights.