Pay Attention To LEED Changes

If you're a building service contractor who markets your company as a service provider that can handle LEED-certified facilities, or even base your green cleaning program on LEED requirements, pay attention to the U.S. Green Building Council's proposed revisions of the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance standard. The public has until Dec. 31, 2010 to comment.

Cleaning programs will now need to include strategies for purchasing and using products that reduce energy, water and chemical consumption as well as products that are environmentally friendly but currently do not have existing third-party certifications.

The number of required green products (chemicals, paper, etc.) in a program will double to 60 percent and 75 percent of equipment must meet green criteria. These percentages may sound high, but it will be easier to fulfill purchasing goals because 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.

Like the green movement in general, LEED will also look beyond the environment and stress the importance of healthy buildings. BSCs will need to craft a cleaning program that keeps vulnerable occupants in mind and use disinfectants appropriately based on the setting.

LEED will also recognize other green company certifications and BSCs who have achieved GS-42 or CIMS-GB can use these credentials to earn the point for a high-performance cleaning program.

Green cleaning will still be a prerequisite of LEED certifications and account for the same six points. But the new requirements are stricter, giving cleaning a little more credibility in green facilities often lauded for energy and water savings.