Updates from the Leading Association for the Cleaning Industry Worldwide

Teaming Up With IFMA

To help further educate facility managers regarding quality cleaning programs, ISSA has collaborated with the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) on several offerings recently. Specifically, ISSA has worked with the IFMA Foundation on a new book on green cleaning and co-sponsored an IFMA webinar on the value of ISSA’s Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) and certification program. Also, ISSA Director of Facility Service Legislative Affairs & CIMS Dan Wagner spoke — and ISSA exhibited — at IFMA’s World Workplace 2008 Conference & Expo, held October 15-17 at the Dallas Convention Center, Dallas, TX.

ISSA’s alliance with IFMA is part of the association’s ongoing effort to expand the sharing of information between cleaning and facilities-management professionals in the United States and around the world.

“ISSA’s members — including facility service providers, manufacturers, and distributors — share a common goal with those professionals who are responsible for the day-to-day operations of facilities — to improve overall maintenance and operations capabilities, including cleaning,” noted Wagner. “Never have joint efforts been more important than today, as all segments of the industry begin to increasingly recognize the importance of effective management, sustainability, and maintaining a healthy indoor environment and the role that cleaning plays in this regard.”

A particularly exciting project that ISSA and the IFMA Foundation have collaborated on is the development of the preeminent book on implementing a green cleaning program — The Business of Green Cleaning. Authored by noted industry experts Stephen Ashkin and David Holly, the book was unveiled at the World Workplace Expo, and it’s available to ISSA members for $59.99. For more information on The Business of Green Cleaning or to order your copy, please visit ISSA.com.

The book serves as the foundation for structuring a green cleaning operation and covers a wide variety of topics, including the status of green cleaning worldwide, the components of an effective green cleaning program, and the tools needed to implement, manage, and measure success. Primarily responsible for the development of the book was a team of “subject matter experts” (SMEs) who oversaw the seven-month process. ISSA’s Wagner served as a member of the SME committee, and ISSA members were asked to contribute case-study information during the book’s development.

ISSA and IFMA also recently co-sponsored a webinar on CIMS, which is now available for free download. The webinar, entitled CIMS: Helping Facility Managers Increase the Odds of Cleaning Success, showed facility-management professionals how they can use CIMS certification and the standard’s universally accepted principles to find and pre-qualify quality service providers. Directly attended by more than 60 participants and used by local IFMA chapters as a “lunch and learn” educational topic, the webinar also showed facility managers how they can easily update their contract specifications to focus on excellence in service delivery, management commitment, and quality systems by incorporating CIMS certification as a pre-qualification requirement.

CIMS was also featured as part of ISSA’s increased presence at IFMA’s expo in Dallas. Wagner presented on the value of CIMS to the facility-management community and instructed facility-management professionals how to use this free tool to improve their cleaning operations — both contracted and in-house.

ISSA Appointed To State Green Cleaning Committee

ISSA Director of Legislative Affairs Bill Balek has been appointed to serve on the Missouri Green Cleaning Committee, a group tasked with developing guidelines and specifications for that state’s law mandating green cleaning for schools.

On July 10, Missouri Governor Matt Blunt signed into law an act that requires the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to establish guidelines and specifications for green cleaning programs, including “environmentally sensitive” cleaning and maintenance products, janitorial paper supplies, and cleaning equipment. By law, the department is required to provide “multiple avenues” by which cleaning products may be determined to be environmentally sensitive under the guidelines. These guidelines are scheduled to be completed “no later than 180 days after August 28, 2008.”

With the enactment of the Missouri law, there are now a total of 16 state governments that have adopted a green cleaning procurement policy and program of one kind or another. ISSA has summarized all state, local, and federal government green cleaning procurement policies and mandates in a document entitled Green Cleaning Product Procurement Policies, Initiatives, and Requirements in the U.S.

Moreover, it is estimated that a dozen more states are poised to introduce similar legislation in the near future. That will be the focus of the Green Clean Schools National Summit, hosted by the Healthy Schools Campaign (www.healthyschoolscampaign.org) on November 12 in Washington, D.C. ISSA is a sponsor of this event and will participate in the program. ISSA members are also encouraged to attend. Please go to www.healthyschoolscampaign.org/campaign/green_clean_schools/summit.php for more information on this event.

 All information in "ISSA Reports" is furnished by ISSA. ©2008. All rights reserved.