BOMA Helps Develop New Window Cleaning Standard
BOMA International is a member of the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) I-14 Committee, the standard-making committee for window cleaning safety, which met in Chicago in April. The committee is currently putting the finishing touches on the 2007 version of the ANSI I-14 Standard, and the final version will soon be released for public comment.

In the last round of the new language development process, BOMA halted an initiative that would have required building owners and managers to provide window cleaners a written certificate assuring that scaffolding owned and erected by another contractor, and which was to be used by a window cleaner, was erected pursuant to the scaffold manufacturer’s specifications. This potential extended liability will not be in the 2007 edition of the ANSI I-14 standard.


ISSA Announces Conference Seminars
Housekeeping Solutions, Contracting Profits, Sanitary Maintenance, CleanLink.com and the CleanHound search engine are sponsoring seminars for in-house service providers, building service contractors and distributors at the 2007 ISSA/INTERCLEAN® North America convention and trade show Oct. 23 to 26 in Orlando, Fla.

Sessions are divided into topic tracks including operations, sales, leadership and health, safety and the environment. Speakers and topics include:
• Three Routes to Increased Profitability in Your Contract Cleaning Business by Bob Langedon, CPA
• Basics of Supervision and Quality Control by Mickey Crowe
• If Green is the Solution, Then What is the Problem? By Dr. Lauren Heine
• Public Cross-Contamination: The Cleaning Industry’s Impact in the Most Surprising of Places by Dr. Charles P. Gerba, Ph.D.
• How to Construct a Manageable Budget by Jim Peduto

For more information about the convention and trade show, or additional details on educational seminars, visit www.issa.com/convention.


C2C LEED Point
The U.S. Green Building Council announced that an “Innovation in Design” point can be earned toward Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification by using the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) program for certified building products, including some cleaning products. In-house service providers can help departments earn LEED points by instituting green cleaning program elements. The C2C program is administered by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry.


Illinois Requires Green Cleaning in Schools
Children, teachers and school staff in Illinois will soon breathe a little easier during the school day. With a 52-5 vote in the Senate, Illinois became only the second state to enact legislation requiring green cleaning in schools.

“Illinois is becoming a national leader in providing healthy learning environments for our children,” said Mark Bishop, deputy director of the Healthy Schools Campaign. “This simple step goes miles in protecting the health of everyone in the school building. It’s an important milestone for Illinois, and it’s simply the right thing to do.”

The act will require all elementary and secondary schools in Illinois to purchase environmentally sensitive cleaning supplies, which are now cost-comparable and equally effective to conventional cleaning products.

Green cleaning products reduce children’s exposure to irritants and toxic chemicals, while protecting the health of custodial staff who work closely with the supplies.

“I’ve seen the negative health effects of traditional cleaning chemicals first-hand, and I can tell you there’s a better way,” said Bill Thompson, director of facilities at Lockport Township High School. Thompson began implementing a green cleaning program three years ago and now sees benefits in student attendance, as well as cost savings for his school. “Green cleaning is the right thing to do, not only for children but for the custodial staff who work with the chemicals.”

The bill authorizes the Green Government Coordinating Council to determine specific standards for green products within six months. Schools will develop plans for meeting the standards within three months of the standards’ development, but may continue using their current stock of cleaning supplies until it is depleted.




POSTED ON: 6/1/2007