For many students, an institution’s commitment to sustainability has become a prerequisite in their higher education selection process. A recent study published by the Princeton Review underscores what colleges and universities have experienced for the past several years – increasingly, students and parents consider a university’s commitment to the environment in deciding which school to attend. According to the study, 62 percent of students and 61 percent of their parents said knowing about a university’s commitment to environmental issues would make a difference in where they apply or attend.
 
Universities have responded to this interest in environmental responsibility with increased focus on their facility’s environmental impact, including water and energy use, and the amount of waste they generate.
 
Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn., is one institution that has taken many steps to improve its environmental footprint. The school is committed to streamlining operations, reducing waste, conserving energy, improving worker safety and protecting public health. This deep focus on sustainability extends into the way they clean and sanitize public spaces. In 2012, Hamline’s facilities services contractor ABM introduced Ecolab’s new Hydris next-generation cleaning system as part of its ABM GreenCare program, offering an innovative way to achieve Hamline’s sustainability goals.
 
A single Hydris unit dispenses three products: a one-step disinfectant; an all-purpose sanitizer and glass cleaner; and a multi-surface daily floor cleaner. The unit fits into a typical broom closet and utilizes advanced mineral tablet technology and water to generate the equivalent of 5,000 ready-to-use bottles of cleaner per one case of 200 tablets. A typical customer location, such as a college or university, will use about two cases of Hydris mineral tablets per year.
 
Use of the Hydris system eliminates an average of 770 pounds of plastic waste and reduces freight weight by more than 99 percent, helping to conserve transportation fuel consumption.
 
“Hamline University is always looking for ways to become more sustainable, efficient and environmentally sound,” said Lowell Bromander, associate vice president for Facilities Services at Hamline University and president-elect of the Midwest Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers. “We use electric cars for our mail services and facilities crews, have waste reduction processes in our dining facilities, utilize solar panels, a green roof, and an energy-efficient design for our new university center, and we support a shared hybrid car service for students. When our maintenance contractor brought Hydris to our attention, we were really excited. It aligns with our commitment to sustainability and to reducing inefficiencies. It saves time, enhances safety for our staff, and further reduces our carbon footprint through fewer cleaning product shipments each year.”

"Using Hydris is very simple," said Jim Tarara, vice president of Research, Development & Engineering for Ecolab’s Global Institutional business. "Mineral tablets inserted into the unit are mixed with filtered tap water to create a brine solution. This solution then flows through Ecolab’s patented three-chamber electrolytic cell, resulting in a product that is dispensed in the right amount and at the right dilution every time.”
 
Tarara went on to say that Hydris was engineered with a focus on safety. The use of personal protective gear, such as goggles, gloves or an apron, is not required when using the dispensed solutions.
 
“Hydris can generate disinfectant solution with five-minute kill times for use as part of an infection prevention program or in response to flu or other outbreaks,” Tarara added.