The Healthy Facilities Institute (HFI) and IEHA have announced mutual support of ISSA’s Transpare Informed Purchaser Program, by featuring information about Transpare on the respective websites of HFI and IEHA.
 
According to Allen Rathey, president of HFI: “Being able to see clearly into a matter without obstruction, cloudiness or distortion is the meaning of transparency.  ISSA's Transpare aims to help professionals see clearly into the world of green claims without distortion - to create ‘green claims transparency’ by providing clear, standardized green purchasing and labeling information.”

“We are pleased to support this worthy endeavor which harmonizes with seeking the greater good and IEHA’s mission to promote greener, healthier and more sustainable indoor environments,” said Beth Risinger, Executive Director and CEO of IEHA.
 
HFI and IEHA strongly recommend professionals become actively involved with ISSA’s Transpare Informed Purchaser Program. ISSA Explains how:
 
“In order to become an Informed Purchaser and be recognized for a commitment to protect the environment, an organization needs to sign a pledge stating that it will - where possible - use Transpare to research, identify and select cleaning products. Informed Purchasers will receive a certificate of recognition and an Informed Purchaser logo for use on promotional materials such as websites and business cards. Informed Purchasers will have the opportunity to participate in articles and case studies about Transpare and thereby receive further recognition of their commitment to sustainability,” according to David Schweizer, Account Executive, Environmental Services, ISSA.  To become an Informed Purchaser, contact davids@issa.com and request an Informed Purchaser Pledge.
 
What info does Transpare provide?
• Detailed easy-to-compare facts about the environmental health and safety attributes of cleaning products; i.e., the environmental profiles of cleaning products, e.g., what makes a product green, and how green it is;
• Whether or not products meet specific criteria of buyers based on purchasing pre-sets or filters;
• Custom search criteria or thresholds.

Purchasing pre-sets include the criteria of the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Efficient Design for Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance (LEED-EBOM) and those for ISSA's Cleaning Industry Management Standard for Green Buildings (CIMS-GB) certification.
 
What are its other features? Transpare can:
• Perform side-by-side comparisons of products;
• Create a summary of data to save or e-mail.

What does Transpare do for the market?
• Makes it easier for manufacturers to differentiate greener products;
• Enables purchasers to select products based on pre-set or custom filters, then to buy them from manufacturers who register and provide full disclosure of the required info;
• Reduces “greenwashing” by creating uniform language and a level playing field for consistently communicating product environmental metrics.