What Is Green Cleaning? Green cleaning protects health without causing harm to the environment – it shows responsible effort to minimize the impact of cleaning materials on your building and on everyone who enters.
Promoting a Cleaner and Healthier Work Environment
Why Is Green Cleaning Important? By utilizing environmentally preferred products and formulas, you can reduce risk, improve indoor air quality, conserve resources, and reduce the negative effects placed upon the environment.
Cleaning and maintaining your facility with environmentally preferred products minimizes VOC emissions and controls allergens from dyes and fragrances, resulting in indoor environments that are cleaner, safer, more pleasant, and healthier for your workers, tenants, and visitors.
What Are The Benefits? Green facilities and green cleaning programs can help your bottom line. In the areas of water conservation, energy efficiency, improved indoor air quality, and green product usage, your facility will see an improvement in cost reduction and ROI.
Possible benefits include: • Reduced absenteeism • Lower utility bills • Reduced disposal costs • Increased building efficiency • Longer building life • Health insurance rate reduction • Tax breaks • Higher occupancy levels • Higher caliber building tenants • Ability to obtain higher lease rates
With a regularly scheduled green cleaning program, you can improve worker and occupant health while improving the appearance of your facility. Your green cleaning program will create better occupant satisfaction and retention, increase on-site property staff health, improve worker safety, and create a mentality of higher standards, pride, and purpose throughout your organization.
A green cleaning program shows your concern for your employees, your building occupants, the visitors and community, for improving indoor air quality and eliminating sick building syndrome, and your concern in minimizing exposure to aggressive chemicals.
Who Says It’s Green? IE
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Founded in 1989, Green Seal, a non-profit organization, provides science-based environmental certification standards that are credible, transparent, and essential in an increasingly educated and competitive marketplace. Their industry knowledge and standards help manufacturers, purchasers, and end users alike make responsible choices that positively impact business behavior and improve quality of life. Green Seal CE F R T I works with manufacturers, industry sectors, purchasing groups, and governments at all levels to “green” the production and purchasing chain. Products only become Green Seal certified after rigorous testing and evaluation, including on-site plant visits.
The United States Green Building Council is a non-profit organization committed to expanding sustainable building practices. USGBC is composed of more than 12,000 organizations from across the building industry that are working to advance structures that are environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy places to live and work.
LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a voluntary, consensus-based national rating system for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. Developed by the USGBC, LEED® addresses all building types and emphasizes state-of-the art strategies for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials and resources selection, and indoor environmental quality. LEED® aims to improve occupant well-being, environmental performance, and economic returns of buildings using established and innovative practices, standards, and technologies. The LEED® for Existing Buildings Rating System (LEED-EB®) helps building owners and operators measure operations, improvements, and maintenance on a consistent scale, with the goal of maximizing operational efficiency while minimizing environmental impacts. LEED-EB® addresses whole-building cleaning and maintenance issues including chemical and paper use, recycling and waste stream management programs, efficient use of water and energy, indoor environmental air quality, exterior maintenance programs, entrance matting, pest management, systems upgrades, and purchasing of environmentally preferred products.
The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency is to protect health and the environment, working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people. The EPA leads the nation’s environmental science, research, education, and assessments efforts. The EPA develops and enforces regulations, offers financial assistance for environmental programs and research, performs environmental research, sponsors voluntary partnerships and programs, furthers environmental education, and publishes environmental information.
The Carpet and Rug Institute Seal of Approval program identifies effective carpet cleaning solutions and cleaning equipment that clean carpet right the first time and protects a facility’s carpet investment. The CRI’s strict standards are applied to spot and stain removers, vacuum cleaners, and carpet extractors.
Getting Started. Select Green Seal Certified and Environmentally Preferred Products AmSan offers green products to promote sustainable, environmentally friendly cleaning. Our green products often include third party certification (Green Seal, CRI, Energy Star) to substantiate environmentally preferable claims.
Implement Green Cleaning Processes AmSan sales consultants will be your resource in developing a green solution designed to reduce the environmental impact of your cleaning process while promoting a safer and healthier indoor environment. Start with a SMART AssessmentSM, an integral part of the AmSan Proforma速 portfolio, to identify and implement specific labor and supply cost reduction opportunities while creating a greener, healthier, and safer working environment. Your AmSan consultant can also work with you to implement an AmSan University速 training program. AmSan-U provides an opportunity to learn how to put science-based green standards into practice through technical staff training and cleaning program analysis.
Attain Third-party Certification for Your Green Cleaning Program Green Seal is the only independent, third-party organization certifying green cleaning programs through their Green Seal Standard GS-42. The cleaning contractor or in-house cleaning service must have a building specific Green Cleaning Plan in place that comprehensively describes the methods by which a facility is cleaned effectively while protecting human health and the environment.
From Green Seal certified janitorial solutions to Carpet & Rug Institute certified cleaning equipment to Energy Star certified electrical appliances and lamps,
AmSan delivers all the pieces to put together your green building puzzle.
Develop a Complete Green Certified Building The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has developed the LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system for new building construction and for existing buildings (LEED-EB®). AmSan can help you achieve LEED-EB® whole-building cleaning and maintenance credits for:
• Chemical Use • Paper Use • Recycling • Waste Stream Management • Water Conservation • Energy Conservation • Indoor Air Quality • Exterior Maintenance Programs • Entrance Matting • Pest Management • Systems Upgrades • Purchase of Environmentally Preferred Products In addition to being the largest national janitorial products distributor, AmSan can also help you earn LEED-EB® accreditation through our new MRO products offering. We have introduced a complete MRO Facility Maintenance Products offering to help you develop a complete green certified building:
• Appliances • Electrical Maintenance • Lighting Fixtures • Bulbs and Fluorescent Lamps • HVAC Units and Maintenance Items • Plumbing Fixtures • Plumbing Repair and Maintenance Items • Bath Accessories • Hardware • Tools • Access Control • Door Hardware
During a consecutive 12 month period in 2007 and 2008, by providing Green Seal certified towels and tissue to customers, AmSan saved the environment an estimated:
• 134,777 mature trees from being cut down • 55,496,259 gallons of fresh water • 15,856 barrels of oil • 32,504,952 kilowatts of energy • 25,370 cubic yards of landfill space • 475,682 pounds of air pollutants entering our skies Your buying decisions directly impact our environment. By switching to Green Seal certified products from AmSan, you can help us save the planet’s resources and create a cleaner, safer, healthier, and greener place to live.
Let’s Get Started. Choose a Resource Area.
Perhaps the best way for your organization or facility to get started is to select a resource area — like floor care products and hand cleaners, or general purpose, bathroom, glass, and carpet cleaners. Or make it as simple as just starting with energy efficient lighting.
Choose an Entire Facility. Or it may be easier for you to see the total savings and impact potential of green practices by selecting an entire facility for a “greening” application. Either way, take a small step toward savings and environmental responsibility. We’re here to help you — at the pace that’s right for you.
America’s Leading Supplier of Janitorial and Cleaning Products 866-41-AmSan 866-412-6726 www.AmSan.com www.GoRenown.com LIT013-1208