GCI Green Building
Author: R.MichaelRichmond Total views: 26 Word Count: 745
For hundreds of years, the janitorial service has been the forgotten and ignored industry. Suddenly, it has become the legitimate starting point for buildings that want to Go Green. The concept of Green relates primarily to the health and well-being of the people who inhabit our homes, schools, offices, and factories everywhere. The pressure of federal, state, and city mandates will soon force all buildings to transition to Green, and it often starts with the janitorial service.
What will drive this movement is the demand for Green offices and Green buildings. One interesting example is the state of Florida that passed a ruling that withheld state business from any hotel that did not qualify as a Green hotel. The affect was immediate and profound as the state is a significant part of Florida hotel revenue.
The Green School Act is yet another illustration of the power of the Green movement on business. New York and Illinois have already passed the Green School Act, and other states are sure to follow. In the state of New York, letters are going out telling all building owners that they have a limited time to get ready for new Green mandates in the city. We find that cities and states are anxious to pass rules and mandates requiring businesses to conform to Green standards.
Both Presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush signed executive orders requiring all government agencies to buy Green products and implement Green practices. EPA and OHSA are promoting Green issues nationwide. You only have to take a look at most city programs to see that they are already talking about Green business to see that it is only a matter of time until every business will be Green too. It is easy to see why knowledgeable people are already predicting that the Green program will take over every business sector in the next two to three years.
This new economy will bring what I call Green Pretenders who will take only token efforts to be Green but will declare that they are the real Green janitorial service. You see, Green does not come in a bottle but in the service that uses the Green product. When all janitorial services have a few Green products and some HEPA vacuums, we will see what I also call the "Green Equalization." This means that there will be plenty of look-alike Green firms, but not of them are qualified professionally.
Does a janitorial service need to go though training and certification from an outside source, or can they simple step into this arena as simply as reworking their website and advertising? As in any profession, there must be a standard in training and review that supports the claims of a professional service. Hey, even car mechanics are trained and certified. Shouldn't we expect that a firm in charge of the health and sanitation of the building do more than hand the work crew new products?
Green Clean Institute has one of the largest student bodies of any comparable program with over 500 students nationally, as well was several international students. Recently, Green Clean Institute - Canada" has been established to bring the same training and certification to the Canadian janitorial and cleaning firms. If your company plans to "Go Green," we suggest that you start at the most logical process in your building ... the cleaning service.
Remember that Green is not a substitute word for environmentalism. It directly refers to the health quality of a facility and the health impact on the people who inhabit that building. If your company is planning to "Go Green," the key issues are not energy or water conservation, building materials, or access to public transportation. The whole project is to improve the indoor air quality and the continued good health of all the people in that facility.
Like it or not, this is a world in serious transition from the standard practices of the past to the new and intelligent practices of a better today. People worldwide have chosen not to defer the duties of clean and healthy world to their children. Things change, and this is a change that is good for all of us. It leaves only a question of whether people will wait for the government to force them to Go Green, or whether they will step up to the challenge voluntarily.
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