EBOM 2009 IEQc3.4: Green Cleaning—Sustainable Cleaning Equipment

Hi Jason

Yes, that's the idea! Eventually, your entire inventory would consist of equipment that meets the credit's sustainability criteria. But also be sure to maintain equipment maintenance logs throughout this timeframe as well. Good luck!

Thanks very much for the input, Hannah!

Mayra, have you learned anything more about this? My understanding is that the criteria you checked are required for ALL equipment, but that scrubbers must also meet the additional criteria.

David, have you reviewed LEEDuser's guidance above? I think your questions are covered there, particularly under the "Checklists" tab. Look for the tips regarding vendors—and post back here with any follow-up.

Jared, I guess the obvious question is whether you've checked with the manufacturers to see if they provide this information? I'm not sure that Consumer Reports or any other organization offers this kind of data.

Yep ... manufacturer turned out to be no help. Consumer Reports has the data, but will not release it despite a formal request to the Testing Director. They confirmed that they record dBAA decibel (dBA) is a sound pressure level measured with a conventional frequency weighting that roughly approximates how the human ear hears different frequency components of sounds at typical listening levels for speech. (ANSI S12.60–2002) levels to do their sound ratings, but they keep the raw data confidential. Lesson learned ... CRIColor-rendering index, or CRI, is a scale of 0 to 100, used by manufacturers of fluorescent, metal halide, and other non-incandescent lighting equipment to describe the visual effect of the light on colored surfaces. Natural daylight is assigned a CRI of 100. and sound are separate metrics, to be documented separately.

If you do find a source for information, please post about it here. Good luck.

Jared, this might be cold comfort, but I confirmed with a colleague that most manufacturers do list this data. If the cut sheet doesn’t list it and the manufacturer can’t tell him what the dBAA decibel (dBA) is a sound pressure level measured with a conventional frequency weighting that roughly approximates how the human ear hears different frequency components of sounds at typical listening levels for speech. (ANSI S12.60–2002) level is, unfortunately you probably are out of luck for that product.

I think this should be allowed. The LEED credit language (see above) lists bumpers and rollers as examples, not as absolute requirements.

besides that, cleaning contractor is not dedicated to a single tenant. these cleaning personal might go to other side of the town to do cleaning for other company as well, therefore these equipments will move together with them and at the end of the day, they will keep at their own cleaning company. in this case, do we need to include their equipment into our calculation. ?

Yes, vendors' equipment is included in this credit. There are more details about this discussed in the LEEDuser guidance above.

I looked into this a little more and found out they they only come out quarterly or every 3 months. They DO NOT store any equipment within the building. Is it necessary to include this equipment or chemicals in the list of items?

Paul, this is covered in the third item above in the Checklists tab.

I have a floor burnisher that is valued much greater than the rest of my equipment which will impact whether we hit the 20% or not. The sound level is 70 dBAA decibel (dBA) is a sound pressure level measured with a conventional frequency weighting that roughly approximates how the human ear hears different frequency components of sounds at typical listening levels for speech. (ANSI S12.60–2002), but the criteria states must be "less than 70 dBA" does that mean this machine will not comply?

According to the credit and documentation requirements, yes.

Usually when they give a sample in the reference guide it's pretty safe to follow that.

I think the key thing is doing what works for your project. Would the reference guide example work on your project, or should dates be required in the log, to make sure that maintenance happens?

The way the janitorial table in LEED Online is set up is a bit odd, but it does seem to be consistent with the credit language. If you select "Vacuum cleaner" as the product category, it loads up a category-specific dBAA decibel (dBA) is a sound pressure level measured with a conventional frequency weighting that roughly approximates how the human ear hears different frequency components of sounds at typical listening levels for speech. (ANSI S12.60–2002) requirement of <70. (See image below—click on it for an expanded view.)

Thanks Tristan,

However, if you only select the box that says "Operates with a sound level of less than 90 dBAA decibel (dBA) is a sound pressure level measured with a conventional frequency weighting that roughly approximates how the human ear hears different frequency components of sounds at typical listening levels for speech. (ANSI S12.60–2002)", the credit form registers the point. So it's as though the only criterion is to have a vacuum cleaner operating below 90dBA.

Sounds like a bug in the form to me. The intention in terms of credit requirements seems clear enough. You might be able to squeak by just meeting the 90 dBAA decibel (dBA) is a sound pressure level measured with a conventional frequency weighting that roughly approximates how the human ear hears different frequency components of sounds at typical listening levels for speech. (ANSI S12.60–2002) threshold, but I'd be prepared for it to be questioned.

Yes, I think your approach should work. The IEQc3.4 credit language calls for a program meeting the criteria, not for specific purchases. The same situation would also occur with vendors.

The LEED Online form for this credit, however, is a little less flexible on this point—it seems to assume that you must purchase equipment. You may need to check the box and supply alternative documentation.

If you go this route, let us know how it turns out.

Yes, this credit is about the equipment used in your cleaning program, not equipment purchases.

Wish I had a definitive answer on this but I haven't seen enough M-F residential projects go through the review process to confidently predict the outcome. One might reasonably argue that only the building janitorial staff is within the bounds of this credit (effectively the areas of the building within management control) as it is functionally impossible to control the equipment choices of individual tenants. On the other hand, GBCI might conclude that without control over resident spaces (the majority of the building SF), awarding the credit would violate the basic credit intent. I see validity in both arguments, but until formal guidance exists on using EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. for residential projects, you may just have to take a shot at this with the awareness that its a 50/50 at best.

It's worth noting that for this credit (as opposed to IEQc3.3, which you're also concerned about), the only regulated cleaning equipment that tenants are likely to have is vacuum cleaners. Maybe it would not be much to ask for tenants to comply with the credit requirements for vacuum cleaners.

Hi all - one thing you might want to check out would be two EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. CIRs for residential projects, which may shed some light on this issue. Look at the EBOM 2008 CIRs for MRc1 and MRc2. It looks like no similar CIR was submitted for any of the EQ credits, but these might give insight into an acceptable compliance path.

However, it should be noted that previous CIRs do not set precedence for EBOM 2009 projects, so you will definitely want to submit a project-specific CIR outlining any proposed compliance paths.

Yes, you have it right—20% of your overall inventory of equipment, and 100% of anything you buy during the Performance Period.

Tristan, thanks for the clarification.

Looking through the forum I noticed this that now gets me confused about all the other purchasing related thresholds in MR and IEQ. Do the rest of the credits follow that same rule of thumb... X% of your inventory and 100% of purchases?

Jeff, The MR and IEQ credits do not follow this type of threshold. The MR purchasing credits and IEQ green cleaning products credits are based on purchases during the Performance Period only. Current inventory (whether LEED compliant or not) is not included in these calculations.