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

  • EBOM_IEQc3-4_Type3_CleaningEquipment Diagram
  • Challenging for projects new to green cleaning

    This credit can be one of the more challenging green cleaning credits. It can be costly to achieve if your project is not currently using compliant cleaning equipment—and many projects are not, particularly those that are paying attention to green cleaning for the first time.

    The credit requirements are actually fairly straightforward. You must use at least one piece of cleaning equipment in order to be eligible, 20% of all your cleaning equipment must comply with the equipment-specific criteria, and 100% of equipment purchased during the performance period must comply with the criteria.

    Multiple criteria for compliance

    The part that can get complicated is assessing both your existing equipment and the equipment you plan to purchase to see if each piece meets the...

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41 Comments

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Simon .S
Aug 17 2011
Member
1684 Thumbs Up

Recertification & Performance Period Purchase

The credit requires all equipment purchased during the performance period to be 100% compliant to sustainable criteria. Does this imply during the recertification performance period of as long as 1 year to 5 years, all cleaning equipment purchases need to comply to the standards? and as the on-going process goes on, eventually all equipment inventory would be replaced with sustainable equipment?

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Hannah Bronfman Sustainability Consultant, YR&G Oct 10 2011 Guest Expert 10 Thumbs Up

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!

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Simon .S Oct 26 2011 Member 1684 Thumbs Up

Thanks very much for the input, Hannah!

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Mayra Portalatin Project Manager Facility Engineering Associates, PC
Aug 11 2011
Guest
72 Thumbs Up

Question about Scrubber Criteria

When reading requirements in the guide, it states that the sustainable criteria to be met by an automated scrubbing machine is:

"Automated scrubbing machines are equipped with variable-speed feed pumps and on-board chemical metering OR they use only tap water with no added cleaning products"

The scrubbing machine in question at the facility does not meet these two criteria, but it does meet the following:

1. Equipment is designed with safeguards (i.e. rollers, rubber bumpers) to reduce potential damage to building surfaces.
2. Battery-powered equipment use (gel batteries)

I entered the information on the form to see what would happen and it does appear to accept the environmnetally preffered gel battery-powered and records the equipment as meeting a sustainable criteria. Is this correct? Or is this maybe a glitch in the form within LEED Online?

Thanks!

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Nov 14 2011 Moderator

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.

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David Feregrino Environmental Engineer KAESER Compresores de México
May 24 2011
Member
45 Thumbs Up

contractors

Hello,

I have 2 question about the contractors,

1. if i hire an external company to do the carpet washing , do i need to include their equipment in to the calculation including equipment cost or the cost to me will be zero or how can i include this thing on the calculation?.
2.during the certification period, if i hire some contractor to do carpet washing, their equipment needs to comply with LEED requirements or the criterion only applies to purchase equipment.?

Best regards.
David

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. May 24 2011 Moderator

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.

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Jared Silliker Owner Silliker + Partners
Jan 25 2011
Member
352 Thumbs Up

CRI vs. noise level for vacuums.

In responding to review comments on a recent project I'm realizing that the vacuum requirement contains two separate elements, which I previously saw as one. The way the rating and online form are worded, I assumed that 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) rating was part of the 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. certification. Apparently, this is not the case. CRI confirmed that they do not test for noise levels, which puts the responsibility back on the manufacturer. Unfortunately, I'm now having trouble verifying the dBA level for a CRI-certified vacuum.

Any other suggestions besides purchasing a Consumer Reports subscription?

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Feb 23 2011 Moderator

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.

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Jared Silliker Owner, Silliker + Partners Feb 24 2011 Member 352 Thumbs Up

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.

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Feb 24 2011 Moderator

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

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Feb 26 2011 Moderator

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.

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TEI Intern
Jan 07 2011
Member
193 Thumbs Up

LEED compliant vacuum - safeguards for facility?

Our cleaning crews purchased a vacuum that is has a built-in design feature to protect/safeguard for facilities from damage. The brochure states: 'Reduce possible damage to the facility and/or merchandise with durable polyethylene construction that bends and gives.' This is not a bumper or roller as listed in LEED requirements, but it is a safeguard to protect facilities. Will this pass review? It meets all other requirements: 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. Green Label Plus, 69 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), etc.

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Jan 09 2011 Moderator

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

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Simon .S
Nov 24 2010
Member
1684 Thumbs Up

Multi tenant space

in common multi tenant office, some tenant has their own cleaning contractor, do we need to include their equipments into the calculation?

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Simon .S Nov 25 2010 Member 1684 Thumbs Up

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. ?

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Nov 29 2010 Moderator

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

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Paul C
Nov 12 2010
Guest
1040 Thumbs Up

Only janitorial specific equipment?

We have a metal and stone maintenance crew and wood maintenance crew that conducts work in our facilities and they do not store their equipment in our facility so the equipment they bring in may change from month to month depending on the work conducted, but their schedule does is not on a fixed daily or even weekly basis and is an as-neede basis. Do we need to include their machinery/equipment or chemicals in our inventory or should we stick solely to janitorial?

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Paul C Nov 12 2010 Guest 1040 Thumbs Up

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?

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Nov 12 2010 Moderator

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

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Paul C Nov 17 2010 Guest 1040 Thumbs Up

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?

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Dec 08 2010 Moderator

According to the credit and documentation requirements, yes.

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John Ida President Urban Works, Inc.
Oct 04 2010
Member
305 Thumbs Up

Equipment Maintenance Log

The Reference Guide states that the project needs to "Keep a log for the repair and maintenance of any cleaning equipment used at the project site". The sample maintenance log shows equipment type, daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, and quarterly maintenance. However, the description of a "log" implies that dates or initials would be required. This seems over the top for LEED to require signatures for daily tasks... should we follow the LEED reference guide sample? Or is it implied that initials and dates are also necessary?

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Oct 08 2010 Moderator

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?

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Megan Janssen LEED Reviewer Caterpillar Consulting
Jun 14 2010
Guest
35 Thumbs Up

Less than 70 or less than 90dBa?

Is it possible to meet the credit requirements for EQc3.4 if the only equipment on site are vacuum cleaners that have 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) less than 90? I thought the requirement was 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. certified and less than 70 dBa; however, the credit form is registering points with "less than 90dBa" being the only criteria met.

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Jun 20 2010 Moderator

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.)

Janitorial equipment table

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Megan Janssen LEED Reviewer, Caterpillar Consulting Jun 21 2010 Guest 35 Thumbs Up

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.

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Jun 21 2010 Moderator

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.

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Rachael McClain
May 24 2010
Guest
489 Thumbs Up

rented equipment

We rent equipment to do interim cleanings in-house, for example carpet cleaners can be rented. As long as the rented carpet cleaner meets the sustainable criteria we are still meeting the intentions of this credit, right? We do not have to actually purchase a carpet cleaner that meets the sustainable criteria?

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. May 24 2010 Moderator

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.

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Dianne Herrin
May 04 2010
Guest
143 Thumbs Up

No purchase necessary during performance period?

I'm presuming if you don't need to purchase any cleaning equipment during the performance period, you can still get this credit as long as 20% or more of your overall equipment inventory meets the criteria. Correct? Thanks.

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. May 04 2010 Moderator

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

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Carey Paul
May 04 2010
Guest
63 Thumbs Up

Cleaning Equipment in Multi-family Residential

We are going for LEED EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. with a multi-family (senior housing) residential building with approximately 80 units. There is limited community space and mostly outdoor corridors. Is it necessary for each occupant to use cleaning equipment the complies in order to achieve this credit or is it just the building janitorial staff that must use compliant equipment? Would that also be the case for IEQc3.3? Any advice is much appreciated!

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Dan Ackerstein Principal, Ackerstein Sustainability, LLC May 05 2010 Guest Expert 3058 Thumbs Up

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.

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. May 05 2010 Moderator

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.

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Corinna Kester Consultant, Sustainable Buildings and Operations, KEMA May 05 2010 Guest 182 Thumbs Up

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.

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RASHID HAMEEN
Mar 16 2010
Guest
221 Thumbs Up

THE REQUIREMENT

I am bit unclear about the requirement of this credit where 20% needs to apply to which and 100% compliance needs to be met for what....From what i got i think it as 20% products of all the inventory and 100% of products bought during the performance period need to comply with the set standards...
Please post if i am wring on this....

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Tristan Roberts Editorial Director – LEEDuser, BuildingGreen, Inc. Mar 17 2010 Moderator

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

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RASHID HAMEEN Mar 18 2010 Guest 221 Thumbs Up

Tristan, thanks for the clarification.

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Jeff Benavides Project Manager, ecoPreserve: Building Sustainability Dec 17 2011 Member 445 Thumbs Up

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?

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Megan Meiklejohn Sustainability Project Manager, Healthy Buildings Dec 18 2011 Guest Expert 42 Thumbs Up

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.

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