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Building a foundation for green cleaning
This prerequisite lays the groundwork for achieving the IEQ credits for green cleaning (for an overview of all the green cleaning credits and how they relate to each other, see the diagram at right). A green cleaning policy provides your team with a document of guiding principles and a single reference point for questions.
You don’t have to hit your targets, such as the percentage of compliant cleaning products that you intend to use, but you do have to implement the policy to the best of your ability. The green cleaning credits award actual attainment of your goals.
Early is best
It’s critical to create your green cleaning policy early. It will inform the later parts of the...
Step-by-step credit help
Got the gist of the LEED credit but not sure how to actually achieve it? LEEDuser gives step-by-step help. Members get:
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24 Comments
time green cleaning needs to be in place
I am wondering if we are applying this credit as an innovation credit for a NC project, if it needs to be in place before the tenants have moved in, or is there a window of time within which it is required?
It would be best to have the plan in place prior to tenants moving in so that it can be included in their lease agreements if they are providing their own cleaning, or so they can be aware of the green cleaning program and expectations if the landlord is providing the cleaning. However, if it is going into place after tenants have moved in, I don't think that necessarily means you can't earn the ID credit for an NC project.
Green Cleaning Policies
Are there any examples of GC policies that could be shared? I need to write one for the County that will cover a range of buildings, including a hospital, and would love to have a good example to start from that is in the LEED format. We plan on going after several of the other GC points as well. jill.boone@faf.sccgov.org if you have one to share! Thanks.
Jill, Have you downloaded the Green Cleaning template under the Documentation Toolkit tab above? It’s a great resource for developing a Green Cleaning policy that will meet the LEED requirements/format, and you should add specifics about your buildings, especially if you have additional requirements for the hospital.
Hi Jill,
There is a good example in the Green Existing Schools Implementation Workbook which you can download here. It's sort of a hidden gem, I use it all the time!
Thank you! I haven't spent much time in LEEDuser, but am really glad to find these templates and guides. This will make it much easier!
GS-42 Certified service providers
Can anyone provide feedback on the benefits of contracting with a GS-42 Certified service provider from a LEED perspective? I understand that the obvious benefit would be that the service provider is probably already doing most of what LEED requires for EQp3, EQc3.1 and potentially EQc3.3 and EQc3.4, but does that translate to a streamlined or simplified LEED documentation process in anyway?
Thanks!
Steve, unfortunately there is no official streamlined option for contracting with a GS-42 certified provider to simplify the LEED documentation. However, if you are working with a GS-42 certified provided, acquiring the necessary documentation will be significantly easier than working with a vendor who is new to green cleaning. Certified providers must comply with the GS-42 criteria, which is very similar to the LEED requirements. A few of these requirements include; a building-specific green cleaning plan, requirements for new powered cleaning equipment (the criteria is almost identical to the LEED criteria), and purchasing environmentally preferable products. Have you thought about submitting a CIRCredit Interpretation Ruling. Used by design team members experiencing difficulties in the application of a LEED prerequisite or credit to a project. Typically, difficulties arise when specific issues are not directly addressed by LEED information/guide or LEED Interpretation for this inquiry? This seems to be a valid topic to submit a LEED Interpretation to streamline documentation for project teams as well as reviewers.
green cleaning in schools
What do you do about achieving this Prereq if the school district requires the use of bleach as a disinfectant?
Lauren, that should not preclude you from earning the prereq. What specifically made you concerned about that?
Tristan, thank you so much for getting back to me on this; this particular topic has thrown a wrench into our LEED process. We've not submitted for review yet, but we are well into documentation. Bleach doesn't meet Greenseal or any of those other standards named in the prereq, right? Doesn't the prereq require that the cleaning products used in the building be either Greenseal or one of those other standards? (Sorry, I don't have the Reference Guide in front of me at the moment.) Maybe I'm misunderstanding the intent of the prereq??
Lauren, I think it's important to distinguish between the prereq and the credits. The prereq requires you to have a green cleaning policy in place and even goals for meeting certain thresholds, and you have to implement that policy to the best of your abilities, but you don't have to hit your targets. That's for the credits.
Looked at from a wider angle, perhaps implementing such a policy will prod the school district into considering greener products.
Ah! Whew! Okay, that makes sense. Thanks so much for your guidance on this.
Scope of the policy
Hello,
Our project consists of a building with many different tenancy areas. The core areas are managed by the landlord and have a green cleaning policy. However, tenants have their own cleaning policy. Must they also comply with the credit requirements ?
Thanks,
Yes, they would need to comply, since they are part of the LEED project area. It's always been more challenging to earn EB O&M in multi-tenant buildings, where individual tenants make their own purchasing and management decisions, but it certainly the intent of the credit to address all the tenant spaces and not just the common areas. Many multi-tenant buildings provide cleaning services to tenant areas as part of the lease agreements, and so this credit is easier to achieve in those situations. In other cases, some building owners have provided green cleaning products for free to the tenants, since that cost was fairly small.
In Reference Guide it is written as:
At a minimum, the policy must cover the green cleaning
procedures and materials that are within the building and site management’s control.
As I understand, the tenant areas do not have to comply with the policy/prerequisite in case they are not under building and site management's control. However, if you would like to apply for the credit to earn points, then at least 90% of the area of the building should comply with the requirements. Am I misinterpreting?
Check the text of this item under our Checklists tab above—it covers what to expect in this regards for the prereq and credit.
Equipment Purchases
We are implementing a Green Cleaning Policy for an ID credit in NCv2009, which simply requires that you meet this prerequisite (not Credits 3.3 & 3.4). However, despite being NC, this project is a gut remodel and has existing cleaning equipment so we aren't making new equipment purchases. Has anyone defined what is required in this situation? Must 20% of our equipment meet the policy now, or can the policy simply apply to future purchases?
You have a little flexibility when adapting an EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. credit to use as an ID credit in NC, so if you feel your policy is less rigorous in some areas you can compensate in others.
If you were pursuing this under EBOM, you would have show that 20% of your equipment inventory meets the policy, which might require some purchases.
For your ID credit, however, you might want to consider adapting parts of 3.1 and 3.3 in addition to the EQp3 steps into your Green Cleaning Policy, such as a contract with a janitorial services company that agrees to use approved products, a contract for the purchase of green cleaning products, etc.
Thanks! We are also including other aspects of EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. into the credit. For reference to help others looking for this ID credit, the GBCI reviewer said to provide a copy of a completed EBOM IEQp3 Credit Form (I am not sure if the accompanying policy must be uploaded). So the policy must meet all aspects of the prerequisite, although there is no performance period to track.
existing green cleaning policy
my client has an existing green cleaning policy not crafted in the format of LEED. i'm preparing a cover letter in the format of LEED to guide the LEED assessor to locate the information required within the existing green cleaning policy. my questions refer to filling out the template form as below:
1) in this case, do i need to click on the "additional details" portion to alert the assessor?
2) if so, do i click on "special circumstances preclude documentation of prerequisite compliance with the submittal requirements outlined in this form" or " project team is using alternative compliance approach"?
On the LEED Online form for this credit there is the following wording:
"Upload a copy of the compliant Green Cleaning policy/contract that covers the project building and includes relevant requirements."
It is followed by a checklist of requirements.
My thinking is that an alternative compliance approach would only be warranted if not all of these could be checked off, or if you had a totally different way of approaching things or documenting them. My feeling is that your cover letter does the job and you shouldn't go on the alt. path.
I was wondering when writing
I was wondering when writing the cleaning policy do you include products and/or equipment that are used at the site in the approved product/equipment list even if they do not meet any of the sustainability criteria?
Rachel,
Only products that comply with the sustainability criteria should be listed in these sections. The approved product and equipment list sections are intended to be filled out as references for future users of the Policy. As such, when future Policy users need to identify a compliant vacuum or compliant window washing solvent, all they have to do is look at these tables and they'll know what products have been pre-vetted. Does that make sense?
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