Second LEED-EBOM Commenting Period

JanSan Altruism
Second LEED-EBOM Commenting Period

September 14, 2011, was a big day in the professional cleaning industry. That was when the second round of public comments regarding Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (LEED-EBOM) began.

LEED-EBOM is often used as a tool for the ongoing operation and maintenance of existing commercial facilities such as schools, office buildings and the like. The certification system identifies and rewards current best practices in these facilities and provides a voluntary outline for buildings to use less energy, less water and fewer natural resources; improve and protect the indoor environment; and uncover and potentially end operating inefficiencies.

The program has become the single most important road map for green cleaning in the professional cleaning industry. It establishes the prerequisites and credits that will help shape customer demand for environmentally preferable cleaning products and tools in years to come.

The program has evolved over the years, as has the importance of green cleaning in LEED certification. At one time, facilities received points if they incorporated green cleaning strategies into the building’s maintenance operations. Now, that has gone a step further. green cleaning and the use of environmentally preferable products and strategies are a prerequisite for a facility seeking to be designated as LEED certified.

To make it easier to identify proposed changes to the current LEED-EBOM standards, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), which operates the LEED program, provides a “redlined” version at www.USGBC.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=9796. This way, visitors can see quickly what proposed changes in wording or to the regulations themselves are being considered.

The Ashkin Group and Green Cleaning University strongly encourage those in the professional cleaning industry as well as other building professionals to provide feedback on the proposed changes. One of the things we want to do is to clarify the language in the proposed changes so that everyone in our industry is clear what the new requirements or changes are and there is no ambiguity.

But, most of all, this allows our industry to have a strong and powerful collective voice on issues that can impact our industry and cleaning services for years to come.

To view the proposed drafts and changes, visit www.USGBC.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=2516

Stephen Ashkin is president of The Ashkin Group LLC, a leading green cleaning consulting organization, and Sustainability Dashboard Tools LLC. Sustainability Dashboard Tools is a web-based system that allows cleaning professionals to measure the natural resources their businesses use and the greenhouse gas emissions they generate. Armed with this information, businesses can make commonsense changes that reduce their impact on the environment. Such changes save businesses money and make them more efficient and competitive while also benefiting their facilities, employees and local community as well as the environment.