Corporate Home

Whole Systems Green Cleaning

by Fred Klammt

Most green cleaning programs focus on using less toxic cleaning chemicals. While using greener cleaning products contributes to a healthier and greener workplace environment, facilities managers can do so much more.

A whole systems green cleaning program embraces a systems view that encompasses all aspects of the building cleaning process: from the building’s initial materials’ design and use, to the disposal and reuse of the facilities’ entire custodial labor, including the entire material and equipment supply chain.  It is not a quick band-aid fix, but part of a long-term continuous green cleaning improvement process. 
Rather than focusing on greening the cleaning chemicals only, let’s go upstream and start at the beginning. To properly set goals for a whole systems green cleaning program, we need to first define green cleaning.

Definition of green cleaning 

Having a clean workplace is fundamental to a safe and high quality workplace. But who’s to say what’s clean?  Clean is in the eye of the beholder, it means different things to different people. Degrees of cleanliness vary across cultural backgrounds, geographic locations, and industries. Heck it even varies between two people! 

There are many definitions of green cleaning. Here’s one from Wikipedia1:

‘ term that has been coined to describe a trend away from chemically-reactive and toxic cleaning products which contain various toxic chemicals some of which emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) causing respiratory and dermatological problems among other adverse effects. Green cleaning can also describe the way residential and industrial cleaning products are manufactured, packaged and distributed. If the manufacturing process is environmentally-friendly and the products are biodegradable, then the term 'green' or eco-friendly may apply.’ 

In other words, our current, common definition of green cleaning is all about chemicals. I propose we embrace a new definition of green cleaning: ‘creating a clean, safe + healthy workplace in a sustainable manner.’ And if one needs further clarification, I’d add Bill McDonough’s phrase ‘without harm to any children’.  This concept involves much more than just choosing the right cleaning chemicals. 

Traditional FM green cleaning opportunities

Traditional green cleaning consists of adopting greener (less toxic) cleaning products and practices in your office to improve the air quality which can result in healthier workers and less absenteeism. If you want to improve on your traditional green cleaning program, there are plenty of articles and discussions about various green cleaning products and the meaning of the various green labels and certifications.  My advice is to dig a bit deeper and find out for yourself what is behind any green labeling.

Let’s focus on what you can do beyond buying green cleaning chemicals and get started on a whole systems green cleaning process.  This is truly a triple bottom line (TBL)2 opportunity. 

Beyond green cleaning chemicals

To move beyond greener cleaning chemicals, a whole systems approach is needed.  In facility management this approach must be applied to both new and existing buildings/projects. Figure 1 below illustrates the components and relationships within a whole systems green cleaning process.

For new buildings, a whole systems green cleaning approach is relatively straightforward. Specify better, more intelligent materials that require less cleaning and adopt a design approach that eliminates dust and dirt accumulation.  A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA3) approach must be used to the green cleaning process.  This includes: 

1. Front-end material selection,
2. Chemicals + Cleaning process to be used on the materials,
3. Metrics and TBL of materials, cleaners + cleaning processes, and
4. The process of decommissioning and salvaging of the material, cleaning products and cleaning equipment.

While it may not be the job of the designer to educate a client about the various tradeoffs in materials and cleaning – though I maintain it should be – some client knowledge will make a big difference in the long-term effectiveness of a whole systems green cleaning program.  Once the material is in place it needs to be cleaned for the life of the building, sometimes more than 50 years. Somebody needs to take the lead in understanding the life cycle differences between various material choices.  Either the client specifies to the designer, or the designer educates the client on the cleaning impact of different material choices.

For example, instead of using carpets and horizontal blinds, it might be easier to use hard floors and vertical blinds. Dense (hardscape) materials need less cleaning than porous (softscape) ones. 

We have all seen the life cycle costing examples of various carpets regarding their cleaning, wear, and disposal. Differences between soft and hard flooring are obvious – the LCA of cleaning is not.

Work with your architects and designers.  Educate yourself on the various new eco-products and materials that are being developed to minimize cleaning. A future article will illustrate various new eco-materials that can help minimize and even eliminate cleaning.

STM  +  SLA 

Like the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDCA) Shewart cycle (which is the center piece of all continuous improvement processes) , whole systems green cleaning starts with the end goal: what is the desired result?  What service level will be needed to meet this desired end result?   The STM (Serviceability, Tools & Methods) standard4 already provides a framework of relative scaling for various SLA’s (Service Level Agreements) for various cleaning environments.  Table 1 illustrates some of these SLA differences. 

Subsequent steps in the PDCA cycle involve an actual pilot or test program to check the program against the planned goal and adjust as necessary.  In short  do what you say you’re going to do. 

For whole systems green cleaning this means you’ll need to try out a test or pilot workplace area for new materials, new cleaning processes, etc. and see if it meets your desired results. So, for instance, if you want to use Lotusan5 paint to stop removing grafitti, try a test area, monitor it (invite taggers?), and check how it works for you. 

Once the end result (desired SLA, cleaning standards, equipment, etc) is known, the designer can specify and select the most appropriate materials, similar to the way an HVAC or electrical engineer would specify the comfort and lighting systems based on client needs and operational standards. An optional step here can include considering the method of cleaning in the initial building/project design.  The designer must understand a specific facilities’ cleaning process to aid in specifying materials and appropriate cleaning solutions. 

There are various standards for cleaning available to the facility manager6.  Green cleaning and chemical standards are evolving and being developed to aid in a whole systems approach and encourage use of easier to clean materials, fabrics, and office equipment. 

Summary Guidelines for Whole System Green Cleaning for new Buildings 

• Set a cleanliness standard using the STM or similar SLA scales.
• Adopt the definition: ‘creating a clean, safe + healthy workplace in a sustainable manner.’
• Bring the materials designer/specifier into the process.
• Evaluate and select appropriate materials.
• Conduct a pilot/test project.
• Verify that goals are met, adjust accordingly.
• Focus on continuous improvement.