Cleaning institutional buildings poses many challenges for facility managers. In education and health care buildings, mangers must find safe and effective cleaning solutions, sensitive to the volatile health of their occupants. At the forefront of most managers’ cleaning agendas are needs to improve indoor air quality (IAQ), improve the health of buildings and the people who visit them, and reduce the negative impact to the environment both in the building and beyond. These are demanding objectives for any facility manager and are especially tough today for many who are faced with shrinking budgets. In these unique environments, managers must be armed with cleaners that are:

• Affordable and meet their budget requirements;
• Effective at removing a multitude of stains and dirt;
• Agreeable to their building’s IAQ and the environment.

The important trend of “green” cleaning has finally come to carpet cleaning proving
that dry cleaning carpets is better for businesses and safer for customers.

Healthy vs Sick Building Syndrome
Facility managers of education and health care institutions need to create ‘healthy’ environments with exceptional IAQ as occupants, and many visitors, have a myriad of specific health issues. Cleaning products with heavy chemicals and fragrances that are water-based pose threats in these vulnerable environments with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These emitted chemical gases from certain solids or liquids contain short- and long-term adverse health effects. Concentrations of many VOCs are sometimes up to ten times higher indoors than outdoors. These levels are dangerous for those who frequent the building as well as the users of the products containing VOCs, like janitorial staff. Reducing VOCs can be difficult in schools and hospitals with carpet in strategic, high-traffic locations. In schools, carpet is crucial to help absorb noise and create a quiet learning environment. Carpet is necessary in many hospital areas like entryways, to capture dirt and debris from those entering from outside. Over the course of one year, an entryway carpet can collect over 39 pounds of dirt. In an effort to effectively maintain a healthy building in every aspect, a facility manager must look for a product that is tough on dirt yet gentle on the environment and building occupants.

How to Find a Superior Cleaning Product
When looking for an exceptional cleaning product to meet their exclusive needs, begin with an organic-based system. These cleaners are typically composed of a dry encapsulation method which makes them biodegradable, non-toxic and non-moisture producing. The dry cleaning encapsulation method uses no water, harmful liquidbased chemicals or heavy metals. This makes cleaning carpets effective by eliminating the production of moisture and by extracting pollutants, mold and hazardous bacteria. This cleaning system is typically created in an environmentally-friendly manner and is fragrance free. In sensitive environments, a cleaning product with these elements keeps buildings ‘healthy’.

Benefits of Being Environmentally-Friendly
In the carpet cleaning industry, 75% of cleaning companies use a wet method of carpet maintenance. By taking measures to be ‘green,’ companies create circumstances that minimize negative effects to the outdoor environment while also creating the most ideal indoor environment. Low moisture carpet cleaning conserves water by producing less contaminated and harmful water waste. This method is also free from ozone depleting chemicals and has a low VOC content. Adopting the dry method helps the environment and also helps maintain carpet by not tearing down fibers.

Traditional wet carpet cleaning requires an average of 24-hours to dry, making the section of the building being cleaned unusable. By taking hours to dry, wet cleaning also creates an environment for mold to grow and to create a musty odor. Dry cleaning allows for foot-traffic in the area being cleaned and impedes rapid re-soiling of the carpet.

Dry cleaning creates a healthier environment for those in the building. Each year, thousands of janitorial workers in the United States are injured using harmful cleaning products in commercial settings, which cost companies thousands of dollars in workers’ claims. According to past research by the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 27,000 janitors injure themselves each year in chemical-related injuries. Implementing more environmentally-friendly cleaning procedures can help save building owners from costly workers compensation claims. Green methods of cleaning are gentle and reduce the tearing down of certain carpet fibers. This process increases the life of most flooring surfaces. Cleaning companies using the dry cleaning process are experiencing cost savings benefits attributed to carpets replaced less often and fewer incidents with janitors.

Credible and Proven Effective
A growing number of mill warranties are now based on carpets being cleaned only with products carrying the Carpet and Rug Institute Seal of Approval. Endorsement from the CRI means the cleaner has passed stringent tests administered by an independent, accredited laboratory. A nod from the CRI is important when looking for the best possible product. A few shocking statistics demonstrate the importance of taking steps to use “green” cleaners:

• 50 percent of all illnesses are either caused or aggravated by poor IAQ (American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology);
• Up to 64 million U.S. office workers and teachers may be at risk of suffering from Sick Building Syndrome
(World Health Organization);
• Airborne nosocomial diseases account for four to five percent of all hospital-acquired infections (Industry estimates);
• About 20 percent of the nation’s schools have problems linked to IAQ (U.S. Department of Education, U.S. GAO;
• For every ten workers, poor IAQ caused an additional six sick days per year (Environmental Protection Agency).

At the Charles Young Elementary School in Washington, DC, green cleaning and indoor air quality programs were implemented to address total environmental quality. Here are some of the remarkable results of their green cleaning and indoor air quality programs (Source: Healthy School Environment and Enhanced Educational  Performance – The Case of Charles Young Elementary School, Washington, DC, Carpet & Rug Institute, January 2002.):

• School attendance increased from 89% to 93%;
• Math scores at basic or above increased from 51% to 76%;
• Reading scores at basic or above increased from 59% to 75%.

Cleaning Made Easy With Simple Steps
Facility managers can confront the challenges of cleaning sensitive environments like hospitals and schools head on when armed with environmentally- friendly cleaners. These products improve the IAQ and health of buildings while meeting managers’ specific needs of:

• Removing a multitude of stains and dirt in a non-toxic manner;
• Being non-toxic and free from VOC’s, carcinogens and other harmful metals and ingredients;
• Being low cost and budget friendly;
• Being a dry cleaning method preventing against mold, bacteria and fungi;
• Being fragrance free, averting respiratory issues and illness.

These important elements coupled with a budget friendly price make for a superior cleaning product.

The dramatic improvements in carpet cleaning are changing the course of many cleaning industries like garment preservation. Safe cleaning products are necessary for delicate environments like schools and  hospitals but are also good for day to day operations. They create better and safer cleaning and make a significant impact on keeping a building healthy. Cleaning companies using the environmentally- friendly dry cleaning method are seeing cleaner buildings, healthier occupants, visitors and staff. They are also experiencing a tremendous growth in their businesses in just one year due to cost savings benefits. The important trend of “green” cleaning has finally come to carpet cleaning proving that dry cleaning carpets is better for businesses and safer for customers.

Ed Sisk is president and CEO of XL North which manufactures and distributes the environmentally-conscious, Grab Carpet Maintenance System (www.grabfloorcare.com). Mr. Sisk has been instrumental in rallying carpet cleaning companies across the country in becoming more environmentally- conscious by using safer cleaning products in their day-to-day operations. He can be reached at ed_sisk@grabfloorcare.com.