Case Study: Education Facility 3M Commercial Solutions Pursuing Excellence At Walsingham Academy E Educational facilities differ in many ways from other public institutions. As learning environments for our youngest and most vulnerable citizens, they must arguably meet higher stan-dards for health, safety, aesthetics and sustainability — all while keeping costs under control. The Walsingham Academy in Williamsburg, Virginia, has taken that man-date seriously. Founded in 1947 by the Sisters of Mercy, Walsingham Academy is now “the premier private school” in the Williamsburg area. The standards are indeed high at this catholic school — even the title of their quarterly magazine is called Excellence at Walsingham Academy . So Jeff Frye, facility director in the main-tenance department, has his work cut out for him not only keeping the school look-ing top-notch, but doing so safely and sustainably. Among a long list of other duties, Frye is responsible for maintaining the school’s more than 100,000 square feet of floor space. Last year he tried out a small area with 3M’s new Resilient Floor Protection System. Extremely pleased with the results — “it looks today like the day we put it down nine months ago” — he decided to con-vert the school’s entire floor space to the product. The result? He’s already found a noticeable differ-ence in wear and durability over traditional floor wax. “It helps us reduce our labor costs and our overall need for floor stripping,” says Frye. “And both our maintenance staff and our visitors appreciate that it has almost no odor, so it’s easy to apply almost any time.” Frye and his staff are especially impressed with the performance of Scotchgard ™ Resilient Floor Protector. “We’ve gotten great results in both com-plete strip-outs and as a coating over exist-ing finishes,” says Frye. But the reduced need for stripping is one of the product’s most important attri-butes. “This product is designed to enhance your floor’s appearance and provide long-lasting protection against stains, scuffs and black marks,” says Paul Amos, marketing manager at 3M Commercial Solutions Division. “All while helping to prevent the need for stripping. In fact, stripping is not required for general maintenance.” According to Amos, eliminating strip-ping can have a cascade effect on a facil-ity’s sustainability goals. It helps reduce water use and wastewa-ter discharge, and it cuts worker exposure to harsh chemicals. “Of course, it also helps reduce mainte-nance costs,” adds Amos. “And Scotchgard ™ Floor Protector helps improve safety through its National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI) high-traction certification and reduced environmental exposure to poten-tially hazardous stripping chemicals.” To get its program started, Walsingham Academy took advantage of a promo-tion 3M offered last year — which is run-ning again in 2014 — for a free 3M ™ Easy Shine Kit with purchase of six cases of Scotchgard ™ Resilient Floor Protector. Look for details at 3M.com/sustainablesolutions. The students at Walsingham may be bliss-fully unaware of the benefits of 3M floor care technology as they walk the halls of the academy, but it’s one less thing to get in the way of their excellent education. FREE INFO: Reader Service 151 or CMMOnline.com/freeinfo This content was provided by 3M as part of a paid advertisement. For more information, please contact 3M directly at 1-800-852-9722 or 3m.com/sustainablesolutions. 20 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® May 2014
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