GOVERNMENT INCENTIVIZED By: Stephen Ashkin Sustainability Sometimes, just being the right thing to do is not enough to encourage businesses to invest in and adopt sustainable practices. O Stephen P. Ashkin is president of The Ashkin Group, a consulting firm specializing in greening the cleaning industry, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Sustainability Dashboard Tools LLC, an electronic dashboard that allows orga-nizations to measure and report on their sustainabil-ity efforts. He is also coau-thor of both The Business of Green Cleaning and Green Cleaning for Dummies. for more info Visit www.cmmonline.com and type in search keyword: Sustainability . For more information on related products, visit www.cmmonline.com , select SUPPLIER SEARCH from the main navigation bar, and enter keyword: Green Cleaning . One of the feathers in the professional cleaning industry’s cap is the fact that, after many years of doubt and confusion, it embraced green and more sustainable cleaning on its own by listening to customer demand. In fact, in recent years, this has reached the point that environmentally preferable cleaning chemi-cals, high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtered vacuum cleaners, low-moisture floor machines and recycling carpet extractors have essentially become the norm in the professional cleaning industry. The impetus, as mentioned, was the end cus-tomer. As they started demanding safer cleaning products with less impact on the environment, the industry responded. However, this has not happened in all industry sectors and in all markets, particularly when it comes to sustainability. Because of this, in the past 15 years, a number of state and federal government incentives have been initiated to fuel sustainability efforts by defraying some of its costs. It is worth noting, especially during an elec-tion year, that on a federal level, many of these initiatives have been supported, expanded and renewed by both Democratic and Republican presidents. President Bush continued many of the initia-tives started by the Clinton administration, and the Obama administration has expanded many of these programs considerably, both to promote sustainability and, where possible, to help the economy and create green jobs. Where’s The Fuel? The fuel, as we have called it, for more enhanced sustainability efforts usually comes in the form of tax credits, exemptions, rebates or grants from both state and federal governments. Federal incentives, for instance, include energy credits and grants, loan guarantees, deductions for energy-efficient buildings and accelerated depreciation for some equipment in the hopes that businesses will select greener and more sustain-able equipment. Many of these incentives were initiated with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, otherwise known as the stimulus program that was signed into law shortly after President Obama took office. The act includes billions of dollars to help states develop their own energy efficiency programs and 14 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • May 2012
CMM – Archives May 2012: 14
