Canada, daylight cleaning is now gaining steam in the United States as well. While it can be customized to any facili-tyʼs needs — ranging from a call center to an engineering firm with sensitive blue-prints and documents, for example — in a typical daylight cleaning program, cleaners generally begin working before offices open — around 7 a.m. This allows cleaners to attend to duties in high-traffic areas early in the morning before occupants arrive. Critical areas such as C-suites are also cleaned during this time so important meetings are not disturbed during regular hours. Throughout the day, cleaners perform light-duty cleaning responsibilities such as general dusting, spot cleaning surfaces that are visibly soiled, emptying trash cans and vacuuming carpets with a non-motor-ized carpet cleaner. If a tenant does not want his or her office cleaned, they can simply “wave-off” the cleaner, notifying the cleaner that they should return at a later time. If there is an issue needing immediate attention, such as a coffee spill or an unstocked restroom, items can be tended to promptly rather than waiting for evening staff. The result is a win-win for everyone involved, including cleaning staff, building occupants, cleaning managers and build-ing owners. Good For The Environment According to the USGBC, commercial real estate buildings such as hotels, retail stores and corporate work places consti-tute 67 percent of the U.S. existing build-ings market. The waste and energy loss of these buildings has a substantial impact on the environment. In the U.S., commercial building owners spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year on energy. Lights comprise approximately 22 per-cent of total energy costs. By switching to daylight cleaning, busi-nesses reduce the amount of electricity needed to light and heat their buildings by as much as 8 percent. In addition to reducing the amount of energy consumed, daylight cleaning also assists in reducing the number of nighttime bird kills. According to the Fatal Light Awareness Program, each year, more than one million birds die from window collisions stemming from confusion caused by lights shining from inside buildings. In addition to causing significant changes to their migratory patterns, it can also cause death. Ornithologists at the Field Museum of Natural History have confirmed that simply turning off bright lights during evening hours or closing window blinds can reduce bird kills by as much as 83 percent. The environmental benefits of daylight cleaning are so substantial that they can contribute to LEED certification or environ-mental awards. In 2009, Gulf Square Canada was pre-sented with The Earth Award from the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Canada — an award that recognizes excellence in resource preservation and environmentally sound commercial building management. “Our daylight cleaning system helped dif-ferentiate our operations from others under consideration,” said Laura Newcombe, senior property manager of GWL Realty Advisors Inc. “We have always been dedi-cated to keeping our operations as energy-efficient as possible, and daylight cleaning is just another way we have been able to limit our environmental impact.” English skills. Daylight cleaning increases the workersʼ interaction with building tenants, forcing them to com-municate in English and improving their language skills. Elevated confidence and self-image: Cleaning workers, unfortunately, are often not respected due to common misperceptions. Daylight cleaning helps personalize the task, giving ten-ants more appreciation for the work cleaners perform; in turn, this gives cleaners more confidence in them-selves and the work they perform. According to a U.S. News & World Reports article from October of 2004, a family that eats together stays together. Daylight cleaning allows parents to spend more time with their children, limiting opportunities for children to commit delin-quent acts or become involved with nefari-ous characters. Greening During The Day Green cleaning means cleaning in a way that reduces the impact of cleaning on the environment. Because it also helps limit the impact of certain products and processes on human health, it is recognized as a best practice in cleaning and is something more cleaning managers are integrating into their opera-tions. For some, green cleaning is a mandate that comes from the top-down as business-es and building owners look for ways to dif-ferentiate their operations from the compe-tition. For others, it is the realization that switching from hazardous cleaning chemi-cals can improve the health of building occupants and the environment. Regardless of the reason, green cleaning practices are becoming more widely accepted as best practices in cleaning. If you have yet to integrate daylight cleaning, it is time to consider it for any best-in-class cleaning program. As with any new process, you can expect to encounter hiccups along the way, but with the proper steps and communication, you can be on your way to a daylight “greening” program that can help win a Silver, Gold or Platinum award for your building. CM Good For The People While there are many environmental bene-fits to daylight cleaning, there are also sev-eral other tangible and intangible benefits to the system. One is the benefit to cleaning workers, which promotes good corporate responsi-bility. There are several social benefits to a daylight cleaning program, including: Safer commutes: Cleaning workers are often women who have to rely upon public transportation to com-mute to and from work. During evening hours, public transportation operates less frequently, increasing their exposure to potential crimes. Improved language skills: Cleaning workers can sometimes have limited www.cmmonline.com 23
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