case study ProTeam Booth 3116 More Buildings, Same Staff? No Sweat. Calvin College makes a tight budget work with ProTeam ® backpack vacuums. L Last winter, a new building opened at Calvin College, a liberal arts school spanning 400 acres in Grand Rapids, Michigan. That January, Assistant Director of Facilities Ada Castle was faced with the worst economic climate in decades and a budget that wouldnʼt give. She couldnʼt hire more staff, so how could she keep up high cleaning stan-dards on the growing campus? In 2004, Castle attended a Jim Harris seminar on Team Cleaning ® and was introduced to a way to improve both the quality and efficiency of cleaning. Thatʼs when she first heard about ProTeam backpack vacuums and how, when used within a Team Cleaning system, a back-pack cleaner can increase productivity by up to 70 percent. At the time, Calvin College planned to unveil their first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building; Team Cleaning fit right in line with the collegeʼs green efforts. “Team Cleaning and green cleaning seemed to evolve at the same time. ProTeam backpack vacuums are part of that,” says Castle. “When we first started using Team Cleaning methods, our effi-ciency increased and our buildings are healthier because we filter the air that goes through the vacuum. With a beater-bar upright, dust goes back in the air. Our backpacks remove dust rather than letting it go airborne. We donʼt clean for appearance, we clean for health.” With a staff of 30 full-time cleaning pro-fessionals, Castle and her crew cover over 1.7 million square feet in a typical day, primarily on the second shift after classes are done. Now, workers are no longer given a cleaning zone to tackle in full, but are assigned a set task over a large area. So, instead of needing six vacuums and six restroom carts for six workers, one person can use a high-effi-ciency ProTeam backpack vacuum to cover all six areas. The amount of equip-ment Calvin College required went down and cleaning productivity improved. “We easily make 10,000 square feet an hour,” says Castle. “Our housekeep-ers are finding the backpacks much less physically stressful. They even prefer it to a central vacuum because movement is easier.” The cleaning crew didnʼt always feel that way. In the beginning, Castle recounts, “some of the old dogs said, ʻIʼm not gonna wear that.ʼ They just needed it properly fitted. Someone from ProTeam came out and fitted each person for a backpack. So now, housekeepers have an assigned, properly adjusted vacuum. One of the original resistors is now retired, but I know if I had tried to switch out his backpack for an upright I would have had a battle.” The school continues to fine-tune Team Cleaning practices to better match the changing needs on campus. To inte-grate more green cleaning standards, Calvin College now buys walk-off mats made of recycled materials, uses green chemicals and strives to meet most U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for post-consumer materials in trash liners and paper products. The col-lege now also has more than two dozen ProTeam backpack vacuums, primarily the Super CoachVac ® with high-powered suction and four filters to trap fine dust. “Weʼve had fewer complaints about people with asthma or allergies,” says Castle. “I know itʼs better and healthier to use the backpacks. Above all, we want a healthier environment. So we get the equipment that works the best.” New building construction continues at Calvin College, giving Castle and her crew more dust to contend with, and eventually, more square feet to cover. Castle is not worried, however, because she has the method and tools to tackle the task. CM Circle Product Information no. 154 This content was provided by ProTeam Inc. as part of a paid advertisement. For more information, please contact ProTeam directly at 1-866-888-2168 or www.pro-team.com. www.cmmonline.com 25
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