a clean sweep Green Cleaning At The University Of Maryland The university’s colors are red and yellow, but their vision is green. By: Aaron Baunee • Associate editor T The University of Maryland (UMD) at College Park was established in 1856. Fast-forward 153 years and this forward-thinking university began greening its Department of Residential Facilities house-keeping program, which provides house-keeping and integrated pest management services to over 2.3 million square feet of housing and recreational facilities. Because the health, safety and general well-being of students and staff is para-mount to UMD, cleaning in an environmen-tally friendly manner was something the university took very seriously. The initial trial, which consisted of installing chemical dispensing units and converting to Green Seal-certified cleaning chemicals, affected approximately 700 campus residents in two high-rise resi-dence halls and involved 15 housekeeping staff members. In preparation, three hours of classroom training and one hour of one-on-one train-ing was provided by Spartan Chemicalʼs Regional Manager Ralph Fondren and was designed to help staff understand the pur-pose for each new chemical and the best practices to reduce overall chemical usage and improve the efficacy of their work. Following the purchase of Green Seal-certified products, the installation of the dis-pensing units in each housekeeping supply closet and intense staff training, the trial officially began in September 2005. After four months of testing and observa-tion, it was apparent that the program would help achieve the universityʼs objectives of reducing chemical usage, enhancing work quality and improving indoor air quality. As a result, the program was expanded campus-wide in January 2006. A three-hour training program, similar to that initiat-ed for the trial run, was attended by all of the departmentʼs 89 housekeeping staff. Expanding the program throughout all of the campusʼ residence halls required 623 hours of training and the installation of 78 new dispensing units. Within the last year, new bio-renewable products to address graffiti were added to the inventory that includes a Green Seal-certified all-purpose cleaner and glass cleaner. In addition, a green stripper was intro-duced to replace the high volatile organic compound (VOC) stripping compound used previously in campus residence halls. While staff initially questioned the effec-tiveness of this new product, they have now endorsed the change, noting the positive impact they feel it has made on workplace air quality and their overall health. In 2009, UMD is looking to implement more aspects of green cleaning and adjust their current program. The program is very active and requires that the university continually examine new technologies and even safer, more effective chemicals and procedures. CM UMD Exceeds In Green Realizing that a truly green program reaches far beyond environmentally preferable cleaning chemicals, the uni-versity took several more steps down the green path. Placement of walk-off matting at res-idence hall entrances Established a standard that vacuum cleaners be IICRC-and USGBC-approved Established standard that walk-behinds be LEED compliant and CRI-certi-fied Established a standard that paper towels and toilet paper for campus resi-dence halls contain recycled content paper and meet Green Seal certification Converted the 250,000 square foot Campus Recreation Center housekeeping program to a microfiber cleaning process Installed the campus’ first green roof Installed a storm water irrigation sys-tem Incorporated integrated pest man-agement strategies Implemented a waste recycling pro-gram Implemented carpet recycling Planned and hosted, in conjunction with the International Executive Housekeepers Association (IEHA), the sec-ond annual Green Cleaning Symposium. UMD promotes campus-wide recycling as well as other sustainable initiatives. If you know of someone who you think should be featured in A Clean Sweep, e-mail Aaron Baunee at [email protected]. 50 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • April 2009
CMM – Archives Apr 2009: 50
