TOUCHLESS CLEANING
Making Green the Way to go

There is no question that when it comes to the cleaning, sanitation and general upkeep of the nation’s schools, hospitals, hotels, office buildings and supermarkets— among many, many others—green is becoming the new black. “Green” as in green-cleaning practices that are being put into place encourages—and, in some states, even mandates—the use of environmentally friendly cleaning supplies, water conservation and reconfigured cleaning regimens that decrease the use of energy.

The technological advantages offered by spray-and-squeegee touchless cleaning
systems go hand-in-hand with the increased emphasis on green-cleaning processes.

To illustrate the growing awareness of the benefits inherent in the adoption of greencleaning practices, ISSA: The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association has created a report titled “Green Cleaning Product Procurement Policies, Initiatives and Requirements in the U.S.” that currently lists a total of 16 states that have adopted green-cleaning policies of one kind or another.

Falling in the sweet spot of this increased emphasis on green cleaning are the nation’s schools and hospitals. In fact, according to the ISSA’s report, a number of states and other entities have introduced legislation or guidelines that recommend green-cleaning regimes and the types of chemicals and products that should be used in educational environments.

Two states have already mandated green-cleaning legislation:

• In August 2005, Gov. George Pataki signed into law S.5435 that requires the use of environmentally friendly cleaning products in all schools in New York State. The law lists greencleaning guidelines, addresses the best cleaning-management practices and specifies criteria for selecting green-cleaning products.
• In August 2007, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed the Green Cleaning Schools Act, which requires all public and non-public elementary and secondary schools with 50 or more students to “… stablish a green-cleaning policy and exclusively purchase and use environmentally sensitive cleaning products.”

A third state, Missouri is in the process of writing legislation that will require the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to develop guidelines and specifications for green cleaning in the state’s schools by February 24, 2009.

Three other entities have developed guidelines for greencleaning products and processes, without mandating their implementation:

• In 2007, Maine’s legislature passed a bill that requires the State Department of Education to compile a list of cleaning products that have been certified as meeting “health-based criteria for safety and efficacy” by a third-party independent agency or have been listed by a state agency as “environmentally preferable cleaning products.”
• Minnesota has issued its “Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Guide” as a reference tool to assist government agencies and schools in the selection of environmentally preferable products.
• The Chicago Public School District has adopted a Green Cleaning Policy that encourages the “maintenance of clean, safe and healthy schools through the elimination of contaminants that affect children and adult health, performance and attendance, and the implementation of cleaning processes and products that protect health without harming the environment.”

When it comes to hospitals, a recent report by The Journal of the American Medical Association disturbingly reveals that hospital-acquired infections are now the fourth-largest killer in the U.S., with more than two million hospital patients a year contracting infections and an estimated 103,000 dying as a result. This total is more than the yearly deaths in the U.S. attributable to car accidents, breast cancer and AIDS—combined.

As a result, more and more attention is being paid to the cleaning processes at hospitals and other health-care facilities with the hopes of reducing these startling statistics. A growing number of “how-to” manuals for the cleaning and sanitation of medical facilities are being produced, with many highlighting the need for green-cleaning practices. One, Hospitals for a Healthy Environment, which is now part of an organization called Practice Greenhealth, has produced a “10-Step Guide to Green Cleaning Implementation” that acknowledges that traditional cleaning products and processes can negatively impact both health and the environment.

The guide’s 10 steps to green-cleaning implementation include:

1) Form a team and gain commitment
2) Review current products and practices
3) Evaluate and categorize facility areas
4) Determine evaluation criteria for products and operations
5) Select products
6) Develop a pilot plan
7) Train staff on the pilot plan, gather feedback
8) Evaluate the pilot plan
9) Celebrate success
10) Expand your efforts

Yeah, But…
Surely, there is universal agreement that facility cleanliness is something the public expects and should be provided with. More vigilant cleaning regimens—which will inevitably include green-cleaning principles—will make all facilities healthier, while, in the case of educational facilities, ancillary studies have shown that cleaner schools can lead to higher student achievement.

Too often, though, improved cleanliness goals come to cross purposes with cleaning budgets that have been slashed in an attempt to prop up the bottom line. Recently, the first-ever Integrated Cleaning and Measurement (ICM) Symposium was convened by the International Executive Housekeepers Association to assess the current state of facility cleaning. ICM is an open-source, unified-systems approach to institutional and industrial cleaning, with a primary purpose of creating a unification of elements and a holistic view of building environments, and to use measurement as a means to assess progress and track the benefits of synergies.

An underlying theme of the ICM Symposium was that traditional cleaning methods are no longer sufficient to ensure facility cleanliness. This means that the epoch of hands-on, mopand- bucket restroom cleaning—a labor-intensive exercise performed with a brush, mop and spray bottle full of cleaning chemicals by an oftentimes less-than-motivated custodial staff—has run its course.

The first of the new alternatives to hands-on cleaning is automated touchless cleaning. First-generation automated systems are typically high-volume/high-pressure mobile spray-and-vac cleaning machines that require access to an electrical outlet. These units take restroom cleaning to a new level, but their sheer size, complexity and noise generation often make them impractical for the day-to-day cleaning of small- to medium sized restrooms, while their cost can strain cleaning budgets.

Spray-and-Squeegee Technology Benefits
With more and more facility managers favoring touchless restroom cleaning, and with green-cleaning processes gaining favor, it was inevitable that a new type of automated touchless cleaning system would enter the market, one that not only provides the level of facility cleanliness that is demanded, but also does it in a quiet, cost-effective and environmentally friendly way. The next generation in automated touchless cleaning machines is categorized as spray-andsqueegee.

The design and operation of these new touchless cleaning systems make them perfect for the daily cleaning of small to medium-sized restrooms. Whereas earlier generations of touch-free cleaning units consume water and chemicals at a rate of approximately one gallon per minute and dispense liquids at pressures approaching 500 psi, spray-andsqueegee units use only half-a-gallon of cleaning solution per minute, which is dispensed at less than 100 psi. This allows the cleaning chemical, rather than high pressure, to achieve the desired results.

The large amount of water needed for legacy touchless systems also requires the use of a wet/dry vac to remove the excess water, whereas spray-and squeegee systems enable the liquid remaining on the floor to be removed by squeegeeing it into a floor drain. This design also means that the system can be battery-operated, eliminating the need for a power outlet. And, because there is also none of the noise that is associated with wet/dry vac cleanup, the unit’s almost-silent operation makes it perfect for day-time cleaning, particularly in noise-sensitive environments like schools, hospitals and health-care facilities.

Proven Results
The operation of these new units also puts them within the acceptable standards for recent green- leaning recommendations. Among the environmental, and health & wellbeing benefits of spray-and-squeegee systems are:

• Reduced energy consumption
• Reduced natural resource and chemical usage
• Reduced risk of sprayback of soiland bacteria-contaminated water
• Noise pollution elimination
• Reduced physical stress on workers

Another principal topic at the ICM Symposium concerned measures that can be used to determine the actual cleanliness of a facility after it has been “cleaned.” One new method of determining just how clean a restroom might be is through the use of an ATP meter. ATP stands for adenosine triphosphate, which is present in all organic material, including microbial cells. A high level of ATP on a surface may indicate an elevated level of bacteria. So, even though a surface might appear clean, a quick and simple test with a handheld ATP meter— called a “truth detector” by some for its ability to make the invisible world visible— will quickly and accurately measure the level of cleanliness.

Studies have found that a surface that has been cleaned with a spray-andsqueegee method will see a dramatic reduction in the ATP count. Simply put, spray-and-squeegee cleaning can be scientifically proven to significantly outperform the outdated mop-and-bucket technique because the squeegee does a better job of removing soiled water and chemicals from the surface, which results in an overall cleaner environment.

Today, facility managers face a difficult juggling act: patrons demand and deserve the cleanest facilities possible and studies have shown that green-cleaning processes—in some states backed by legislation—will soon become the norm in facility sanitation, while tightening budgets have made meeting these requirements increasingly problematic.

However, into the void steps the cutting-edge cleaning capability of spray and-squeegee technology. This technology creates a more environmentally friendly cleaning experience with less energy consumption. These units also cost less than most spray-and-vac alternatives, a fact that is not to be undervalued when  shrinking budgets are hampering facility-cleaning efforts at the same time that the public-health community and consumers themselves are demanding cleaner facilities, especially the restrooms.

Bill Taylor is the ICS Sales Manager for Cincinnati, OH-based Hydro Systems Company, the world’s largest independent manufacturer of proportioning, dosing and dispensing systems. Bill can be contacted at 513.271.8800 or btaylor@hydrosystemsco.com.

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