By Steve Ashkin, The Ashkin Group

As I think you know, earlier this year LEED-EB went through a major revision that resulted in some important changes affecting our industry. Of these changes perhaps the most significant is the inclusion of a “prerequisite” for Green Cleaning. Think about it --- going forward ALL buildings going for LEED-EB certification will need to put in place a policy on Green Cleaning with specific requirements for purchasing chemicals, paper, liners and equipment, along with standard operating procedures, appropriate training and staffing levels. All things that you can help them with.

Other changes include a name change to LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (LEED-EBOM) to make it clearer that this Rating System focuses on operations and maintenance, increasing compliance options by adding Environmental Choice standards on an equal footing to those from Green Seal, and eliminating potential barriers to new innovations in the equipment and paper categories.

And one other important change and opportunity for you to help your customers and differentiate yourself from your competition is the addition of a credit on the APPA’s Custodial Effectiveness Audit. The reason this audit is so important is that it helps get beyond simply replacing traditional products with green alternatives and begins to actually measure cleaning performance. Furthermore, LEED-EBOM awards up to two points for this credit depending upon performance, thus creating an incentive for more cleaning!

But this article is not about the changes in LEED-EBOM. Rather it is about the confusion that has gone on as a result of all the changes and the opportunity this creates for those sales people who can help their customers navigate their way through the certification process.

And the confusion is magnified not only due to the changes in LEED-EBOM, but because the US Green Building Council (USGBC) has just announced its plans to revise all of the LEED Rating Systems into what’s being called either LEED Version 2009 or LEED Version 3.

I suspect that the USGBC will spend the rest of this year hammering out the changes that will comprise LEED V2009, but the one thing that is clear --- is that everyone is confused!

But there is one fact that remains unchanged --- LEED is here to stay and is accelerating in the marketplace. Thus, even with all the changes, uncertainty and confusion --- LEED presents an unmistakable opportunity.

Furthermore, let’s be realistic. Every jansan distributor has a “green” glass cleaner, vacuum cleaner certified by the Carpet & Rug Institute, paper products with recycled content and other components of a green bundle to meet the LEED-EBOM requirements. But while most offer these products, I think most are confused about the changes in LEED and as a result, cannot provide clarity to their customers.

In a time of change and confusion, customers more than ever value the knowledge to solve their problems. And yes, if the problem-solving comes with the purchase of cleaning chemicals, paper, liners, equipment, etc., then so be it. After all, they have to buy these products from someone.

And what I find interesting in this time period is that a lot of questions will go unanswered. Certainly, you can review the information and become knowledgeable about the changes from LEED-EB to the current version of LEED-EBOM. Specifically, I would encourage you to develop some expertise in the APPA Custodial Effectiveness Audit as buildings will need someone to do the audits for them. And on top of this, you may find other sales opportunities that legitimately help the customer when conducting the audit.

But in dealing with Version 2009, you will need a slightly different tact to be helpful simply because there are still many unknowns. One strategy is simply to use perhaps the most basic strategy for overcoming an objection/question. Simply tell your customer that you’ll look into the question and get back to them with an answer. Obviously this is preferable than giving them an uninformed and potentially incorrect answer.

However I believe a better strategy is to know enough about the subject/questions to be able to have an informed and intelligent discussion with the customer as this will give you the opportunity to differentiate yourself from everyone else who is simply “going to get back to them”.

For example, be prepared to have a short discussion about “alternative transportation” which is the USGBC’s effort to try and affect the enormous environmental impacts from commuting, which represents approximately 20 percent of all energy consumption and greenhouse gases. The problem (or discussion) is when selecting the location for a new building the owner/developer can choose between potential locations and select the one that is closer to their labor pool and public transportation, such as on a bus or train line.

So while increasing the number of points for alternative transportation by 15 points may make a lot of sense for a new building (LEED-NC) it may NOT make sense for an existing building. After all, if an existing building is not near a bus line, if the community it is in does not have trains, subways or other means of public transportation than an existing building is limited in terms of what it can achieve.

Furthermore, if we look at two similar performing buildings --- one in New York City and one in Washington, DC we could easily argue that the opportunities for alternative transportation are comparable. But NOT when we compare two similar buildings --- one in New York City and one in a small community in Southern Indiana (where I live) where the infrastructure for public transportation is basically none existent. There are no subways. The trains have long ceased operations here. And virtually no one takes the bus.

The challenge we can discuss with our customer is that the building in New York City because of its location would be awarded up to 15 points for literally doing NOTHING! And this is enough points to help an existing building that otherwise wouldn’t even meet the basic certification level to become certified, or move from certified to Silver and from Silver to Gold. FOR DOING NOTHING!

While encouraging alternative transportation is without a doubt an important issue, it is in my opinion appropriate to give lots of points to encourage a developer to construct a building near public transportation, but the overall points should be reduced in LEED-EBOM since there is so much less the existing building can do.

All of this leads to the issue of “regional” credits. For example, a building located in the desert southwest where water is a serious issue, should be awarded more points in this area to encourage conservation. Whereas a similar building in another geography where water isn’t quite the same magnitude of an issue would apply less weight (less points) for water as part of their overall score. In addition, other issues could affect the weighting of points based on the issues that are critical to their area and allow both flexibility and creativity based on regional issues and needs. What a terrific idea!

And the discussion above on alternative transportation in my opinion needs to be part of the regional issue discussion --- and an area of discussion that you can have with your customer.

Then there is the basic issue of “weighting” the credits. I applaud the USGBC for trying to look at this issue more scientifically and put some reason why energy gets X number of points, water Y number of points, cleaning Z number of points, and so forth. But you can have an “interesting” discussion with your customers about how most Life-Cycle Assessments (LCA) do a reasonably good job measuring environmental impacts resulting from energy and material use and consumption, but they do a POOR job measuring the human health and performance impacts.

Human health and performance typically require a risk assessment tool and actually explains one of the primary reasons why cleaning often goes under appreciated in LCA programs and why in LEED Version 2009 cleaning lost points compared to transportation, energy and water.

But please remember that this article is NOT to complain about the proposed changes to LEED Version 2009. Rather, this article is to give you some tools to have an informed and interesting conversation with your customers which demonstrates that you are more than just a sales person who can drop off a case of toilet bowl cleaner. And while anyone can say “I’ll get back to you on that”, you can demonstrate that you get it!

Thus in this time of confusion and when interest and the need for information is accelerating, use this time to get educated and become the resource that will truly set you apart. Not only will it benefit your customers, it will help you become a more valuable asset and help you sell more.

Remember, our customers have to buy green products and services from someone, and I’d prefer that it’s from you! Good selling.

Steve

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About the Author:

A 25+ year veteran of the cleaning industry, Stephen Ashkin is the author of Green Cleaning for Dummies and a tireless advocate for environmentally preferable cleaning products. Often referred to as the “father of green cleaning,” Ashkin has played a pivotal role in setting industry standards, promoting environmentally preferable products, and advocating for socially responsible practices.

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