Welcome to DestinationGreen!

Let me begin by wish you a happy, healthy, prosperous and green New Year!

But before I jump into my commentary on this month’s issue of DestinationGreen, like you, I have been moved by the disaster in Haiti. The images and stories have been heartbreaking for so many innocent people. At the same time I have been touched by the generosity of so many ordinary Americans which makes me feel proud to be an American and reminds me what is so special about the American spirit. And I am also very proud of how our industry is beginning to contribute sanitation supplies to help fight against disease which in the near term is the greatest pending threat for the survivors. If you would like to donate money or supplies, I would encourage you to go to the ISSA Foundation who is partnering with the American Red Cross and Gifts in Kind International (GIK) to help.

As to 2010, I am extremely upbeat as the economy starts to revive. Our industry has become a role model on green and sustainability issues, and I believe that more people and industries will recognize our accomplishments, contributions, importance and leadership. We have come along way! And I encourage you to take a moment to read my predictions for 2010 (click here).

But the single most pressing issue I want to draw your attention to is the revisions to LEED-EBOM (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance). As we mentioned last month, The Ashkin Group and the Green Cleaning Network, LLC have been selected to work with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as it prepares its next reversion of LEED-EBOM. Based on our experience working on the LEED-EB Core Committee, we have been asked to gather comments, summarize them and then presented them to the LEED Technical Advisory Groups (TAG) for consideration as they revise the prerequisites and credits. Deadline for comments is January 30, 2010 and we’ve made it easy for subscribers of DestinationGreen to comment by clicking here. So please, please, please comment now as this will be the best chance to make a change in LEED which is the most important driver of the Green Cleaning Movement.

This month Cynthia Schultz, Chief Operating Officer of Sustainability Dashboard Tools LLC continues sharing her thoughts on measuring sustainability and the benefits that can be gained from tracking a company’s ongoing efforts. She speaks of research results from a study recently conducted by the Aberdeen Group based on six key indicators. Many best in class organizations are identifying their key indicators and starting to track them – are you?

This month David Holly, our resident expert on the BSC Market (among other things) is asking you to reflect and reevaluate at the beginning of this New Year. He speaks about shades of green and also ties a Green Cleaning program to the Triple Bottom Line and being a sustainable organization.

Again this month, there is plenty of “green” news in the Green RoundUp section that will help you be on top of your game and a real asset to your clients. I hope you’ll find this issue, as well as those in the archive and future editions to help you succeed with Green Cleaning --- after all, the status quo is not sustainable and without your success, nothing changes!

Steve

P.S. We encourage you to stay in touch and share your personal and professional strategies for “Going Green” with us for future columns. Submit them to editor@destinationgreen.com and join us on Twitter to get frequent updates and suggested readings from us, and to stay in touch throughout the month. http://twitter.com/steveashkin

A Time to reflect and re-evaluate…

By David Holly

Welcome to 2010 – a new year, a new decade, a time for reflection and a time for planning. This is a common time of year for companies and organizations to look back on previous results and think about how to capitalize on the progress they’ve made as well as how to make further improvements to their operations. Unfortunately, in some cases, the need for improvement is dramatic and outweighs the reflection on positive results, making the planning process all the more important.

I hope a part of the process in your organization includes evaluating your Green Cleaning program and looking at ways to make it even more effective. As a good friend of mine, Steve Marshall, likes to say – “There are shades of Green Cleaning – what is yours?” And there are shades of Green Cleaning - ranging from beginning to learn about the benefits and practices, to adding greener products and equipment to your operation, all the way to creating a Stewardship Committee and moving toward a sustainable operation.

It doesn’t matter what shade of green your organization is, the one thing you can count on is that if you are not moving forward, you are moving backward. There is no standing still. The world is changing; new technologies create new opportunities while making others obsolete. The expectations of your clients are growing as are the capabilities of your competitors. If you want to continue the Green Cleaning journey, you have to continue to move forward.

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Sustainability measures are improving profits

Cost-saving measures that have been driven by the recent economic downturn are improving the bottom line and at the same time increasing eco-friendly behaviors. As businesses have found more creative ways to save money, it’s become fashionable to ‘be’ green and sustainable as well. This trend is the result of customer demand – they want to know more about the companies they are doing business with and the products and services they are buying.

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What do Female Biologists, Chemists, Pharmacists, and Janitors All Have in Common?

By Stephen Ashkin

Recently, a study published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine (December 21, 2009)* reported that women working in certain occupations and industries have an increased likelihood of giving birth to children with birth defects—such as spinal and heart malformations as well as gastrointestinal problems—when compared to most other occupational groups. The women at greater risk were working as biologists, chemical scientists, pharmacists, and janitors.

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New Green Seal Environmental Standard for Specialty Cleaning Products GS-52

Green Seal is inviting the participation of stakeholders to assist in the development of a new environmental leadership standard on Specialty Cleaning Products, GS-52. This standard is being developed to help consumers identify and choose environmentally preferable products and services. To be included in the email list for this project that will include project updates and announcements, as well as enable your involvement in the standard development process and to submit comments during review periods, you need to register and participate before the end of the public review of the proposed standard.

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The Marriage Of Sustainability And Company Success In The 21st Century

By Stephen Ashkin

Recently, Roger Corbett, the former chief executive of the F.W. Woolworth Company, said that recessions serve a purpose. They act as a cleansing process, weeding out old businesses and business practices "that should be allowed to fail."

We are already seeing a lot of this "cleansing process" happening in our country and around the world. And, although it may be painful, it is a process that likely must be undertaken to achieve future growth and success.

"Experience has shown [us that] economies that don't allow that cleansing process to happen bounce along the bottom for a long time, as Japan has for the past 20 years," adds Corbett.

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USGBC releases updated LEED statistics

USGBC releases updated LEED statisticsCommercial office projects LEED the way with more than 12,000 registered projects as the total number of registered and certified projects surpasses 30,000 buildings.

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IBEL (Information-Based of Environmental Labeling – The Next Generation

The Information-Based Environmental Label (IBEL) is an ambitious effort to create the next generation product labeling system designed specifically for the commercial cleaning industry. The industry has embraced "green," resulting in over 2,000 unique products made by over 500 cleaning product manufacturers currently "certified" under well-recognized third party programs. However, despite their success in driving the “greening” of the commercial cleaning industry, current product certification systems have demonstrated numerous inherent limitations, including but not limited to the following:

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ISSA Green Cleaning University

ISSA GCU is specifically designed for sales people interested in developing their knowledge of the issues, skills and techniques involved in creating and maintaining Healthy, High Performance facilities. The University also offers the only industry title/designation that recognizes sales and training professionals for their green expertise: ISSA Green Cleaning Professional

ISSA Green Cleaning University's 10 comprehensive courses cover a wide variety of issues including:

* How to Prospect for Green Accounts
* The Green Selling Process
* Conducting a Building Audit and Writing the Report
* Overcoming Common Objection
* An Introduction the USGBC and LEED and many other valuable classes.

ISSA GCU is applicable to all interested persons including: manufacturers, distributors, service providers, building managers & owners, advocates, government officials and others. But with having said this, it again is of special value to sales reps as you are uniquely positioned to be a resource to many others.

We hope you'll take a look at this outstanding program which can help you become an even more valuable resource for your customers and prospects, especially as Green Cleaning continues to accelerate even in challenging economic conditions.

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Green News Roundup: This Month's Top Headlines

Steve is now on Twitter

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The Ashkin Group Calendar of Events

Click below for The Ashkin Group's schedule of upcoming events and presentations.

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