Green Operations & Maintenance
What are some of the benefits of green cleaning?
Billions of dollars annually are dedicated to labor, products and equipment to clean and maintain schools, hospitals, hotels, offices and other facilities. Protecting the built environment has a profound impact on our natural environment, economy, health and productivity. Below are links that illustrate some of the economic and environmental benefits that can be gained through Green operations and Maintenance.
What are the components of Green operations and maintenance for buildings?
General guidelines for building operations and maintenance include indoor air quality management, green and healthy housekeeping, waste reduction and recycling, energy and water conservation and green grounds keeping. Green Operations and Maintenance Resource publications can be found through Enterprise Resource under topic Green Affordable Housing and through Green Seal publications and reports. The California Public Utilities Commission has prepared a maintenance and Operations manual for high performance Schools. This manual is designed to help management, maintenance, grounds keeping and custodial staff understand the unique maintenance and operations demands of high performance schools.
Are there guidelines to help inform my Communities Owners and Building Managers about Indoor air quality (IAQ) management practices?
All of us face a variety of risks as we go about our day to day lives. Being exposed to environmental pollutants is one of these risks that we may decide to avoid it if we had the opportunity to make an informed choice. The US Environmental Protection Agency offers tools, resources and advice to inform the individual on reducing IAQ http://www.epa.gov/iaq. By training your Maintenance and Operations staff and informing occupants about factors that create indoor air issues, many IAQ problems can be prevented.
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/largebldgs/pdf_files/iaq.pdf
Green and Healthy House Keeping
There are many cleaning products that Green janitorial operations are incorporated into many communities' homes and businesses. The US Environmental Protection Agency Guidelines has prepared guidelines on the purchase of environmentally preferable cleaning products. Cleaning tips and products can be found at:
http://www.parish-supply.com/maintenance_tips.htm
http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/epp/pubs/cleaner.pdf
Waste Reduction and Recycling
http://www.epa.gov/msw/reduce.htm
http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/WPW
The States of Washington, Pennsylvania and California.
Water Conservation
The benefits of optimal building operations in terms of water performance are substantial over a 50 year lifespan. Vancouver Canada's BUILDSMART program, Environment Canada and Florida Green Lodging offer advice on water audit and conservation best practices.
Energy Conservation
Proper Operation and maintenance activities provide a cost-effective method of increasing equipment efficiency, reliability and safety. It has been estimated that O&M programs targeting energy efficiency only can save 5% to 20% on energy bills without a significant capital investment. Many O&M improvements can be accomplished immediately and at a relatively low cost.
The Florida Green Lodging Program offers tools to help increase efficiency and decrease energy consumption.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania organized a manual to guide and support the maintenance and operations of its government buildings.
Many buildings in our communities have heating, cooling, lighting and control systems that are in need of tune up and operations program to reduce energy use and increase mechanical equipment efficiency. By addressing common operational problems The Energy Trust of Oregon has assisted commercial building owners in reducing annual energy consumption by 6-15%. http://www.energytrust.org/bto/
Green Grounds Keeping
http://www.greenbuilder.com/sourcebook/XeriscapeGuideline7.html
http://www.greenseal.org/resources/reports/CGR=LawnCareEquip.pdf
