Standards and Certification or All About Green Backs?
I just read an article in the newspaper about a school district that decided not to seek LEED Green Certification (www.usbgc.org) for its new high school because doing so would have driven the cost up by $1.5 million. According to the article, approximately $700,000 of the cost was for certification audit services. Obviously there is a lot of money to be made in Green Certification.

Over the last year Green Seal has been accepting donations to put together its Green Cleaning Certification Program for Building Service Contractors. In a recent revote on the details of the program I noticed in the small print that Green Seal would also be requiring, and I assume providing for a fee, the audit services to verify that it’s approved contractors are meeting the requirements of its certification program. (more…)

Filed under: Training by William Griffin
Originally Published: Cleaning in the USA July 2006

ISSA/INTERCLEAN Amsterdam Show (May 9 to 12, 2006)
It was a great show with over 570 booths and 25,000 attendees from over 120 countries. You really couldn’t ask for much more in a tradeshow. Everyone I spoke to was happy and enjoyed themselves. Many new products, innovations and advancements were on display. Some of the items that caught my eye include: Carbon fiber extension poles for window cleaning, diamond impregnated floor pads for stone polishing, new stand up riding equipment, a growing selection of micro-fiber products and flat mops, I only saw one booth in the entire show that displayed a string mop. Biodegradable products including dust mops, trash bags, and wipers were on display. Anti-microbial treatments were included in dust mops, cleaning cloths, micro-fibers and electric hand dryers. Nano-technology is making its way into the cleaning industry in finish, detergents and coatings. (more…)

Filed under: Green Cleaning, Trade Show by William Griffin
Originally Published: Cleaning in the USA May 2006

Honoring Dick
A friend of mine died recently. I don’t usually do funerals, weddings or memorials but I made an exception for Dick. He was one of the good guys and there aren’t enough of them around anymore. Over Dick’s 30 + years in the cleaning industry he worked his way up from a part time janitor to Branch Manager for American Building Maintenance Co. in Seattle WA. This was quite an accomplishment, considering that ABM is one of those places with the 300% turnover. (more…)

Filed under: Green Cleaning, Trade Show, Training by William Griffin
Originally Published: Cleaning in the USA February 2006

Hard Floor Care Trends
You can expect to see more pre-finished floor coverings on the market in the future. It started with laminates, moved over to wood and is now finding its way into resilient flooring. The use of aluminum oxide/mineral based coatings that do more than provide a shine will see wide spread use and application. Examples include wear and scratch resistance, anti-microbial protection and anti-slip characteristics. One example is a recently introduced wood floor by Mohawk Industries that incorporates 3M ScotchGard advanced repel technology to protect against staining. (more…)

Filed under: Carpet, Floor Care, Trade Show by William Griffin
Originally Published: Cleaning in the USA January 2006

IICRC Holds Meetings and Instructors Symposium
The Heathman Lodge in Vancouver, WA was the site of the recent IICRC Instructor Symposium and its twice annual Board and Certification Council meetings held on Oct 22 to 24. The only thing people didnít like about the location was the $30.00 cab ride from the airport; otherwise it was an excellent location with Tempurpedic mattresses, large showerheads, and great food.

There was a lot happening at this year’s meeting. The Instructor Symposium was a hit with those in attendance. I missed the first day because of date conflicts with the ISSA Show; let’s hope that doesn’t happen again. As for the second day, Doug McCallum, an instructor with the Bob Pike Organization, walked the instructors through over 60 different instructional techniques that can be used in educational settings with adult learners. McCallum stressed the need for student involvement and shared responsibility for learning along with less use of PowerPoint in presentations. These concepts took a little getting used to for some instructors as we have always heard that PowerPoint and lecture formats were the best method to get all the technical information across to our students. (more…)

Filed under: Trade Show, Training by William Griffin
Originally Published: CBM October 2005

One of the things I’ve been talking about recently is how science and technology is and will continue to impact the cleaning industry. When I say technology, most people think of a new green chemical or a piece of floor care equipment with a lot of bells and whistles. Although such things will impact the industry, I believe the greatest impact in the years ahead will come from our and our customers ability to test and validate the work we do. No longer will it be good enough to say I cleaned it, over the next few years, your customer’s will begin to respond back with, ok show me the data.

This month I’m going to review some of the latest technology that’s on the market and being used to validate that the work you did, actually obtained the desired results. This isn’t science fiction; this is reality that is already being put to work in other industries and will soon come to a janitor closet near you. (more…)

Filed under: Technology by William Griffin
Originally Published: Cleaning in the USA September 2005

One of the major changes that have taken place over the last 10 years in the cleaning industry is that science is slowing replacing seat of the pants. It’s used to be enough to go thorough the motions, sweat a little and say that we cleaned a floor, wall or carpet. As long as there was no visible soil on the surface, the job was done and everybody was happy. Now we know that what we can’t see (bacteria, viruses, micron size particulate) can be more dangerous, hazardous and damaging to our health and surfaces than the soil that we can see.

Even today sales pitches and marketing literature often contain wild and unsubstantiated claims of effectiveness or results. Removes 98% of the moisture, kills all the harmful germs, get’s your dirtiest carpets clean, neutralizes all household odors, it’s magic. Over the years, I think I’ve heard every claim imaginable. (more…)

Filed under: Carpet, Healthcare, Technology by William Griffin
Originally Published: CBM June 2005

Mold 2004 and Beyond
I recently had an opportunity to attend the new four-day IICRC approved Applied Microbial Remediation Technician  (AMRT) course. This was an intense hands-on workshop on how to properly identify, remove and dispose of mold and sewer contamination in residential and commercial buildings. The program I attended was instructed by Peter Sierck and Patrick Moffett. It was sponsored by the Carpet and FabriCare Institute (CFI), and held at the World Floor Covering Association (WFCA) headquarters in Anaheim, CA. (more…)

Filed under: Floor Care by William Griffin
Originally Published: CBM February 2004

A Russian Connection
This month I’m in Russia conducting a Cleaning Business Operations Seminar for The Training & Resource Bureau, which is operated by RONOVA Cleaning Company in Moscow.

Fifty people attended the two-day seminar program, which included contractors, in-house custodial managers and building owners from Moscow and St. Petersburg as well as several regions of Russia (Siberia, Far East and the Urals) and other countries including Kazakhstan and Belorussia.

The program covered such subjects as Successful Business Strategies, Licenses and Legal Issues, Marketing and Selling Cleaning Services, Training and Motivation of Employees, Services that are in Demand, Bidding and Estimating, Conducting a Building Survey, Workloading and Submitting a Proposal, as well as other subjects. (more…)

Filed under: Training by William Griffin
Originally Published: CBM April 2004

The Impact of Mold on Human Health
I was headed to South Dakota to go fishing for a week and to spend some time with my parents. But when an opportunity arose to attend a two-day symposium on mold at the Harvard School of Public Health, I let the fish live and my parents wait a couple more days. I flew into Sioux Falls, So. Dakota had lunch with my parents and got back on a plane three hours later for Boston. It’s not every day you get a chance to attend a cutting edge symposium on mold at Harvard, so how could I say no.

As for symposium on June 7 & 8th, about 200 people were in attendance from around the world and a tremendous amount of information was presented. Nearly all the speakers had PhD’s and are involved in research related to wet environments, fungi and its impact on human health. Quite frankly, I didn’t hear anything earth shattering, although some new information was presented. What was most important is that what we have been saying and teaching over the last 10 or 15 years is now being validated by independent studies and scientific research. One theme that I heard repeated throughout the program is that there is more about mold and fungi and it’s impact on human health that we don’t know, than we do know. (more…)

Filed under: Carpet, Technology by William Griffin
Originally Published: CBM June 2004