Green Cleaning With Gusto

Safety First Pilot Credit offers best practices roadmap to ensure public safety

By Michael Wilson

The past two years have been tough for park and recreations centers around the country. Numerous facilities were closed for months due to the pandemic. Many were forced to close because of mandates introduced or because of administrative concerns about the virus and the health of facility users and staff members.

© Can Stock Photo / Tanchic

However, it appears (fingers crossed) that things are starting to look better. COVID-19 cases are on the decline. Along with boosters for adults, new vaccines have been introduced to help protect younger children—the ones who most frequently use park and recreation facilities. 

Because of this, locations planning to reopen or those that have already reopened may find it beneficial to learn more about the U.S. Green Building Council's new “Safety First Pilot Credits.” This is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program; it is designed for facilities that want to become LEED certified or are currently undergoing LEED certification. 

However, what may be of greater importance for park and recreation administrators is the program can also be used as a guide for facilities that want to reopen using “green” and sustainable cleaning and disinfecting “best practices.” These practices help ensure public health is protected while protecting the environment as well.

An Overview Of The Program

The Safety First Pilot Credit has four key components. According to Steve Ashkin, a “green” cleaning and sustainability expert, “All are based on creating, implementing, and using green cleaning best practices [that] meet both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the EPA’s guidelines relative to COVID-19 and preventing the spread of this disease,” while at the same time minimizing their impact on the environment.

With that said, let’s explore each component further:

1. Cleaning and Disinfecting

Facilities must create cleaning and disinfecting policies and procedures that adhere to green cleaning best practices. The credit requires that a green-cleaning program be implemented. These best practices are designed to ensure a healthy indoor environment and safety for cleaning workers. Disinfectants effective against the coronavirus should be used, but this component also requires that cleaning workers, administrators, and all major facility stakeholders be taught how to use the disinfectants properly.

2. Reopening A Facility

This component requires that administrators and cleaning professionals plan the building's reopening and the re-entry of facility users. It also requires measuring progress once a building is occupied. 

According to Ashkin, this will involve scientifically evaluating cleaning on an ongoing basis. This is accomplished by using ATP monitors. Each the size of a large television remote control, these monitors indicate the presence of high levels of organic residue on a surface. While they do not indicate specific dangerous pathogens, a high reading raises the concern that pathogens may be present. With these monitors, administrators can determine where more cleaning is needed. Also, before-and-after testing can be used to see if the current cleaning regimen is proving effective.

© Can Stock Photo / senkaya

3. Water Systems

This component does not focus on cleaning. Instead, it points to the fact that, while facilities were closed because of the pandemic, water systems in the buildings may have become degraded. Stagnant water can become contaminated and no longer safe to drink. This component requires administrators to develop and implement a program to ensure a building’s water supply is safe for human consumption. Typically, this involves turning to local water utility companies and public-health authorities.

4. Indoor Air Quality

Administrators must ensure proper indoor air quality is maintained in facilities and adjustments are made to enhance ventilation systems when and where necessary—all to minimize the spread of COVID-19. This is an ongoing program, meaning that indoor air quality must be evaluated regularly. It recognizes the fact that the pathogen that causes the coronavirus is often spread by inhalation. 

5.

The program also requires that physical distancing of building occupants be implemented, as well as measures outlined or deemed required by local public-health departments to minimize the spread of the disease.

Why It's Called A “Pilot Credit”

Throughout this discussion, the program has been referred to as a “pilot credit.” The reason for this is more evaluation of the program may be necessary. In other words, LEED is beta testing the Safety First Pilot Credit.

However, this should in no way minimize the importance of the program. “Safety First is a well-structured program, designed to help us move forward,” says Ashkin. “Its key points and its emphasis on green cleaning best practices will help us now, as we emerge from the pandemic, and moving forward, as we continually strive to keep our facilities clean and healthy.”

Implementation

Many facilities are already in the process of adopting the pilot program. What some are finding is there is some confusion as to which  and what types of cleaning products are necessary to properly adhere to the program’s requirements. To assist, administrators are advised to work with astute janitorial distributors familiar with the program and the necessary types of cleaning solutions needed. Proper implementation of the program, if used as a guide for certification purposes, depends on this.

Michael Wilson is vice president of Marketing and Packaging for AFFLINK, a provider in supply-chain optimization. AFFLINK has member-distributors located throughout the United States working with customers in virtually all industry sectors. Reach him at www.AFFLINK.com.