How a New Approach to Cleaning Commercial Buildings in the Twin Cities C an Protect Our Health and the Environment while Securing Jobs and Saving Money
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Global warming and toxic chemical hazards are widely acknowledged to be the biggest environmental challenges of our time. Climate change is already affecting the Great Lakes region, with average annual temperatures rising, severe rainstorms becoming more frequent, winters getting shorter, and the duration of lake ice cover decreasing.1 Meanwhile, toxic chemicals are prevalent in our world today. They can be found in tens of thousands of products, including common cleaners used in our homes and workplaces. Many of these products contain chemicals that can harm our health by causing a wide range of ailments, especially if used every day.
The good news is that a variety of solutions to the climate crisis and to toxic chemical exposure are available right now — and many of these solutions will be beneficial to our local, state and national economies.
In fact, the quickest, easiest, and cheapest method to fight global warming is to reduce energy waste in large buildings. Commercial and residential buildings in the U.S. account for about 40 percent of national energy consumption,3 70 percent of electricity consumption, and 38 percent of global warming pollution — the largest share among all sectors of the economy, and far exceeding all modes of transportation.
Reducing energy consumption in large commercial and residential buildings will not, in itself, make those buildings “green.” Why? Because cleaning products used in large building to scrub floors, walls, windows, bathrooms and other indoor and outdoor areas are often highly toxic. But there is more good news here. Safe chemical substitutes, green chemicals, exist for many of the most commonly used toxic cleaning products. And these less harmful products often cost no more than their toxic counterparts.
GREEN TRANSITION
This report shows that reducing energy and toxics in commercial buildings will lead to a green future in the Twin Cities simply by adjusting how buildings are maintained.
DAY SHIFT CLEANING.
By transitioning cleaning crews from the night shift to the day shift, a strategy known as Day Shift Cleaning, energy use is significantly reduced. Keeping lights and heating or cooling systems turned on throughout the night while janitors clean adds to the environmental footprint of our buildings.
With the lights off for most of the night, energy costs can fall dramatically. According to industry estimates, energy cost savings range from 4-8 percent per year. Further energy and maintenance savings are achieved through reduced use of elevators and heating and cooling systems. As energy costs rise, so do the savings from such a transition to Day Shift Cleaning.
