75 Percent of LEED Cleaning Product Purchases Must Be Green

In order to earn the Green Cleaning Products and Materials credit, BSCs must increase the amount of "green" products they purchase and utilize. Using only pure water to clean your exterior windows, Sky Pro is a wise choice for anyone interested in "Green Cleaning."

Wonderlane, Flickr.com

One of the biggest changes in LEED v4 is the amount of products and equipment BSCs must use to earn the Green Cleaning Products and Materials credit. This credit is still worth one point and covers the procurement of chemicals, paper and can liners. However, at least 75 percent of purchases (based on cost) must meet specific environmental standards, compared to LEED 2009 when only 30 percent of purchases had to be considered green.
“This credit is intentionally designed to raise the bar and drive green products into the marketplace,” says Ashkin.

While BSCs have to purchase substantially more environmentally friendly products, LEED v4 actually makes it easier to earn the credit because there are additional certifications available to choose from. For all product categories, LEED v4 allows products approved by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Design for the Environment standard, in addition to the Green Seal and Environmental Choice certifications.

Besides these third-party standards, BSCs can use ionized water or electrolyzed water in place of chemicals, assuming those products have third-party-verified performance data.

Two other newly accepted options include Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for fiber procurement as acceptable green criteria for paper products and California Integrated Waste Management requirements for can liners.

To help find acceptable products that meet the credit...

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Automatic Window Cleaning Systems Save Time and Money

This CleanLink article articulates one of the main concerns regarding manual high-rise window cleaning - as the building height grows, so does the risk to human safety. SkyPro's products deliver this safety and security that many companies desire. To learn more about SkyPro's capabilities, visit their website. 

Jeffery Zeldman, Flickr.com

For high-rise structures, safety becomes an even greater concern, which is why some companies are turning to automated window cleaning equipment. These machines are suitable for curtain wall glass and “climb” up and down the surface of the building via remote control, eliminating the need to suspend a worker from a chair or lift.

According to Jon Arreguin, owner and operations manager of C-THRU Window Cleaning LLC in Saint Paul, Minn., there are two types of automated equipment: heavier units (200 to 300 pounds) that require a hoist motor attached to the machine and lightweight units (under 150 pounds) that have a hoist motor located on the roof.

“Because a hoist motor is attached to the first type of unit, you have to comply with the regulations of the support system,” Arreguin says. “If the hoist motor has a working load limit of 1,000 pounds, for example, that could add up to 2,000 pounds of counter weight that you need to carry to the roof.”

To read more on this article, click here. 

LEED-certified Buildings Reach Three Billion Square Feet

According to this CleanLink article, LEED buildings are on the rise and will be an industry worth around $248 billion in 2016. These high-rise buildings are projected to not only help minimize adverse effects of construction, but maximize sustainability and health-related features as well.

istock.com 

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced today that 3 billion square feet of green construction space has earned LEED certification around the globe.

“This milestone is the result of leaders across our industry making the business and environmental case for healthy, sustainable buildings,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair, USGBC. “More than 4.3 million people live and work in LEED buildings. As our numbers continue to gain momentum, the impact is significant — jobs are created, revenue is generated and well-being is prioritized — proving every day that LEED works.”

Green construction has grown massively over a short period of time: McGraw-Hill estimates that it will comprise half of U.S. construction and be worth up to $248 billion by 2016. LEED is the most widely recognized and used green building program across the globe, with more than 1.7 million square feet of commercial building space LEED certifying each day in more than 140 countries and territories.

In the U.S. alone, buildings account for 41 percent of energy use, 73 percent of electricity consumption and 38 percent of all CO2 emissions. Globally, buildings use 40 percent of raw materials, or 3 billion tons annually.

To read more on LEED building, click here.

Sky Pro’s Skydrowasher™ High Pressure Window Washing System

For window washers who use boatswain chairs or scaffolding, navigating buildings with irregular window offsets, overhangs, insets, recesses or other architectural challenges can be dangerous and time consuming. Even flat building surfaces require highly trained employees, which makes it more difficult to find qualified professionals.

Since each building is different, window washers must decide the best course of action for each individual descent. Adjusting the boatswain’s chair or scaffolding requires precision, which makes this traditional window washing method a slow, steady process. There is additional downtime when workers have to make adjustments each time they are ready to move on to the next section.

To help manage these challenges, there is a solution that is both safe and effective. Sky Pro’s Skydrowasher™ High Pressure Window Washing System uses high-pressure water to effectively scrub a building surface from a distance up to three feet. It is ideal for cleaning buildings with irregular exterior surfaces where traditional efforts are very difficult or even impossible. They are available in 4-foot and 8-foot cleaning path models to meet a range of needs. Find out more about the Skydrowasher on the Sky Pro website.

USGBC Releases the Top 10 States in Nation for LEED Green Building

According to this article on CleanLink.com, Minnesota has recently been added to the top 10 list of states in the Nation for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Buildings with 1.55 square feet of LEED space per resident. As part of Pure Water Window & Building Cleaning Systems, Sky Pro does its share in helping contribute to this cause. 

Tim Evanson, Flickr.com

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has released the Top 10 States for its LEED green building rating system. The list highlights the regions around the country that are at the forefront of sustainable building design and transformation. Utilizing less energy, LEED-certified spaces save money for families, businesses and taxpayers; reduce carbon emissions; and contribute to a healthier environment for residents, workers and the larger community.

“The list of the Top 10 States for LEED is a continuing indicator of the widespread recognition of our national imperative to create healthier, high-performing buildings that are better for the environment as well as the people who use them every day,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair, USGBC. “As the economy recovers, green buildings continue to provide for jobs at every professional level and skill set from carpenters to architects. I congratulate everyone in these states whose contributions to resources saved, toxins eliminated, greenhouse gases avoided, and human health enhanced help guarantee a prosperous future for our planet and the people who call it home.”

To continue reading, click here.

The Increased Safety of Automated Window Washing

When selecting a window cleaning solution, safety is a top priority. As previously discussed, the typical window cleaning solutions require workers to be suspended over the side of a building. The inherent danger associated with a boatswain chair or scaffolding mandates that employees be highly trained. These requirements can lead to additional expenses and a decreased availability of skilled employees.

With automated window cleaning solutions, operators remain firmly planted on the ground or rooftop, and they are not subject to the same safety risks that workers who are suspended in boatswain’s chairs and scaffolds must endure. Workers maintain control over device operation in order to produce the necessary cleaning results, but they are no longer required to put themselves in perilous situations that could result in falling multiple stories and sustaining severe or fatal injuries. By removing workers from harm’s way, companies can easily meet any strict OSHA and other safety guideline without providing additional safety equipment.

The Automated Window-Cleaning Solution

To meet the demand for a safe, effective cleaning solution, automated window cleaning systems have been developed to replace boatswain’s chairs and scaffolds. These units eliminate the need for employees to dangle over the edge of building, and instead, operators can safely control all window- washing activities from the ground or rooftop.

Automated systems offer diverse capabilities and are designed to increase cleaning quality and productivity by completing high-rise cleaning applications faster. Some systems can clean as much as 35 feet per minute and up to 65,000 square feet per day. Additionally, automated systems are engineered to effectively clean flat buildings without window offsets, as well overcome cleaning challenges presented by deep or irregular window offsets, curves, recesses, overhangs, protrusions, inset glass, asymmetrical frames or other obtrusive architectural features require.

With this solution, operators use a wireless remote control to perform and monitor all window-cleaning operations. The system can be easily integrated with existing rigging systems such as davit arms, rail hoists, anchors, outriggers or BMU crane systems. The hoist motor can either be operated from the roof attached to the rigging system, or users can implement a “self climbing” solution, which has the hoist motor and wire winder attached to the device. For flexible cleaning, there are three separate operation methods:

• A motorized roof hoist
• A self-climbing unit that has an integral motor
• A remote controlled unit that has an integral motor

For consistent cleaning results, some systems also feature a counter-balance design that uses dual hyper fans to ensure that the system attaches to the building contour, even when gusts and high winds are present. Further, to satisfy growing “green cleaning” standards, automated devices can utilize filtered, ultra pure water, eliminating spots without the use of harsh chemicals.

Boatswain and Scaffolding Window-Cleaning Challenges

The typical window cleaning solutions—working alone in a boatswain chair and working with a team that uses scaffolding—require workers to be suspended over the side of a building. Therefore, exercising extreme caution and attention to detail is crucial for a seamless, safe operation, as a single mistake could have potentially deadly consequences. The inherent danger associated with these cleaning solutions mandates that employees be highly trained in order to operate these devices, which can lead to additional expenses and a fewer number of skilled employees available.

Manual window washers are challenged with the fact that each building is different, so they must decide the best course of action for each individual descent. Traditional window washing is a slow, steady process that necessitates precision when adjusting the boatswain’s chair or scaffolding. These adjustments must be made each time workers are ready to move on to the next section, creating additional downtime that reduces productivity. Further, given that their equipment serves as their lifeline, regular inspections and maintenance must be performed to ensure that any and all equipment meets regulation standards, with any repairs or replacement resulting in costly downtime and additional expenses.

When working from extreme heights, injuries are not uncommon, and each incident can result in significant costs for a company from both a workers’ compensation and a labor standpoint. For instance, according to OSHA’s Safety Pays estimator, one work-related fracture can cost a company as much as $93,300 to cover the direct and indirect costs of the injury. This includes hospital bills, paid time off, administrative costs, replacement labor and more. As these expenditures add up, injuries can dramatically diminish the company’s profit margin.

Manual Window Washing: Current Methods

High-rise and skyscraper window washers are required to put themselves in dangerous situations, dangling over the side of buildings via ropes and using abseiling techniques to control their rate of descent. Some work alone using a boatswain’s chair, while others work in teams on scaffolding, but both present similar challenges and safety concerns.

The boatswain’s chair is a device that consists of a small seat that is suspended from a rope that attaches to the roof of a building. By using a seat instead of a climbing harness, workers experience limited range of motion during cleaning, but some boatswain’s chairs also feature a separate harness to protect against falls.

Companies also implement movable scaffolding for exterior cleaning applications. Movable scaffolding is similar to stationary scaffolding but uses a harness system to raise and lower the structure along the side of skyscraper buildings. Since scaffolding holds more than one employee at a time, workers are able to work in unison to complete cleaning jobs.

Sky Pro Demonstration in Minneapolis

Sky Pro® Window Cleaning System is a self-contained, self-climbing automated high rise window cleaning system that can clean 50 feet per minute and 30,000 square feet per hour.