The Cleaning Industries Management Standard: CIMS-GB Certification

This information was provided to BOMA/Suburban Chicago by Eurest Services

Green. Sustainable. Environmentally preferable. For many, these buzzwords represent the principles of sustainable building management. No longer a fad, green strategies and programs are becoming standard in not only the way we do business, but our day-to-day thinking. Property managers concerned with sustainability have so many options for implementing “green” technologies and alternatives that choosing the right elements of a green cleaning program for their buildings can be confusing and hard to decipher. Then, after deciding what program they want to implement, property managers need to ensure their cleaning service providers are capable of delivering on promises and reducing costs, while implementing strategies that benefit our environment.

Fortunately, property managers can rely on the Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) for answers. The key components of a quality green cleaning program are outlined within CIMS and its latest addition: the CIMS-Green Building (GB) criteria.

Administered by ISSA – the Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association, CIMS offers a certification process designed to ensure service providers are committed to the principles of green and to maintaining a high performance, healthy indoor environment. By outlining the extensive management and sustainability components of a green cleaning program, CIMS-GB serves as a resource for validating cleaning service provider green capabilities. Requiring certification takes much of the work out of the prequalification and selection process. By requiring CIMS and CIMS-GB certification from a service provider, property managers can be sure their buildings will be cleaned in compliance with green best practices.

Launched in October 2009, the CIMS-GB criteria were added as the sixth dimension to the existing Standard, which sets forth a management framework to assist cleaning organizations in developing and maintaining quality, customer-focused organizations.

Centered on five sections of best practices, CIMS outlines the key characteristics of a successful service organization and, as such, acts as a seminal benchmarking resource for the property manager. The principles outlined in the original Standard, launched in October 2007, form the foundation for a green cleaning program. After all, the end goal should be to have a clean, healthy facility — especially with increased public health threats like the H1N1 flu virus. Yet, reaching this goal demands effective management. Property managers therefore, should ensure their cleaning service providers have implemented policies and procedures in the following areas:

• Quality systems: Does the cleaning provider work with the property manager to set forth a clear set of cleaning service requirements? Has it implemented a quality plan to determine whether such requirements are met? Is there a commitment to continuous improvement?
  
• Service delivery: Does the provider have a service delivery plan to ensure it is prepared to meet customer demands as indicated in the cleaning service requirements? Does the plan include a process for workloading, budgeting, inventory control, equipment maintenance and repair, and contingency staffing?
  
• Human resources: How are employees selected and kept up to date on the ever-changing sustainable practices? Does the provider invest in its workers with comprehensive training?
  
• Health, safety, and environmental stewardship: Is the cleaning provider focused on protecting the safety of its workers and customers by committing to regulatory compliance and environmental stewardship principles?
  
• Management commitment: What is the service provider’s corporate culture? Has it implemented a management structure that fosters continuous success?
  

Only those organizations committed to the principles of effective management are truly capable of servicing customers in a quality, best-in-class manner. Additionally, those initially focused on effective management can move on to implementing a green cleaning program.

Whereas the original Standard sets forth key management characteristics of a quality organization, CIMS-GB criteria take it a step further and outline principles of an effective green cleaning program. Based primarily on green cleaning requirements in the LEED-Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (EBOM) rating system, compliance with CIMS-GB criteria helps property management secure credits toward LEED-EBOM certification.

While the CIMS-GB criteria is largely based on specific green cleaning provisions of LEED-EBOM, its requirements exceed LEED requirements in a number of ways, allowing organizations to demonstrate commitment to sustainability. For example, while LEED-EBOM requires that 30 percent of chemicals meets specified green criteria; CIMS-GB specifies 60 percent (see “How they compare” chart on next page).

Overall, CIMS-GB sets a framework to ensure service providers use environmentally preferable cleaning practices. Specifically, the criteria contain requirements in the following areas:

• Green cleaning policy: The cleaning provider needs to have a green cleaning policy that sets forth standard operating procedures addressing how green cleaning practices will be used, managed, and evaluated.
  
• Green/high performance cleaning program: This includes procedures to ensure proper staffing, training, chemical storage and handling, floor and carpet care maintenance, and hand hygiene.
  
• Purchase of green cleaning products and materials: The cleaning provider should primarily use cleaning products, tools, and materials recognized as environmentally preferable, either through third-party certification or compliance with specific criteria. This includes chemicals, janitorial paper and trash bags, and hand soaps.
  
• Purchase and use of cleaning equipment: Cleaning providers should move toward the use of equipment that meets applicable environmentally preferable criteria and shall maintain an inventory list and maintenance/repair plan.
  
• Indoor chemical and pollutant source control: Entryway matting needs to be sufficient to control tracking of pollutants. This matting should be effectively maintained.
  
• Integrated pest management (IPM): To the extent the cleaning provider offers IPM services, it shall commit to integrated methods that reduce chemical use to the greatest extent possible.
  
• Building exterior and hardscape management plan: To the extent the organization provides such services, it should implement a low impact building exterior and hardscape management plan that helps protect ecological integrity.
  
• Solid waste management and resource conservation: If applicable, the organization should have a waste reduction and recycling plan and should make efforts to conserve resources, including cleaning materials, water, and energy during the cleaning process.
  

How they compare: LEED-EBOM and CIMS-GB certification

LEED-EBOM	CIMS & CIMS-GB
DEFINITION
LEED-EBOM is a set of performance standards for certifying the operations and maintenance of existing commercial or institutional buildings and high-rise residential buildings of all sizes, both public and private.	CIMS defines management, operational performance system, process and performance measure requirements for both building service contractors and organizations that self-perform cleaning.
OBJECTIVES
LEED-EBOM encourages owners and operators of existing buildings to implement sustainable practices and reduce environmental impacts of their buildings over their functional life cycles. LEED-EBOM promotes high performance, healthful, durable, affordable, and environmentally sound practices in existing buildings.	CIMS encourages cleaning organizations to implement management best-practices to ensure a thorough understanding of the customer’s service requirements, and therefore deliver quality, sustainable service CIMS-GB ensures that a cleaning organization utilizes environmentally preferable cleaning practices and products in line with LEED-EBOM.
STRUCTURE
Prerequisites and credits in the LEED-EBOM system address seven topics: sustainable sites (SS); water efficiency (WE); energy and atmosphere (EA); materials and resources (MR); indoor environmental quality (IEQ); innovation in operations (IO); and regional priority (RP).	Compliance with CIMS-GB is dependent on dedication to quality and meeting customer requirements in six management principles: quality systems; service delivery; human resources; health, safety and environmental stewardship; management commitment; and green buildings.
CORRELATING CREDITS
IEQ Credits: Green Cleaning: Purchase of Sustainable Cleaning Products and Materials; Sustainable Cleaning Equipment; Indoor Chemical and Pollutant Source Control; Indoor Integrated Pest Management MR Prerequisites: Sustainable Purchasing Policy; Solid-Waste Management Program SS Credit: Integrated Pest Management, Erosion Control, and Landscape Management Plan	Requires a green cleaning policy—separate from CIMS’s general environmental policy—addressing how green cleaning practices will be utilized, managed, and evaluated Requires a dedicated green/high-performance cleaning program that satisfies IEQ credits outlined in LEED-EBOM Requires the purchase of sustainable cleaning products and materials, satisfying specific IEQ and MR credits and prerequisites in LEED-EBOM Recommends provisions for chemical and pollutant source control Recommends an integrated pest management program to fulfill SS credits in LEED-EBOM

Sources:
LEED 2009 for Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance
CIMS 1006: 2009, 2010
Professional Maintenance Systems, ISSA.com, Dan Wagner