Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.74
Liaison Kathleen Crawford
Submission Date July 28, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Florida Gulf Coast University
OP-13: Cleaning Products Purchasing

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.67 / 1.00 Vikki McConnell
Asst. Dir. Fiance & Operations
Physical Plant
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have an institution-wide stated preference to purchase third party certified cleaning and janitorial products?:
Yes

A copy of the green cleaning product purchasing policy, directive, or guidelines:
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The green cleaning product purchasing policy, directive, or guidelines:

The Request For Proposal for all contracted custodial vendors includes the following:
Section 1.18 ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
The University supports and encourages initiatives to protect and preserve our environment. Proposers shall submit as part of their response their environmental sustainability “green” program.

FGCU is under contract with USSI, which has achieved Green Seal certification after being evaluated by Green Seal to comply with the rigorous environmental and performance requirements of the Green Seal Environmental Standard for Cleaning Services (GS-42, 2006). Products purchased and used for the contractual custodial services must meet Green Seal standards, including high recycled content for paper products.


A brief description of steps the institution has taken to ensure that the purchasing policy, directives, or guidelines are followed:

FGCU is under contract with USSI, which employs a Green Lead Program, a high-performance green cleaning system designed to protect human health and the environment. A Coordinator oversees the custodial contract to ensure cleaning supplies used are Green Seal approved and that all paper products are 100% recycled content.
-Toilet paper is 100% recycled and contains a minimum of 20% post-consumer wastepaper, which meets EPA guidelines.
-Hand towels are 100% recycled and contains up to 43% post-consumer waste, which exceeds EPA guidelines.


Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 of this credit (expenditures on cleaning and janitorial products)?:
Yes

Expenditures on Green Seal and/or UL Environment (EcoLogo) certified cleaning and janitorial products:
11,654.90 US/Canadian $

Total expenditures on cleaning and janitorial products:
20,626.94 US/Canadian $

Has the institution's main cleaning or housekeeping department(s) and/or contractor(s) adopted a Green Seal or ISSA certified low-impact, ecological (“green”) cleaning program?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s low-impact, ecological cleaning program:

FGCU employs a custodial contractor to perform a high-performance green cleaning system designed to protect human health and the environment. Practices encompass tools, training, products and processes focused on promoting sustainable cleaning that reduce toxicity, waste, and exposure to both building occupants and custodial staff.


A copy of the sections of the cleaning contract(s) that reference certified green products:
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The sections of the cleaning contract(s) that reference certified green products:

RFP NUMBER: 10F-002 CUSTODIAL SERVICES PHYSICAL PLANT:
The Greenlead © Program specifically addresses the following key custodial areas that
have a direct impact on human health and environment:
• Promoting the use of sustainable cleaning products and equipment
• Establishing standard operating procedures (SOPs) for typical cleaning and
maintenance tasks focused on sustainable cleaning practices
• Conducting an audit program to monitor effective implementation of the policy
and encouraging continuous improvement.
• Outlining specific guidelines· regarding chemical handling, equipment
maintenance, communication protocols, documenting and tracking key metrics
that demonstrate impact of the custodial operations on the environment.
• Training custodial employees, with an emphasis on safe handling and storage of
cleaning chemicals and hand hygiene, as well as hazards, use, maintenance,
disposal and recycling of cleaning chemicals, dispensing equipment and
packaging.
The core principles underlying the policy include reduced or
no use of potentially harmful cleaning chemicals, removal or
elimination of dirt, dust and other contaminants, protection
and preservation of surfaces during cleaning and proactive
strategies to reduce contaminant infiltration at source.


The website URL where information about the institution’s green cleaning initiatives is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

This information is from 2013-14 year.

Our janitorial purchases only include those from main campus. We were unable to get data regarding the janitorial purchases from the company contracted by Housing and Residential Life at this time.


This information is from 2013-14 year.

Our janitorial purchases only include those from main campus. We were unable to get data regarding the janitorial purchases from the company contracted by Housing and Residential Life at this time.

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.