How To Spot Green Floor Maintenance Equipment

This article was originally published in Contracting Profits. 

How do you know if a machine is considered green when there are no green certifications for floor maintenance equipment?

Our very own Scott Keller, Education/Commercial Buildings Vertical Market Manager for Nilfisk–Advance, Inc. gives his take:

"For scrubbers you should analyze specifications related to water flow, chemical dilution ratios and sound levels. Also scrubbers that afford you the possibility of an onboard chemical dilution system are much more green than pre-mixing water and chemical in the solution tank. While it’s nice to reduce water and chemical usage if you are unable to actually remove dirt from the cleaning surface you are not really achieving a “green” facility."

Read the full article to see additional responses from industry experts.

What Does Green Cleaning Mean to You?

Green cleaning doesn't just mean reducing impact on the environment. It means finding new ways to clean quickly and easily, while saving time and money. For example, our quieter floor machines allow cleaning during business hours, thus reducing overtime hours and cost. Our floor cleaning equipment features ergonomic design that reduces worker fatigue. We utilize gel batteries in many machines to avoid contact with battery acid. Our Smart Solutions technologies support water conservation, reduced chemical exposure and many other safety and environmental features add up to time savings initiatives for you. For more information on both the economic and environmental benefits of going green, read our whitepaper, Making Sense of Green Cleaning.

Through product innovation and an understanding of our customers' green cleaning efforts; we have developed the most complete line of green floor cleaning machines in the industry, including commercial vacuums, carpet extractors, and burnishers. For a closer look at how Advance defines and delivers green cleaning, download our Green Cleaning Equipment brochure. We also have a variety of other green resources, including more information on regulations and standards and sustainability.

Flexible Cleaning: Detergent and Water Cleaning

All facilities, regardless of whether it’s a university or grocery store, require hard-floor cleaning machines that are both environmentally preferred and flexible enough to handle a wide variety of cleaning applications. With recent technology advancements, automatic scrubbers with flexible cleaning capabilities are now available for cleaning professionals and facility managers. Today, we will look at these machines’ ability to use multiple types of cleaners and water only.

Ideally, a “green and clean” scrubber enables facilities to use any type of detergent or cleaning fluid—including green-certified cleaners. Machines that are designed to use a proprietary cleaning fluid only or water only are not conducive to the variable cleaning practices used in many buildings today. For example, a facility may choose a neutral cleaner for routine daily cleaning, but prefer to scrub with a stronger detergent for deeper cleaning weekly or monthly. Or a facility might use water-only cleaning interspersed with detergent-cleaning to gain the benefits of each; detergent-based cleaning gets into pores and removes more soil, while the intermittent water-only cleaning washes residual detergent out of surface pores to improve floor appearance. Once detergent is washed out of the pores, the water-only process no longer provides the same cleaning benefit. For porous floors, a good practice may be to alternate cleaning methods—detergent and no detergent—to keep floors looking their best.

Stay tuned for next week’s blog post on automatic floor scrubbers with the ability to change detergents while scrubbing!

Floor Cleaning Equipment With Green Cleaning Capabilities Maximizes Facility Safety

There are a variety of green cleaning standards, including LEED-EB, ASTM E-1971-05 and GS-42, that address safety issues, including noise control, machine vibration, user fatigue, chemical exposure and proper training in green product use. When used correctly, floor cleaning equipment with green cleaning capabilities can enhance the safety of cleaning personnel, other facility occupants and the facility itself, through the following:

• Noise Control features ensure quiet operation, increasing operator safety and the ability to clean during business hours, which in turn reduces costs for HVAC, lighting and security.
• Ergonomic Design reduces excessive machine vibration and other inferior design elements, minimizing user fatigue and repetitive motor symptoms.
• Flexible Cleaning System allows operators to use fewer machines and reduce water and detergent consumption. With a touch of a button, users can easily switch between chemical-free, water-only cleaning and varying degrees of detergent, down pressure and flow rates.
• Battery-Powered Equipment is an ideal alternative to the noise and emissions of propane-powered equipment, eliminating fuel emissions and enhancing air quality.

Improve Indoor Air Quality with Green Floor Cleaning Equipment

Floor cleaning equipment with green cleaning capabilities can contribute directly to indoor air quality/indoor environment quality (IAQ/IEQ). Facility owners can employ floor cleaning vacuums, carpet extractors and scrubbers with sealed gel batteries:

Vacuum Cleaners: The LEED-EB (Leadership for Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings) requirements specify that vacuum cleaners are capable of capturing 96% of particulates 0.3 microns in size and meet the requirements of the Carpet & Rug Institute Seal of Approval Program. CRI-certified vacuums release no more than 100 micrograms of dust particles per cubic meter into the surrounding air.

Carpet Extractors: Carpet extractors with green cleaning capabilities significantly reduce drying time and help prevent mold. They also minimize the use of water and detergent while cleaning. Per LEED-EBOM, carpet extractors should be CRI-Seal of Approval certified.

Sealed Gel Batteries: Automatic scrubbers that meet green cleaning requirements utilize environmentally-preferable gel batteries or maintenance-free AGM batteries. These batteries are completely sealed to eliminate acid spills that can occur with wet-acid batteries. This design also minimizes vapor emissions during charging, and, if equipped with an on-board charger, allow non-hazardous charging anywhere in a facility.

With the above types of green floor cleaning equipment, facility owners can ensure they are complying with green cleaning standards, while maximizing cleaning efficiency.

Defining Green Cleaning

“Green cleaning” can encompass many different factors, ranging from various types of cleaning products to sustainable cleaning practices. However, before selecting a “green” cleaning solution or “green” floor cleaning equipment, it is important to take a step back and answer the underlying question, “What does green cleaning really mean to your business, your employees, your budget and the environment?” Are you looking to gain LEED (Leadership for Energy and Environmental Design) certification for your facility, or simply want to be sure your facility is the best it can be?

As a leading manufacturer of “green” floor cleaning equipment, Advance is committed to offering products that meet or exceed industry and government standards for green cleaning. With a wide range of products and green cleaning solutions, Advance is dedicated to developing floor cleaning equipment that will help you employ effective, green cleaning practices including:

• Maintain or enhance indoor air/environmental quality
• Improve worker and occupant safety
• Ensure sustainability
• Reduce the cost of cleaning

So how will you achieve these results? Stick around, and we’ll be happy to show you!