Back to blog 01/21/2021

How Green Commercial Cleaning Makes for a Healthy Workforce within Government Buildings

Contributed by David Bishop, Client Relations Executive

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a globally recognized rating system for green buildings. It offers a framework for maintaining healthy and efficient green buildings. With a rising number of government facilities are LEED green buildings, it has been observed that their indoor environmental quality has improved. It is no secret that green buildings have a great impact on employee health and ultimately on employee productivity.

Government buildings undergoing sustainable transition through LEED may not have many physically visible changes taking place but their true impact comes in different forms, ranging from cost efficiency to a better performing workforce. Some of the positive outcomes of creating a green building include:

• Operational cost savings
• Low carbon emissions
• Reduced maintenance expenses
• Better energy efficiency
• Reduced waste and water

While all these benefits are significant for the government facilities as well as the environment, these also have some other benefits that some might find less likely. Government organizations and offices are able to attract a wider talent pool including candidates who wish to work with a responsible, sustainable, and environmentally focused employer. The LEED certification is an effective way to communicate that the building design, processes, and maintenance follow a comprehensive system is in place for sustainability, energy and water efficiency, and indoor environmental quality.

Green buildings also control indoor air pollution that results in mitigating airborne toxins and contaminants. The buildings are designed to maintain highly effective air filtration and ventilation systems that make the facility remarkably safe and healthy for the employees and other occupants. As a result, green buildings have a direct impact on employee wellbeing, health, productivity, and happiness.

As LEED is a system based on points that buildings can score for their design and construction, applicants make use of various strategies to achieve high certification standards. One of these strategies includes the outsourcing of cleaning and maintenance tasks to a skilled and experienced service provider. At Diversified Maintenance, all employees undergo a standard training program as well as custom training topics to meet the unique requirements of government facilities. At the same time, there are green and sustainable cleaning programs available for meeting environmentally-friendly objectives while ensuring points for LEED can be secured under the US Green Building Council’s rating system. Send me a note at dbishop@diversifiedm.com to learn more a customized plan and schedule to meet various sustainability goals for green buildings.