Olympian Effort Set for ISSA/Interclean 2008

More than 16,000 cleaning industry professionals are expected to attend and exhibit at ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America 2008, the largest annual cleaning tradeshow in North America, to be held September 8-11 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Themed “Business Not as Usual,” the convention will detail how to clean more efficiently and to how to sell more effectively. Attendees will have the chance to discover thousands of hot new ideas and products specially designed to help their businesses grow and prosper. Housekeepers will be able to participate in a Cleaning Olympics competition.

More than 700 exhibitors will offer thousands of cleaning and maintenance products, services, and equipment. Many international industry associations will be represented, as well.

Bill Cosby, one of America’s most renowned entertainers, will lead the audience on a journey to find the true, and often funny, fundamentals of working life in a keynote speech on the second day of the convention.

Dr. Cosby will explain that “You better love what you do; otherwise it sure won’t love you!” He’ll help you ponder what it would be like without your job and why more people should focus on the personal side of business, especially in cleaning.

For more entertainment, the show floor will feature unique theatrical presentations taking place above head during the Happy Hour, thanks to the Cirque-Du-Soleil-style performances that will include various aerial stunts.

Other innovations will be found on the show floor, and the ISSA Innovation Award Program brings together the newest releases for attendees to decide which concept, product, or service is most beneficial to their business—or simply the coolest. How it works: You view each entry and vote on which are the most innovative in five categories.

You also get to vote on which green entries are most innovative in terms of health and environmental improvements.

The Innovation Competition: Each entry will be displayed in the centrally located Innovation Area of the tradeshow floor where you can see the items up close, find literature on each, and even see how-to videos. Mixed into this area will be interactive sports games where you can try your hand at a variety of fun activities—and maybe even meet a sports celebrity or two.

PLUS: Facility service providers and distributors who turn in a completed voting ballot will receive a lunch coupon for US $10 off a meal at designated foodservice areas.

Cleaning Olympics: Planning is well underway for the 2008 International Executive Housekeepers Association (IEHA) Convention, once again ISSA/INTERCLEAN’S co-locating partner. Special events will include an exciting and unique Housekeeping Olympics event on the tradeshow floor.

More than 600 people will converge on ISSA/INTERCLEAN Wednesday, Sept. 10, to take part in the activities, which include vacuum races, bed-making competitions, and floor-pad tossing.

Green Seal has announced the development of the Environmental Leadership Standard for Residential Cleaning Services, GS-49, which will define and establish environmental performance criteria for professional residential cleaning.

Like GS-42, the environmental standard for commercial cleaning services, GS-49 will certify home cleaning services that meet leadership criteria for green cleaning, enabling bona fide green cleaning services to stand out, while helping consumers select service providers based on legitimate health and green science criteria rather than marketing hype or ‘greenwashing.’

The development of GS-49 will be led by Green Seal staff, with input from experts and stakeholders in a process involving four steps: Scoping, Proposed Standard, Final Review of Standard, and Issued Standard.

The first phase of participation will be to determine the scope of GS-49. Scoping comments were to be received by June 25, 2008.

To register as a stakeholder, go to http://green-seal.org/standards.

Register an account; for the username, use your first initial and full last name (e.g., J Smith); select “GS-49 Residential Cleaning Services”; include your organization (this will not be viewable by other users); review the disclaimer information; and click Register.

Green Seal will also accept registered stakeholder’s comments by email, fax and postal mail. Any comments received will be posted to the online forum and be viewable by GS-49 registered forum participants by the name of the commenter.

Mailed comments may be sent to: Green Seal, Inc.

Attn: GS-49 Residential Cleaning

1001 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite

827 Washington, DC 20036

By fax: (202) 872-4324 (no more than 10 pages), or by e-mail: standards@greenseal.org with “GS-49 Residential Cleaning Services” in the subject header.

If you have any questions, please contact the Project Manager Nana Wilberforce, PhD, Green Seal at (202) 872-6400 or email nwilberforce@greenseal.org or standards@greenseal.org.

More information on this project can also be found at the Green Seal Web site: http://www.greenseal.org/certification/gs49_residential_cleaning.cfm.

Green Building certification can play an important role in mitigating global warming, according to testimony given by the U.S. Green Building Council before the U.S. Congress about the importance of green buildings as a solution for global climate change, one of the biggest challenges facing society today.

Michelle Moore, senior vice-president, Policy and Public Affairs for USGBC, spoke before Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, detailing the impact of the built environment on the natural environment, economy and health and productivity of building users.

Moore’s testimony stressed the importance of green building practices not only in new construction, but through smart retrofit of existing building stock, with a focus on schools, and the role that the LEED Green Building certification program plays in driving the reduction of energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

“Buildings are the single largest contributor to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, accounting for 39 percent of emissions in the U.S. Of those buildings, school buildings represent the largest construction sector in the country and 20 percent of America goes to school every day,” said Moore.

“It’s fundamental to promote the design and construction of green schools, which play a tremendous role in bettering the health and performance of our students and children. Every new building coming out of the ground today should be built green and every existing building should be retrofitted, whether it is an office building, a school or your own home. Buildings offer an immediate, measureable solution for mitigating climate change - and we don’t have time to wait. ”

On May 19, the USGBC opened a public comment period for the most sweeping changes to its LEED Rating System since its original launch in 2000. The changes, which apply to all the nonresidential LEED rating systems that have been formally released, are largely in line with the plan that USGBC laid out at the 2007 Greenbuild conference in Chicago.

They include: Credit alignment across the major rating systems to facilitate a move towards standardized credits, rather than multiple rating systems, as the main organizing structure.

A new point structure, including 100 points plus 10 more for innovation and regional context for each system. New point allocation informed by a weighting of the relative importance of environmental impacts—for example, providing many more points for mitigating climate change through energy savings and access to public transportation.

The addition of regional points that would be awarded as “bonus points” when a project achieves credits identified as environmental priorities for various parts of the country—USGBC chapters and regional councils are to recommend up to six such credit options, up to four of which could be earned by each project.

The American IAQ Council has released its 2008-2009 certification exams and has announced compliance with the latest guidance on psychometrics from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

The updated version of ANSIPCAC- GI-502: Guidance on Psychometric Requirements for ANSI Accreditation outlines detailed procedures for exam development, statistical analysis and review.

IAQ Council executive director Charlie Wiles reported that the IAQ Council’s exams are already compliant with these procedures.

“The IAQ Council has maintained high standards for exam development for many years,” he said. “ANSI’s new guidelines merely confirm procedures that we have always followed.”

According to IAQ Council policies, each certification exam must undergo a thorough psychometric review annually at the hands of a national certification board.

This process begins at the January executive meeting, where board volunteers and staff from across North America and overseas spend approximately 600 manhours analyzing a full menu of psychometric data from the previous year’s exams.

Changes to exam content, references, syntax, distracters and passing scores are discussed and implemented in preparation for when the new exams are published.

The American Indoor Air Quality Council is a non-profit certifying body founded in 1993 to serve the indoor air quality industry. It operates independent, third-party accredited certification programs for indoor environmental consultants, and certifies more than 5,000 professionals in the United States, Canada and overseas.

For more information about the IAQ Council and its programs, go to www.iaqcouncil.org.