Determining and potentially
reducing the amount of energy expended by vacuum cleaners is the
purpose of a proposed new ASTM international standard, WK21491,
Test Method for Determining Energy Consumption of Vacuum
Cleaners Relative to Cleaning.
The proposed standard is being
developed by the Task Group on Energy Usage and Performance,
(F11.20.04), under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee F11.20 on
Performance (Test Methods). F11.20 is part of ASTM International
Committee F11 on Vacuum Cleaners.
Developing the proposed
standard is a two-part process, said Ron Battema of Compliance
Consulting, Inc., and an F11 Committee member. “The first part
is to develop a method for measuring the power consumption of
the vacuum cleaner using methods already contained in other
standards, then calculating the amount of energy used over time.
The second step is to develop a simplified cleaning procedure to
relate the amount of energy used to cleaning effectiveness, thus
providing an overall energy efficiency rating.”
The impetus behind the
development of WK21491 was discussions that the EPA and Wal-Mart
have had with the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.
The AHAM Floor Care Council
voted to have the EPA develop an Energy Star program for vacuum
cleaners. AHAM also requested that Committee F11 develop test
methods that will calculate the amount of energy used by a
vacuum cleaner relative to cleaning carpet.
Manufacturers will use the
proposed standard to develop and improve products, while the EPA
Energy Star program will use it to apply ratings to those vacuum
cleaners that qualify.
“Ultimately, it will be the
consumers who will benefit by having a program in place that
helps them determine the best product for their use,” says
Battema. “It is important to remember that only the top 25
percent of products submitted will be eligible for Energy Star.
These will represent the vacuum cleaners that provide the most
efficient energy use and highest cleaning efficiency.”
Committee F11 welcomes
participation in its standards developing activities.
“Committee F11 and Task Group
F11.20.04 are always looking for companies, organizations and
interested individuals to help in the development and
application of new standards,” says Battema, who notes that
organizations and individuals that would fall into the general
use category are especially sought by F11.
For technical Information,
contact Ronald Battema, Compliance Consulting Inc., Bristol, TN,
(rbattema@charter.net). Committee F11 meets April 20-22, 2009,
during the April committee week in Vancouver, BC. For ASTM
meeting or membership information, email
bmurphy@astm.org.
Tennant Co., maker of floor
cleaning equipment, cut 240 employees because of slow sales, in
December.
The company will reduce its
global work force by about 8 percent, which will save the
company $20 million. Tennant will take a $15 million charge to
cover severance packages and other expenses related to the
layoffs.
“Demand for our equipment is
much weaker than projected, and we do not see a quick recovery,”
said Chris Killingstad, the company’s president and CEO.
“Therefore, we must take the unfortunate action of reducing our
work force, which we believe is necessary to better weather this
downturn.”
Tennant is planning no wage or
salary increases for 2009. In October, the company reported
thirdquarter earnings of $14 million, or 76 cents per share, up
from $11 million, or 57 cents per share, during the same period
last year.
Tennant’s revenue totaled
$185.9 million in the third quarter, up from $161.3 million
during the same period last year.
Revenue increased on stronger
sales in all regions and acquisitions in the first nine months
of 2008, the company said. North American net sales increased by
2.4 percent to $107.2 million, up from $104.7 million in third
quarter of 2007.
Sales increased in Europe, the
Middle East and Africa by 31.4 percent, to $55.3 million, up
from $42.1 million in the same period in 2007.
The company has assets of $382
million, and liabilities of $130 million.
LEED 2009 Passes Member Ballot
LEED 2009, the long-awaited
update to the internationally recognized LEED green building
certification program, has passed member ballot, and will be
introduced in 2009 as the next major evolution of the existing
LEED rating systems for commercial buildings.
It includes a series of major
technical advancements focused on improving energy efficiency,
reducing carbon emissions, and addressing other environmental
and human health outcomes.
LEED 2009 will also
incorporate highly anticipated regional credits, extra points
that have been identified as priorities within a project’s given
environmental zone. LEED has also undergone a scientifically
grounded re-weighting of credits, changing allocation of points
among LEED credits to reflect climate change and energy
efficiency as urgent priorities.
This will be one of the most
significant changes to the rating system, and will increase the
importance of green building as a means of contributing
immediate and measurable solutions toward energy independence,
climate change mitigation, and other global priorities.
LEED 2009 incorporates eight
years worth of market and user feedback in the form of
precedent-setting Credit Interpretation Rulings, which will
ensure clarity for project teams. Coupled with a credit
alignment structure designed to create a more elegant and
harmonized rating system, LEED 2009 will reset the bar for the
certification of high-performance green buildings.
Process innovation in how new
technical advancements are incorporated into LEED will also be
introduced alongside LEED 2009, including a “pilot process” for
individual credits that will allow major new technical
developments to be flexibly trialed, evaluated, and incorporated
into LEED.
“The conclusion of the
balloting process marks the culmination of tireless work
done by representatives from all corners of the building
industry,” said Brendan Owens, vice-president, LEED Technical
Development, U.S. Green Building Council. “We have the deepest
gratitude for our volunteer leaders, and for their bold steps
towards resetting the bar for green building leadership and
challenges the industry to move faster and reach further.”
Detailed information about
specific proposed technical changes to the rating system can be
found in the background documents that accompany the public
comment forms at www.usgbc.org.
FBI Building Goes Platinum
with USGBC
USAA Real Estate Co. has
announced that the FBI’s Regional Facility in Chicago has earned
LEED certification for Existing Buildings Operations and
Maintenance (LEED EBOM) at the Platinum level.
The facility is the first
Platinum recipient in the world under the LEED EBOM program, and
the first LEED EB Platinum rated building in Chicago, and one of
only sixteen LEED EB Platinum projects in the world. Fifteen of
these projects are currently located in the United States.
“This accomplishment is not
just a culmination of the efforts of everyone on our team and
our valued FBI and GSA partners, but it is a measure of our
efforts to drive the business case for efficiency and
sustainability,” says Pat Duncan, chairman and CEO of USAA Real
Estate Company. “We continually strive to improve the financial
and environmental performance of our real estate portfolio and
in so doing, drive improved comfort, lower operating costs and
provide a healthier environment and community for our tenants.”
Property Management utilized
USAA Real Estate Company’s sustainability platform that allowed
them to achieve the goals of reducing carbon emissions,
promoting tenant satisfaction and awareness, thus lowering
operating costs.
USAA Real Estate Company also
acknowledges the FBI and the GSA for their assistance and
support during their process to improve the building’s
environmental performance using the LEED rating system.
“It’s exciting for us to be
part of such a significant achievement,” said Robert D. Grant,
Special Agent-in Charge of the FBI’s Chicago office. “The
quality of service that USAA has provided since we occupied our
new home over two years ago has been unparalleled, showing that
it’s possible to be environmentally friendly without sacrificing
on service.” Mr. Grant offered his congratulations to USAA
Realty Management on receiving this recognition.
USAA Real Estate Company has
over $5 billion of owned assets. It is a subsidiary of USAA,
which has been serving military families since 1922.
Zep Cuts Workforce by 5
Percent
Zep Inc., a producer of
cleaning and maintenance solutions, has announced that, as a
result of significantly lower customer orders, it is reducing
its nonsales workforce by 5 percent.
The company said it began
experiencing a significantly lower order rate in October, as a
result of general economic conditions while continuing to
experience high raw material input costs. The company initiated
a new set of non-sales headcount reductions in November and is
expected to have most of these reductions complete by the end of
its second fiscal quarter.
As a result of this workforce
reduction, the company expects to report a restructuring charge
of approximately $1.9 million in the first fiscal quarter of
2009, which ended November 30. In addition, the Company
announced an immediate hiring freeze of all non-sales positions
throughout the organization.
“In response to
widely-publicized economic headwinds, weaker-than-expected
volumes, and continued high raw material costs, we made the
decision during the first quarter to reduce our workforce,” said
John K. Morgan, chairman, president and CEO of Zep, Inc. “While
this was a difficult decision, we are operating in a rapidly
declining and much broader economic downturn than we initially
anticipated and believe it was prudent to reduce our cost
structure in response.”
In addition to the workforce
reduction the company has already begun implementing, it will
further reduce costs in other areas as necessary. “These are
never easy decisions to make, and I certainly understand the
impact this will have on our associates,” said Morgan. “Despite
this reduction in our staffing levels, we believe it is
important to continue to seek and hire experienced and qualified
sales representatives.”
Zep had fiscal year 2008 sales
of over $575 million.
Team Clean Founder a Women of
Distinction
Donna Allie, founder of Team
Clean, has been named a Woman of Distinction by the Philadelphia
Business Journal and the National Association of Women Business
Owners.
Allie and 24 other honorees
received the award at a gala ceremony and dinner at the Sheraton
Philadelphia City Center in December. She was also featured in a
profile in the November 21, 2008 editions of the Philadelphia
Business Journal.
“It’s an honor to be included
in this prestigious group of accomplished business women,” said
Allie. “All of us at Team Clean look forward to continue growing
a sustainable business, built for the future, with an emphasis
on ‘green-collar jobs” and implementing additional green
initiatives as that continues to evolve as a concern for our
industry and our customers.”
The president and founder of
Team Clean (a provider of janitorial services in the
Philadelphia region), Allie launched the company in the
mid-1980s as a solo entrepreneur, and has grown the company to
over 600 employees and over $16 million in sales. The company
she founded on a shoe-string has been named as the #1-ranked
Minority-Owned Business in Philadelphia by the Philadelphia
Business Journal for the past two years.
Team Clean serves a variety of
clients in government, education, industry, professional
offices, sports and entertainment venues and events. Among the
highlights of the company’s growth are clients such as Cheyney
University and the National Constitution Center.
Originally unable to find
employment in her chosen field after college graduation, Allie
was a single parent determined to find a way to support herself
and her child. She had accompanied a friend on a job cleaning a
home, and realized that there was an excellent income potential
in cleaning houses.
She answered newspaper
advertisements for “cleaning ladies,” and began cleaning homes
throughout Philadelphia’s suburban Main Line. Team Clean grew
when Allie began to respond to those newspaper ads by hiring
women herself and sending them off in pairs to clean homes,
establishing the burgeoning company’s “team” approach to
cleaning. She took her first commercial contract in 1985 with
the Upper Main Line YMCA.
In addition to her selection
as one of the 2008 Women of Distinction, Allie has previously
been the recipient of a number of professional awards. In April
2007, she was honored by the Philadelphia Phillies with the
inaugural Most Valuable Diverse Business Partner during
ceremonies on Jackie Robinson Day at Citizens Bank Park.
PepsiCo HQ LEED Silver
Certified
PepsiCo’s downtown corporate
plaza in Chicago has received the USGBC’s Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certification for
reducing energy use by 10 percent in less than a year, cutting
water to 37 percent below Energy Policy Act performance
standards, and eliminating almost 226 metric tons of greenhouse
gas emissions through energy saving programs.
“Our LEED certification is a
tremendous accomplishment and a testament to the passion of our
employees who created a ‘Green Team’ devoted to making
environmental responsibility an integral part of our corporate
culture,” said Jim Lynch, senior vice president North America
Beverages Supply Chain. “We consider this achievement just one
step in our journey to help realize a better tomorrow for our
environment, community, associates and our business.”
As an employee-established
environmental committee, the PepsiCo Green Chicago Team focused
on four critical elements in the large-scale effort to obtain
LEED certification:
— Energy savings: The Green
Team was able to keep all employees engaged and aware of their
daily energy use through employee-nominated floor leaders;
— Waste reduction: Monthly
contests were held that pit each of the 16 floors against each
other in competition to reduce waste and both winners and losers
were announced internally;
— Recycling: A formal
recycling program was also started that focused on recycling 100
percent of the recyclable glass, paper, plastic, cardboard,
batteries, printer/fax cartridges, and light bulbs discarded in
the Chicago Plaza’s refuse bins.
The program has diverted 70
percent of the Chicago Plaza’s solid waste to recycling centers
so that it can be beneficially recycled and reused instead of
being disposed in local municipal landfills;
— Air quality: The Plaza
replaced all janitorial and cleaning products with alternative
cleaning products that meet the USGBC’s stringent Sustainable
Cleaning Products and Materials standards and improved the
building’s HVAC system to be more efficient.
“Our goal in the beginning was
to shift the cultural perspective and instill a sense of
environmental responsibility,” said Meagan Smith, marketing
manager, Quaker Foods & Snacks and Green Team cofounder.
“The Silver LEED certification
not only reinforces our mission, but also sets a serious example
for others in the industry that employees can evoke change.”
