by Rebecca Walker — February 1, 2010—CleanPower, LLC, a janitorial services provider, is the first building service contractor in Wisconsin to be certified with honors to the ISSA’s Cleaning Industry Management Standard Green Building (CIMS-GB).
This is a second first for the state’s largest cleaning contractor, as the company was also the first in the United States to earn the Green Seal Environmental Standard for Cleaning Services (GS 42) in 2007.
Certification is vitally important in the industry as it defines an environmentally responsible cleaning service, said Barbara Whitstone, senior vice president at Clean Power. The ISSA certification provides a third-party assessment of a contractor’s knowledge and ability to perform.
To achieve certification, CleanPower was assessed by an ISSA qualified third party auditor. The auditor spent several days reviewing CleanPower’s information, interviewing employees and clients, validating documentation and visiting job sites.
ISSA established the CIMS-GB assessment program to establish universally accepted principles as the hallmarks of well-managed, successful cleaning operations with a proven commitment to sustainability. The CIMS assessment covers five areas of best management practices: Quality Systems, Service Delivery, Human Resources, Health/Safety and Environmental Stewardship, and Management Commitment. It also includes the optional Green Building management practices.
The association said it sees an increase in the number of end-users who require CIMS certification to be eligible to be awarded a cleaning-service contract.
For more information, see the CleanPower Web site.
