Worcester City Hall - Green and Healthy Building

John Odell, Director of Worcester Energy and Asset Management Division, and Diana Gallego, owner and General Manager of BestPro Cleaning, holding up a Worcester City Hall’s Green and Healthy Building Certificate

In June 2018, Worcester City Hall earned a Green Clean Institute’s (GCI) certification as a Green and Healthy Building. This annual certification was based on 525 earned points from the maximum 900 Green Clean Institute’s standards for green cleaning.

The general goals of a green cleaning program in a building is to reduce exposure of building occupants and maintenance personnel to potentially hazardous chemical, biological and particle contaminants, which adversely impact air quality, health, and the environment.

The City Hall’s five stories, including part of the basement, encompass 85,375 square feet which provide work space for approximately 180 government services employees, and meeting locations for public meetings.

The City Hall’s current cleaning company, BestPro Cleaning, LLC of Worcester, MA has been cleaning City Hall for the last 3 years and was recently awarded another 3-year contract. BestPro Cleaning removes trash and recyclables, vacuums and mops entrances, cleans the restrooms and dusts every day. It wet-mops and vacuums all floor surfaces weekly.

Some of the Green and Healthy Building points awarded to the City Hall were for the following BestPro Cleaning actions and products used:

  • Workers cleaning City Hall are GCI Green Cleaning Technician trained and certified;
  • Avoid using aerosols in the building;
  • Spray bottles are typically set as stream rather than spray;
  • The following cleaning products are Green Seal, EPA or GCI approved: sanitizing products, bowl cleaners, window cleaners, furniture polish, cleaners and degreasers;
  • Use of:
    • High speed auto scrubbers with microfiber pads;
    • High speed floor machines with control dust;
    • HEPA-filter vacuums in this building;
    • Microfiber cloths to clean the building;
    • Microfiber wet mopping system.
  • Additionally, the City Hall received points for having adequate doormats inside existing doors, and having a recycling program.

Using this building as an example, the City will look for opportunities to request Green Clean Institute’s certification for its other municipal buildings going forward.

BestPro Cleaning crew at City Hall with a microfiber mop and a HEPA-filter vacuum

 

In business since 1998, BestPro Cleaning, LLC. is a member of ISSA, The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association, and is certified as a Green Cleaning Company by the Green Cleaning Institute. The company voluntarily applied for the City Hall certification, and is currently working on certifying other buildings it services. Norman Gallego, company’s operations manager, said that becoming a Certified Green Cleaning Company “would have an impact on how we can help our environment, and keep a healthy workplace for our customers and our employees as well.”

 

 Worcester City Hall's Green Clean Institute’s certification as a Green and Healthy Building (2018-2019)
GCI’s mission is training, certification, and better management for cleaning services.  It offers Green and Healthy Building Partnership certification for buildings that have demonstrated green cleaning implementation. It requires that the cleaning team has been trained and that the lessons learned have been implemented using a point system (minimum 350 of 900).