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Cleanlink News 10/7/2009

ISSA Announces New CIMS-GB


ISSA will release the new Green Building (GB) module of its popular Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) and certification program at ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America 2009. Certification to the CIMS-GB criteria opens concurrently.

CIMS-GB was designed to help meet the growing demand for “green” and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. Implemented as the sixth dimension of CIMS, the new criteria and designation will offer cleaning organizations an optional certification that is closely tailored to provide their customers with what they need to secure points under the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (LEED-EB: O&M) Green Building Rating System while greening their overall operations.

“The addition of the Green Building criteria and designation is the natural next step for the CIMS program,” said ISSA Director of Facility Service Programs Dan Wagner. “Adding a green component to the Standard’s traditional five sections of operations best practices completes the overall management puzzle and offers cleaning organizations a valuable designation that demonstrates their capability to assist their customers in achieving LEED certification.”

With the addition of the new CIMS-GB module, cleaning organizations will now have a choice of certifying to the traditional CIMS management requirements or to both the CIMS and CIMS-GB criteria. Organizations may not pursue only the Green Building designation without also being assessed to the management best practices outlined in the original five sections of the Standard.

“The effective delivery of green cleaning services starts with a commitment to the management elements outlined in CIMS, and certification to the traditional five sections is, therefore, necessary to achieve the new GB designation,” said Wagner. “Ultimately, certification to both CIMS and CIMS-GB will validate a cleaning organization’s commitment to quality, customer satisfaction, and, now, the delivery of environmentally preferable cleaning services.”

The CIMS-GB criteria were developed through a true consensus-based process with the help of a nine-member technical committee that included representatives from all segments of the cleaning industry. The technical committee was primarily responsible for identifying proposed requirements and developing a draft set of criteria, which were then made available for full public review and feedback.

The Standard’s new Green Building criteria further substantiates CIMS as a valuable prequalification tool for building owners and facility managers. By hiring CIMS-GB-certified cleaning contractors, the facility-management community can ensure that its cleaning providers are companies of excellence that can also help them achieve LEED-EB: O&M points.

ISSA will feature CIMS-GB information on the tradeshow floor at ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America 2009, Wednesday-Friday, in the new ISSA Green Connections Center, Booth 2446. 


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