ISSA Seminar Attendance Up 73 Percent in ‘09; Web Site Traffic and Tradeshow Registrations Also Posting Strong Numbers

Cleaning-industry participation in ISSA events as well as traffic on ISSA.com have risen significantly in 2009.

In spite of a tough economy, the 2009 ISSA regional-seminar series, Piecing Together a World of Standards, saw an increase in company attendance of 63 percent over 2008, with a 73 percent increase in individuals attending. The sessions, which were presented in five U.S. cities and Toronto, Canada, helped attendees understand the many product, service, and individual certifications and accreditations currently available in the industry and explained how organizations can best utilize them to meet their needs.

Due to the increased participation at these regional seminars and an influx of requests to present the topic in other cities, ISSA has added a special webinar version of Piecing Together a World of Standards, July 31 (rescheduled from its original date of July 10), at 11:00 a.m. CST. Seats are limited, so ISSA members are encouraged to register today to secure a spot in this popular session. To register, go to www.issa.com/wos.

Visits to the ISSA.com Web site also were up in the first quarter of 2009 over previous years, with a 9 percent increase in user sessions over 2008 and a 7 percent increase in unique visitors.

“We are seeing an increase in members attending events in person as well as more calls and Web site visits searching for industry information,” said ISSA Director of Industry Outreach Dianna Bisswurm. “We believe this trend will continue this year as companies look for ways to differentiate, grow, and improve operations to become more effective in today’s business climate. We also believe these participation levels bode well for a strong tradeshow turnout this fall.”

In addition, an ISSA Certification Expert (I.C.E.) workshop held June 25 in Philadelphia, PA, sold out by the first week of June. The event drew attendees from 13 U.S. states and South Africa. Due to the continued interest, ISSA has added an additional I.C.E. workshop for September in Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.issa.com/events.

Along with the strong turnout this year for seminars and workshops, registrations for the ISSA/INTERCLEAN® North America tradeshow — scheduled for October 6-9, at McCormick Place South, Chicago, IL — are also coming in strong. Attendee registrations are on par with those logged the same number of weeks out from the show in 2007 and 2008, and they are ahead of the registrations for 2006, the last time the show was in Chicago. Building service contractor registration numbers are exceeding the norm for this number of weeks out from the show, according to reports from CompuSystems, Inc., ISSA’s third-party registration provider.

Also encouraging is the fact that a large number of people who have not attended the show before are expressing interest in attending this fall. In fact, 69 percent of contractors and in-house decision-makers requesting information on the show in May said they had not attended previously.

“We are pleased to see these results this far ahead of the show because it tells us that those who participate in ISSA/INTERCLEAN this year not only will have the chance to network with a large number of business leaders, but that they also will be exposed to new contacts they may not have made at previous events,” said Bisswurm.

To download a brochure for ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America 2009, visit www.issa.com/brochure or register today at www.issa.com/register. For a listing of other upcoming industry events and webinars, visit www.issa.com/events.

 

 

Federal Backing for BioPreferred

Cleaning up at federal facilities is becoming a “greener” process. As of June 2009, federal-government agencies and their contractors are required to give procurement preference to the more than 700 biobased cleaning and janitorial products that have been designated as BioPreferredSM. These cleaners fall into the following cleaning categories or types: carpet and upholstery cleaners, laundry products, bathroom cleaners, glass cleaners, floor strippers, and hand cleaners and sanitizers. BioPreferred cleaners range from 7 percent to 78 percent biobased content.

Led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, BioPreferred aims to increase the purchase and use of biobased products made from biological or renewable agricultural materials. BioPreferred is a preferred-procurement program as well as a voluntary labeling program (in development) for the broad-scale consumer marketing of biobased products.

In addition to the newly designated cleaning-product categories, there are several more categories and individual products expected to receive designation in late 2009. These new categories will recognize more than 600 additional biobased cleaning products, such as multipurpose cleaners, industrial cleaners, general-purpose household cleaners, and food cleaners.

To date, BioPreferred has identified more than 15,000 biobased products commercially available across approximately 200 categories. A complete list and detailed description of each BioPreferred-designated item category, and items for future designation, can be found at the USDA BioPreferred Web page: www.biopreferred.gov. Please contact biopreferred@usda.gov with questions or to receive additional information on BioPreferred.

 

 

 

Latest Green-Schools Legislation

On May 7 of this year, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed legislation (HB 1363) into law that requires the state’s K-12 public schools to procure and use green cleaning products. The law, which becomes effective October 9, makes Maryland the fifth state to adopt a green-cleaning-for-schools law and the 17th to implement a green cleaning policy of one kind or another.

ISSA has prepared a thorough summary of state, local, and federal green cleaning policies, laws, and initiatives that’s available exclusively to ISSA members at www.issa.com/greenprocure.

 

Survey Reveals How Cleaning Professionals Measure Cleaning Effectiveness

By Robert Kravitz

A recent issue of Kai-Leidoscope, the monthly newsletter of Kaivac, Inc. (developers of the No-Touch Cleaning® system), asked readers to complete a survey regarding how they measure cleaning effectiveness.

The question evolved because Kaivac, along with such organizations as ISSA and the Cleaning Industry Research Institute, or CIRI, have been working to scientifically evaluate cleaning effectiveness and the importance of more effective cleaning through scientific research.

The results of the study, however, indicate that most cleaning professionals still do not use scientific measurement systems to determine cleaning effectiveness:

  • Nearly 30 percent reported that they measure the effectiveness of their cleaning programs “by my own overall view of the facility, based on its appearance, smell, etc.”
  • About a quarter said that they judge cleaning effectiveness based on feedback from their clients (building owners, managers, or occupants).
  • 16 percent indicated that they do, in fact, use scientific measurement tools and data, the most common of which are ATP rapid-monitoring systems or similar devices. (ATP, which stands for adenosine triphosphate, is an energy molecule found in all animal, plant, bacterial, yeast, and mold cells; its presence on a surface can be a warning that disease-causing microbial spores and other diseases may be present.)
  • 14 percent said that they use analysis provided by a jansan distributor.
  • About the same number, approximately 14 percent, responded that they seek the judgment of “cleaning staff or supervisors” when it comes to cleaning effectiveness.

“We all know that you can’t manage what you can’t measure,” says Matt Morrison, communications manager for Kaivac. “I would have liked [to have seen] more people using science to determine cleaning effectiveness, but it must be remembered that ATP technology and similar systems are still relatively new to the industry.”

Robert Kravitz is a writer for the professional cleaning, building, education, and health-care industries. Based in Chicago, IL, he can be reached at 773-525-3021.

 

 

First Visionary Supporters of ISSA’s New Green Connections Center: Rubbermaid Commercial Products & Technical Concepts

Rubbermaid Commercial Products, Inc. (RCP) and Technical Concepts have become the first Visionary Supporters of ISSA’s new Green Connections Center, which will serve as the centerpiece of the ISSA/INTERCLEAN® North America 2009 tradeshow at McCormick Place South, Chicago, IL, October 6-9.

ISSA developed the Green Connections Center to help tradeshow attendees develop a better understanding of the association’s initiatives to combine cleaning and science to improve occupant health in various facility settings. These environments include schools, food service, hospitals, and health-care institutions as well as commercial, industrial, and public facilities.

As Visionary Supporters of the center, RCP and Technical Concepts align themselves with ISSA’s mission and position themselves as industry leaders. The Visionary Supporter distinction represents the highest of the Green Connections Center’s three support levels, and with it, RCP and Technical Concepts will:

  • Display environmentally preferable products in the center’s Green Product Showcase
  • Conduct product demonstrations in the center’s full-size mock restroom and classroom areas
  • Place case studies or research reports in the area’s Research Library for attendees to take with them.

Other organizations have committed to support the Green Connections Center at different levels. A complete listing of supporters and additional information on the center can be found at www.issa.com/gc.

 

ISSA Seeks Industry Input on Revision of 447 Cleaning Times

ISSA is seeking industry comments for the revision of its most popular publication, The Official ISSA 447 Cleaning Times.

The Official ISSA 447 Cleaning Times is designed as the starting point for preparing bids and estimates for budgeting labor and workloading, based on cleaning tasks and the time it takes to complete them. It also helps purchasers determine how much they could save through increased productivity by purchasing different equipment or tools.

ISSA first began to provide cleaning-time standards to the industry in 1963. Since then, the association has worked continuously to refine the cleaning times to make the book an ever-more valuable estimating tool and has had it translated into multiple languages. The result is that The Cleaning Times has been adopted as the standard for governmental, health-care, educational, and other markets in the United States as well as incorporated into a wide variety of computerized workloading programs as the standard default task times.

Interested parties may provide comments or request additions to The Cleaning Times by e-mailing the book’s author, John Walker, at john@managemen.com. Comments should be made by the comments-closing date, July 23. For additional information on the book’s update or to purchase a copy of the current version, contact ISSA Education Manager Martha Reynoso at 800-225-4772 (North America) or 847-982-0800; e-mail, martha@issa.com.

 

Calendar

JULY 31, Webinar: Piecing Together a World of Standards, 11:00 a.m. CST. To register, go to www.issa.com/wos.

SEPTEMBER 21, CIMS I.C.E. Workshop. Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites, Marlborough, MA (hosted by the New England Sanitary Supply Association).

OCTOBER 5-6, CIMS I.C.E. Workshop. McCormick Place South, Chicago, IL (held in conjunction with ISSA/INTERCLEAN® North America 2009).

OCTOBER 6-9, ISSA/INTERCLEAN® North America 2009. McCormick Place South, Chicago, IL.

OCTOBER 27-28, Ninth Antimicrobial Workshop. Doubletree Hotel Crystal City, Arlington, VA.

All information in "ISSA Reports" is furnished by ISSA. ©2009. All rights reserved.




POSTED ON: 7/9/2009