Services
Green Cleaning Programmes
Green cleaning costs roughly the same as conventional cleaning, and the reason is arithmetic: labour is about 85% of a janitorial contract and labour does not change. Certified products carry a higher jug price but are usually sold as dilution-controlled concentrates, so cost-in-use per ready-to-use gallon is often lower. The realistic impact on a total contract is a few percent.
Everyone in this industry says they are green. Almost nobody names a certification body, which is how you can tell the difference.
The Four Things Buyers Conflate
| Claim | What it certifies | Issued by | Verify at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Seal GS-42 | The service company's operations, training and procedures | Green Seal | certified.greenseal.org |
| Green Seal GS-37 / GS-53 | Individual products | Green Seal | certified.greenseal.org |
| EPA Safer Choice | Individual products | US EPA | epa.gov/saferchoice |
| CIMS-GB | Management systems, with a green building component | ISSA | cims.issa.com |
| GBAC STAR | Biorisk and infection control | GBAC (ISSA) | gbac.issa.com |
All five are verifiable in public directories in under a minute. Any vendor claiming one should be able to give you their listing URL on the spot. If they cannot, they do not hold it.
What GS-42 Actually Requires
It is worth knowing, because it explains why a genuine green programme is a management standard rather than a shopping list. GS-42 requires a building-specific written cleaning plan; documented procedures for cleaning, waste collection, product handling and equipment maintenance; daily vacuuming of high-traffic areas; specified entryway matting dimensions; internal feedback procedures and external client communication protocols; environmentally preferable purchasing across cleaners, floor finishes, hand soap and tissue; powered equipment meeting noise and performance limits; and a training regime of 12 hours initial, a further 12 hours in the first year, and 24 hours of continuing education annually.
Where This Becomes Worth Money to You
If your building is pursuing or maintaining LEED for Existing Buildings, the green cleaning credits cover policy, products and materials, equipment, and custodial effectiveness assessment. Your cleaning programme is a credit contributor, and your landlord's sustainability team will ask for documentation. Providing it properly — product lists with certifications, training records, the written plan, equipment specifications — is a service most vendors simply cannot perform.
What Is Included
- Green Seal and EPA Safer Choice certified product set as the default chemistry
- Dilution-control dispensing to eliminate over-concentration and waste
- Building-specific written cleaning plan, in the GS-42 format
- Entryway matting specification — the single highest-impact green cleaning measure
- HEPA H13 filtration vacuums, 99.97% at 0.3 microns
- Microfibre systems reducing chemical and water use
- Documented crew training records
- Product certification documentation pack for LEED or landlord sustainability reporting
- Fragrance-free product option for offices with chemically sensitive or asthmatic staff
What Is Not Included Unless You Ask for It
This list exists on purpose. Almost every dispute between an office and its cleaning company traces back to something one party assumed was in scope and the other did not.
- LEED consulting, credit submission or certification management
- Landlord-level energy or emissions reporting
- Composting and organics collection where the building has no organics stream
- Claims that our company holds certifications it has not been audited for
Get This Scoped and Priced
Tell us the space and we will send back a written scope exhibit, a fixed price, and the exclusions — in one document, usually within two business days.
Green Cleaning — Get a Price
Written scope and fixed price, usually within two business days.
We reply to every request. If your building needs a Certificate of Insurance or vendor registration, we handle that paperwork before the first night.
Green Cleaning: Frequently Asked Questions
Does green cleaning cost more?
Marginally, and less than people assume. Labour is around 85% of a janitorial contract and it does not change. Certified concentrates often cost less per ready-to-use gallon than conventional ready-to-use products. On a typical 5,000 sq ft office, the total contract impact is low single-digit percent.
Are you Green Seal certified?
We use Green Seal and EPA Safer Choice certified products and follow GS-42 procedures. We will not claim GS-42 company certification unless and until we have been audited for it and appear in the public directory — and you should hold every vendor to that same test. Ask for the listing URL.
We have staff with asthma and fragrance sensitivity. Can you accommodate that?
Yes, and it is worth knowing that fragrance-free and unscented are not the same thing — unscented products often contain masking fragrance. We can run an EPA Safer Choice Fragrance-Free product set, avoid the common asthmagens including quaternary ammonium compounds and bleach where a hydrogen-peroxide alternative works, and adjust scheduling for a specific floor. The full protocol.
Ready for a Cleaning Contract You Can Actually Read?
Send us your square footage and how many nights you need. You get a written scope, a fixed monthly price, and the SLA in the same document — usually within two business days.