 UMass Amherst Facilities Awarded Green Certification for Cleaning Programs
June 14, 2007
AMHERST, Mass. – Five facilities operated by the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s auxiliary services department have qualified for the (OS1) Green Certified Cleaning Program, the premier recognition given to organizations dedicated to cleaning for health and reducing environmental harm.
The designation was achieved by reaching the ManageMen Standard on the annual (OS1) Progress Audit conducted in the Lincoln Campus Center and the Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester dining halls. A formal presentation of the award plaque will be made on July 30 during the annual (OS1) Users Symposium Awards ceremony in Colonial Williamsburg, Va.
The rigorous audit conducted by ManageMen, Inc. of Salt Lake City assesses performance based on more than 250 factors that have been benchmarked as best practices in cleaning organizations. The certification criteria documents that a cleaning organization is using practices that produce clean facilities with a minimal impact on the environment. Successful candidates must document to an outside auditor that they are actively reducing hazardous chemicals and waste, reusing cleaning materials rather than sending them to the landfill, cleaning safely and effectively recycling.
UMass Amherst’s auxiliary services is the only cleaning operation in Massachusetts to attain the (OS1) Green Certified Program Award. Last year, the Lincoln Campus Center and Worcester Dining Hall were the first to win the designation.
“The green certification demonstrates our commitment to the environment and the students at UMass, said Ashoke Ganguli, director of auxiliary services. “It validates the fact that we have a world-class commitment to quality cleaning services for our customers.”
The (OS1) program at UMass Amherst was also cited for its contributions to green cleaning last October when the campus received the Massachusetts Environmental Purchasing and Sustainability Award from the state Department of Capital Asset Management and the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs.
UMass Amherst joins an elite group of organizations committed to cleaning, green practices and protecting the built environment. The Boeing Company was the first organization to receive the certification award in 2005. Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque, N.M.; GMI Building Services in San Diego; the State of Washington’s capitol facilities division; USSI of Washington D.C.; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Clean-Tech in St. Louis; Southeast Alaska Regional Healthcare Consortium and PARC/NISH/Hill Air Force Base have since earned the designation.
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