How to Select Floor Equipment to Meet Your Customers' Cleaning Needs and Facility Sustainability Goals

With today’s emphasis on building sustainability and the current focus on LEED certifications, the tools used to clean facilities are changing. Now, floor cleaning equipment feature performance capabilities that simultaneously reduce environmental impacts and improve worker productivity. To keep up with this growing trend, rental facilities are offering floor cleaning equipment designed to meet individual cleaning requirements and promote green cleaning initiatives.

Efficient rental machines allow operators to reduce water consumption, minimize or eliminate chemicals, avoid labor-intensive scrubbing and optimize energy usage - all while still delivering quality cleaning results. By selecting the appropriate auto scrubbers, carpet extractors, vacuums and sanders, facility managers can select rental equipment that will assist in enhancing building sustainability while maintaining cost-effective cleaning procedures.  

LEED and green cleaning

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is an internationally recognized mark of excellence that provides facility owners with guidelines for implementing measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions. LEED certification offers independent, third-party verification that a building was designed and constructed using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

LEED provides facility managers with guidelines for achieving and maintaining building sustainability. A major component to obtaining LEED recognition requires facilities to implement a comprehensive green cleaning plan that incorporates environmentally-preferred products, documented procedures and sustainable practices. Using LEED as a guide, rental facilities and cleaning professionals can select equipment that will compliment sustainability goals and strategies. Employing rental machines designed to reduce water consumption and chemical usage, while offering longer runtimes and minimal labor requirements help meet LEED standards by influencing overall sustainability and minimizing the environmental consequences associated with traditional cleaning procedures.

Rental equipment with green capabilities

Floor cleaning equipment is not a universal solution, as requirements vary not only by industry, but by facility as well, with each presenting specific cleaning challenges. Therefore, when selecting the appropriate cleaning equipment, such as auto scrubbers, carpet extractors, vacuums and sanders, cleaning professionals should ensure they provide both the necessary cleaning performance and promote a facility’s green cleaning initiatives.

Auto scrubbers

Auto scrubbers are used to accommodate daily cleaning needs, with some offering deep scrubbing capabilities for floor finish removal. Available in multiple sizes, auto scrubbers can accommodate a wide variety of buildings, from industrial plants and distribution centers to hospitals and universities. Traditional scrubbers utilize large quantities of water and chemicals, which can negatively impact the environment. Repeated exposure to caustic chemicals can also lower indoor air quality and affect the health and wellbeing of facility occupants.