Reaching a New Green Milestone

A major western university is proud of the fact that it has been transferring from conventional to Green cleaning systems for more than twenty years—long before Green cleaning was even a topic discussed in most public facilities or the professional cleaning industry.

However, reviewing their accomplishments as well as Green trends in the industry, they soon discovered that one of their major cleaning tasks had changed little and had been less “Green impacted” over the years: floor care.

Although the school had begun using environmentally preferable floor-care chemicals several years earlier, they were using them with the same floor-care equipment they have used for years. The managers decided to see if advances in floor-care technology had evolved and could prove healthier for the school and the environment.

Less Is More

What they soon discovered was that most of the advances in floor-care equipment all revolved around less: less downtime, less machine maintenance, less operator error, and less time to maintain the floor—all good but not necessarily Green. What was missing was using less chemical and water. The managers theorized that using less water and chemical in floor care would significantly benefit the environment as well as the health of the school.

Why? Water use is emerging as a Green issue, and the university is located in a state that has experienced chronic water shortages over the years. Because of this, it has instituted a variety of programs to reduce water usage. For instance, conventional urinals are being replaced with waterless systems, saving thousands of gallons per year. Any floor-care equipment that could reduce water usage would be viewed very favorably.

As to chemical use, even though the school uses environmentally preferable chemicals, a significant part of Green cleaning is to develop systems that reduce—and even eliminate—the use of chemicals, Green or not. Again, a floor machine that can satisfactorily clean the floors while using less chemical would be a welcomed addition at the school.

A Cylindrical Milestone

It appeared that although floor-care equipment has improved significantly over the years, few machines purported to use less water or chemical. They did find one machine that claims to use as much as 70 percent less water than conventional floor-care machines; however, that machine is being viewed with some skepticism by end users and jansan industry insiders alike.

Another floor-care machine that also claimed to use less water and chemical was based on an entirely new technology. These machines, developed by Tornado®, are cylindrical, not rotary. They use brushes, not pads, which counterrotate at varying speeds depending on the machine.

Because the rotating brushes do more of the “heavy work” when it comes to floor care, they use less water and chemical. The brushes are designed to remove deeply embedded soils and contaminants from porous floor surfaces and grout areas. Additionally, they have five to six times more contact pressure on floors than conventional rotary machines, so they can better reach deeply entrenched soils. Even on excessively soiled floors, the result is an effectively cleaned floor surface with minimal water and chemical use, exactly what the school was looking for.

School managers were so impressed that now the university has another milestone to add to its Green accomplishments. As of 2008, they decided that only floor-care equipment that incorporates cylindrical brush technology, such as Tornado’s new line of BR Family of Autoscrubers, will be selected for use in the school.