About the Program

Harvard’s Green Cleaning Program is a combined effort of Harvard Green Campus Initiative and University Operations Services’ Facilities Maintenance Operations (FMO).  Funding for an initial research phase was provided by FMO and a private donor who was interested in the health effects of cleaning chemicals.  The main goal of the green cleaning program is to develop an environmentally safe, employee safe, and building occupant safe green cleaning program for FMO’s custodial services.

Initial research

The initial research began in September 2004 and was an extended benchmarking effort, although information from the green cleaning program at Harvard Divinity School was essential in guiding the project. The research included evaluating our old approaches tPerson vacuumingo cleaning, learning about chemicals in cleaning products and their effects on the environment, comparing certifying organizations and their criteria as well as green cleaning efforts of other organizations, and looking at green cleaning methods and procedures. We then looked at what products were on the market and how we could integrate the new cleaning approach with Harvard’s purchasing program and FMO's existing vendor relations.  We worked with FMO's current vendors to set up presentations by different cleaning companies in order to learn about the products on the market.  In addition, we visited other groups that had set up green cleaning programs, such as the Deidre Imus Center for Pediatric Oncology.

Criteria selection

During the research process, references to the Center for a New American Dream kept appearing.  In 2001, the Center for a New American Dream sponsored a workgroup that included many of the initial key players in the green cleaning field, including Massachusetts, Seattle, King County, and Minnesota.  The work group came to a consensus about the necessary criteria for products and made a list of approved products. Some products were tested by an independent laboratory at UMASS Lowell and were found to work as good as or better than traditional products.  The criteria that were put together were modeled after Green Seal’s GS-37 criteria for Industrial and Institutional Cleaners and included Green Seal certified products.  The criteria were then used to create Massachusetts’ Request for Responses, on which Harvard’s current criteria are based.  Harvard’s criteria are a living document that will be changed as the field of green cleaning changes. The document can be accessed here.

Products

As a result of the above research we decided to use Green Seal certified or recommended cleaning products. We are also including green janitorial products such as paper towels, hand dryers, toilet paper, microfiber cloths, and vacuum cleaners into our effort to also make our service as sustainable as possible.

Implementation

After the main research was completed, the next step was to implement pilot projects.  The first pilot project began in 2004 at the Divinity School, although they were already using some of the green cleaning products.  Other pilot programs include: 46 Blackstone Street, 175 North Harvard Street, Canaday Hall, and the Union Dorms (Pennypacker, Greenough, and Hurlbut). The pilot projects have been so successful that FMO plans to institute the Green Cleaning Program in all of the freshmen dorms in Harvard Yard.  If you are interested in bringing green cleaning to your building, contact Jason Luke at FMO.