KEY POINTS:
Brian Young, president of the Building Services Contractors of New Zealand (BSCNZ), said training in the cleaning industry was driving more environmentally friendly initiatives.
New strategies include daytime office cleaning, to save electricity consumption, and the use of natural rather than chemical solvents.
"The progression to environmentally-friendly processes
this industry has undertaken in recent years is one of the most significant developments in its history."
But Mr Young said cleaning contractors and customers could not afford to rest on their laurels and needed to keep looking for ways to provide even more eco-friendly services.
"Between our members we clean most of the major public and commercial buildings in New Zealand so the changes we have made have the power to have a major impact."
Mr Young said to date the drive towards greener cleaners had been both customer and contractor-led.
"Much of it has been made possible by the development of industry training and it is now something which is taken into account in every area of our business."
Mr Young said that in past decades training was basic, with cleaning staff not even taught how to dispose of contaminated water.
"It usually went into the storm water drain ... chemical content or sustainability of cleaning materials and equipment simply wasn't a consideration."
Mr Young said there had been a steady change in attitudes over the past decade, and that had accelerated over the past five years, in part driven by demand and government policies.
The Government was responsible for more than 30 per cent of buildings in New Zealand and expected a much greater emphasis on sustainability.
Mr Young said the BSCNZ was following through by informing members and development of training through the industry training organisation.
"Increasingly, our members expect suppliers to demonstrate that products have come from sustainable processes. Both they and their customers are asking for documented evidence of environmental records and policies."
For instance there had been a move away from the use of bleaches and chemicals to citrus-based solvents which did the same job. Another major change had been greatly increased awareness about recycling.
"You can't just pay lip service to an environmental policy. Contractors need to make it clear to building owners that it involves commitment on both sides and has to be linked to an in-house recycling initiative - it is about much more than putting a sign on a wall in reception."
One successful initiative was to remove individual paper bins from beside desks and instead have one large bin which not only reminded staff to sort waste but also made them think before printing something out.
Awareness of the amount of power used during out-of-hours office cleaning had also led to changes.
"A few years ago no one considered energy saving. Driving through major cities at night you would see high-rise buildings lit up like Christmas trees as cleaning staff worked on every floor."
There was now team cleaning for high-rise buildings so that only one floor had to be lit at a time, resulting in substantial energy savings.
Some organisations were also moving towards daytime cleaning to significantly reduce energy use.
