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C l e a n i n g N e w s 2 3 W e d n e s d a y , N o v e m b e r 2 0 , 2 0 1 3 A SHOWCASE OF SUSTAINABILITY: THE USGBC'S NEWEST HEADQUARTERS OFFER A GLIMPSE OF ALL THINGS GREEN Since its inception, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has been the beacon for green building and design. It's the lifeblood behind the LEED ® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building certification program, which quickly set the stage for today's best practices in green building. And, like the green movement itself, it has experi- enced rapid and sustained growth. The present demand for LEED certi- fication for building projects is so high that the USGBC has expanded signifi- cantly in recent years to accommodate its growth. After just two years at its Dupont Circle headquarters in Washington, D.C., the USGBC outgrew its office space. But true to its mission, the sixteen year old non-profit embraced the opportunity to renovate a circa 1970s office buildingand to become the first project to achieve LEED Platinum under the newest version of its green building rating system. During the design and construction phase, the USGBC and Architecture firm Envision Design worked closely with green product manufacturers to specify products that made significant contributions to LEED criteria while meeting the classic aesthetic of the new space. Excel Dryer, Inc., manufacturer of the high-speed, energy-efficient XLERATOR ® hand dryer has been a corporate member of the USGBC for nearly seven years and the XLERATOR has been a featured green product at USGBC headquarters. "Restroom fixture technology has evolved significantly in the last ten years," said Ken Wilson, Principal, Envision Design. "XLERATOR continues to be the specified hand dryer of choice at USGBC headquarters because it meets the aggressive energy and waste reduction objectives for designing state-of-the-art green restrooms." Wilson specified the XLERATOR XL-SB-1.1N stainless steel hand dryer. "In architecture, performance and design are inextricably linked," he added. "XLERATOR delivers both." The green movement shows no signs of slowing. The USGBC and its more than 16,000 member companies are well poised to guide the next generation of builders, architects, specifiers, teachers and environmentalists in creating a sus- tainable future through cost-effective and energy-efficient buildings. For more information, go online to www.exceldryer.com, call 800-255-9235 or email sales@exceldryer.com This is an important advancement for hand hygiene. HEPA filtration simply traps germs inside the dryer, but by incor- porating warm-air CPC, American Dryer's latest models actually kill germs on hands and in the surrounding air. In contrast, HEPA neither sanitizes hands nor kills germs. "CPC creates a purifying bubble of air, which surrounds the hands without the creation of harmful ozone," added Daniel Rabahy, President of American Dryer. "This is a true evolution in hand dryer technology because of CPC's com- prehensive hygienic benefits." Cold plasma, or bipolar ionization, cleans the air and kills germs naturally. Ionization is found throughout nature, and the Cold Plasma Generator, available only inside eXtremeAir ® models (eXtremeAir CPC), uses steady-state positive and negative discharge points to split water molecules in the air into oppo- sitely charged hydrogen and oxygen ions. These ions then break down gases to harmless compounds commonly found in the atmosphere. CPC technology is also proven to kill harmful and microscopic pathogens including E. coli, C. diff, Staph, MRSA, and TB. EMSL Labs, an Elite CDC certi- fied lab, independently tested American American Dryer (Cont'd. from p. 1) Dryer's CPC technology. Underwriters Laboratory (UL) tested it for safety, and CPC technology passed both the UL867 and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) standards. Additionally, CPC technology is a solid-state, maintenance-free solution. There are no expensive filters, chemicals or labor, and as with all American Dryer hand dryers, eXtremeAir CPC models are compact and come equipped with universal voltage and adjustable sound and speed. Proven cold plasma technology has been successfully used to purify the air in commercial buildings since the 1930s. The prestigious Cleveland Clinic, Baylor College of Medicine and Boston Children's Hospital currently use it, and most recently, cold plasma has been used in medicine to treat surgical incisions and to kill bacteria in the food processing industry. The eXtremeAir CPC hand dry- ers advance this technology to kill the germs on your hands while you dry them. American Dryer offers the most comprehensive line of hand dryers made in the U.S.A. Its hand dryers offer best- in-class performance and are sold in over 30 countries. Visit booth 3571 for a product demon- stration. For more information, visit www.americandryer.com. GREEN SPECIALTY CLEANERS ARE IN HIGH DEMAND By Linda Chipperfield, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Green Seal, Inc. Ever since the early 1990s when President Bill Clinton issued executive orders requir- ing green products to be used in all federal facilities, purchasers have been increasing- ly specifying environmentally preferable cleaning products in their RFPs. Today, virtually every major chemical manufac- turer in the industry has a line of cleaning products that have been certified green. Some of the earliest products to be cer- tified were the ones cleaning professionals use most frequently, such as window clean- ers and all-purpose cleaners. However, the goal of a green cleaning program should be that all cleaning chemicals are more sustainable and have reduced envi- ronmental impact. "It is because of this that we launched GS-53, Green Seal's stan- dard for specialty cleaning," says Dr. Arthur Weissman, President and CEO of Green Seal. "Now virtually all cleaners, including specialty cleaners, can be Green Seal certified, which helps make facilities healthier and the job of securing environ- mentally preferable products much easier and more efficient." In recent years, Green Seal has seen a steady increase in the demand for independently-certified specialty cleaners. In an RFP released by the State of Minnesota in February 2013 for detergents for dishwash- ers, the environmental requirements for ware washing products were based on GS-53. LEED EBOM V4 requirements for green cleaning reference GS-53 specifical- ly for specialty cleaning products. For more information, visit booth 2685, go online to www.greenseal.org, call 202-872- 6400 or email greenseal@greenseal.org.