Crédit LEED

LEED O+M: Existing Buildingsv4 - LEED v4

Green cleaning - custodial effectiveness assessment

1 point

Implement the strategies specified in the facility's green cleaning policy and conduct a routine inspection and monitoring. This inspection shall ensure that the specified strategies have been implemented and shall identify areas requiring improvement.

Additionnally is it required to conduct an annual audit in accordance with APPA Leadership in Educational Facilities' Custodial Staffing guidelines, or a local equivalent, whichever is more stringent, to determine the facility's level of appearance. The facility must achieve a score of 2.5 or higher.

APPA audit for LEED Certification

The world's most recognized green building certification is also increasingly becoming the Canadian real estate market standard as the sustainability industry continues to grow. Buildings that display LEED Certification must prove their compliance and include APPA auditing in their monitoring protocols.

The purpose of the monitoring exercise is to determine the visual quality of cleanliness within the building through the LEED certified method. The primary objective is to conduct an audit, according to APPA's operational guidelines which provide a comprehensive methodology for determining the level of cleanliness of a building. The ultimate goal of the assessment is to demonstrate that the service provided by the building's custodial crews ensures both a good level of comfort and the reduction of occupant exposure to contaminants. The goal of this effort is to reinforce the importance of cleanliness without limiting it to specific procedures focused on infection control. As we all know, cleanliness is the cornerstone of measures to control not only infections, but also other adverse effects such as allergies. In addition, cleanliness is a key determinant of occupant satisfaction.

Auditor

By granting its building hygiene and sanitation consultants and auditors the LEED Green Associates professional certification, ValkarTech is once again demonstrating its commitment to providing up-to-date consulting services that reflect the environmental concerns of its LEED-certified clients and to collaborating on the performance of their buildings. To achieve this certification awarded by GBCI, the LEED Green Associate must demonstrate a strong understanding of green building practices and standards related to the design, construction, use, and maintenance of buildings for the practice of comprehensive, sustainable management. Our auditors are also certified by the Mouvement Québécois de la Qualité and are Accredited Auditing Professionals by the Cleaning Management Institute, a division of the ISSA.

Sampling

The auditor will prepare the audit plan and set up the database to establish the control sheets in accordance with the APPA procedure. This first step consists of recording the number of rooms per floor and their surface areas, defining the appropriate spaces for the audit (e.g., offices, corridors, meeting rooms, etc.) and assigning these spaces according to the APPA space category classification.

All of the data prepared is imported into the software (according to the APPA guide) fully configured and used by our services for LEED audits. Recommended by APPA, this software allows to automatically determine the sampling grid (number of premises to be controlled) to obtain a random selection of the various premises to be controlled, and then to present the computed results.

Additionnal information - Selection or sampling process required. Randomly select the spaces to be audited and ensure that each space type is adequately represented. APPA requires that project auditors inspect a number of spaces equivalent to at least 10% of each space type and equivalent to at least 10% of the total area of each space type. For all space types where 10% of the given room or space type totals less than five rooms, all spaces must be audited.

Methodology

Database development

Creating the sample

Visit and inspection

Presentation and report

This first step is to identify the number of rooms per floor and their sizes, determine the appropriate spaces for the audit, and allocate these spaces according to the APPA space category classification.

A list of areas to be inspected is automatically generated. A number of rooms equivalent to at least 10% of each type of space and equivalent to at least 10% of the total area of each type of space is randomly selected.

A certified auditor inspects the selected areas. Each space is evaluated according to the inspection grid in accordance with the assessment criteria set out in the APPA guidelines.

The audit results are presented and reported in accordance with LEED guidelines. Each area is given an individual score according to the calculation rule established by LEED. The overall score for the building is then obtained by calculating an average.