Many building managers’ first move toward cutting back on water, energy and carbon emissions in his or her facility is likely replacing current products with more efficient options. While retrofitting offers a strong return on investment through resource savings, it is not the only way to save resources; building managers can find real savings over time simply by ensuring the sustainable maintenance of a property’s carpets.
Saving resources through sustainable maintenance
Sustainability is a top priority for Allen Gelberg, director of MaRS Discovery District’s Collaboration Centre in Toronto.
Routine carpet maintenance can use large amounts of water and require high energy usage. With this in mind, Gelberg has been using a dry-based carpet maintenance system since 2005, which uses significantly less water for cleaning and less energy to power equipment.
Given that MaRS hosts more than 2,000 events each year, Allen estimates that he also would have had to replace the carpeting twice in the past eight years.
Maximizing facility use with minimal downtime
Beyond resource savings, the Collaboration Centre needs to remain open and functional on a daily basis to maximize use for internal meetings and rentals.
A dry-based carpet maintenance process means little or no downtime for drying after a cleaning. Low-moisture systems also leave little to no residue behind and do not reactivate spots from coffee and tea spills, so there are no soiling issues that might cause the Collaboration Centre to close for re-cleaning.
What’s more, the dry process is beneficial for indoor air quality. Air quality can help promote occupant comfort, and may ensure that guests want to return to a space.
Evaluating a facility’s potential for savings
The most important first step when choosing any maintenance plan is to find a partner that considers an organization’s individual space and the nature of its business. Is a facility public facing? Where are its high-traffic areas? Is the space prone to spills from food and drinks, or even tape residue from trade shows? These are all questions that a maintenance provider should ask.
An organization’s partner will work with it to develop a long-term plan, servicing areas of its space at different frequencies depending on traffic, and setting an organization’s expectations for the program. The partner should be in constant communication with the organization and be flexible based on its needs and time requirements.
Proper maintenance of a facility’s current investments, such as carpeting, offers a huge and often unrecognized potential for resource, time and budget savings.
Mike McGarrell is the owner of MilliCare by Advanced Facility Maintenance. Serving as a strategic partner, Advanced Facility Maintenance provides building managers with the products, services and knowledge they need to implement long-term maintenance plans that increase operational efficiencies and prolong the life cycles of carpet and textiles.
