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Promoting Quality & Safety in the Workplace with Healthy Hand Hygiene

By: Caitlin Dimalanta  |  May 3, 2022 

The past few years have presented the world with harrowing opportunities for improvement. One of the main areas we have collectively strived to get better at deals with hand hygiene. Thursday May 5th, 2022 is recognized as World Hand Hygiene Day. This year’s theme, “Unite for safety: clean your hands” is a short and sweet reminder to work together to create a safer and healthier environment for our community with good hand hygiene.

While typically this day focuses on those in the healthcare industry, the value of practicing good hand hygiene applies to all of us.

Facility managers continue to play an integral role that directly affects the well-being of their building occupants and ultimately the general public. The combination of the appropriate tools, proper training and processes contribute to healthy hand hygiene. 

Topics: Hand Hygiene, Restroom Care, Infection Prevention

How Facility Management & Environmental Stewardship are Closely Connected

By: Caitlin Dimalanta  |  April 21, 2022 

The 8th and final part of our series guiding you on the path to creating a cleaner, healthier, greener, and safer building for re-entry and beyond.

Throughout this series, we've explored the various components that make up a sustainable building program. For our concluding section, we will discuss how you can continue to achieve your green goals with ongoing environmental stewardship. 

Be sure to check out the other parts of this blog series to learn more about what it takes to foster a healthy building environment: 

Part 1: How to Develop a Sustainable Building Program 

Part 2: Green Cleaning Tools, Equipment & Technology for Healthier Indoor Environments 

Part 3: Planning an Efficient Waste Diversion & Recycling Program 

Part 4: Put a Greener & Cleaner Foot Forward: Entryway Matting 

Part 5: Reducing Consumption with Smart Purchasing Decisions 

Part 6: Cutting Down Facility Maintenance Costs with Energy Efficiency 

Part 7: The Role of Facility Management in Building Occupant Wellness

Topics: green, LEED, Environment, Facility Maintenance

World Water Day 2022: Breaking Ground with Groundwater

By: Caitlin Dimalanta  |  March 22, 2022 

Today is International World Water Day. A day dedicated to raising awareness of preserving one of life’s most critical resources and it’s a great opportunity to learn more about how universally connected we all are through water. 

Water conservation plays a major role in developing a holistic sustainable building plan. There are a multitude of ways you can save water to achieve your green building goals—from easy proactive tasks like monitoring your water bill to detect leaks to implementing products that reduce water usage.

Topics: Water Conservation, Sustainable Solutions, Green Cleaning, Facility Maintenance

The Role of Facility Management in Building Occupant Wellness

By: Caitlin Dimalanta | December 9, 2021

Part seven of an ongoing series guiding you on the path to creating a cleaner, healthier, greener and safer building for re-entry and beyond.

While working towards your sustainability goals, you are bound to encounter the topic of wellness. The challenges we faced these past couple of years have shaped us to prioritize our physical health wellbeing more than ever. The return on investment on facility wellness programs have the potential of increasing employee productivity & retention, decreasing healthcare & disability costs for your business along with reducing student absenteeism. 

Topics: workplace wellness, Sustainability, Education, Facility Maintenance

Cutting Down Facility Maintenance Costs with Energy Efficiency

By: Caitlin Dimalanta | November 4, 2021

Part six of an ongoing series guiding you on the path to creating a cleaner, healthier, greener and safer building for re-entry and beyond.

In this blog series we’ve explored a multitude of ways to maintain a healthy building. From entryway matting to the latest in green cleaning technology, the strategies to be a greener facility are as unique as your cleaning regimen.

For part 6 of this series we will take a more “big picture” perspective and examine how to conserve energy, the role it plays in the wellness of our occupants, the effects it has on your bottom line and the impact it has on the environment. 

Before diving into Cutting Down Facility Maintenance Costs with Energy Efficiency, be sure to check out the rest of this blog series (if you haven’t already) for more guidance on developing a sustainable building program:

Topics: WAXIE-Green, Sustainability, Facility Maintenance, conservation

Reducing Consumption with Smart Purchasing Decisions

By: Caitlin Dimalanta  |  October 7, 2021

Part five of an ongoing series guiding you on the path to creating a cleaner, healthier, greener and safer building for re-entry and beyond.

In this blog series, we’re breaking down the process of developing a sustainable building program into eight steps, as reflected in our WAXIE GPS® (Green Partner Support™) Program, which progresses from easier to adopt green cleaning procedures and techniques to higher level strategies and stewardship.

In part 5 of this series we will be exploring greener alternatives and more conservation minded methods regarding consumables. 

Topics: environmentally preferred purchasing, Sustainability, Facility Maintenance, consumables

Put a Greener & Cleaner Foot Forward: Entryway Matting

By: Caitlin Dimalanta  |  September 10, 2021

Part four of an ongoing series guiding you on the path to creating a cleaner, healthier, greener and safer building for re-entry and beyond.

In this blog series, we’re breaking down the process of developing a sustainable building program into eight steps, as reflected in our WAXIE GPS^® (Green Partner Support™) Program, which progresses from easier to adopt green cleaning procedures and techniques to higher level strategies and stewardship.

After tackling the three previous steps, Green Chemistry, Mechanization, and Waste Reduction, we will be honing in on a more specialized and often overlooked when developing a more sustainable facility maintenance program, the importance of entryway matting. 

Topics: Indoor Air Quality, Sustainability, floor matting

Refreshed, Reimagined & Reopening: The 2021 Classroom

By: Caitlin Dimalanta  |  March 18, 2021

“Provide clear, consistent, evidence-based guidance for how communities should navigate the pandemic – and the resources for schools, small businesses, and families to make it through.” –  The White House Coronavirus Task Force 2021

Trailing the anniversary of the nationwide school campus closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, questions regarding when schools will reopen and how they will do so safely are at the forefront of many American minds. There are various ways to ensure the safety of staff and students when going back to school in person. Methods that contribute to the overall health of learning environments include: standardized cleaning procedures and staff schedules; proper training of custodial, faculty and administrative staff; and correct handwashing practices.

Topics: proper cleaning procedures, Education, Healthy Schools, COVID-19

Zero Waste & Waste Diversion: A Guide to a Greener and Healthier Future

By: Caitlin Dimalanta  |  December 3, 2020

In 2018 the EPA reported a total of 292.4 million tons of trash collected, translating to roughly 4.9 pounds per person on a daily basis in the United States alone. Approximately 32 percent of this trash was either recycled or composted. This waste diversion statistic is an impressive feat. However, the trash being generated year by year is steadily increasing along with environmental and economical impacts.

These impacts can range anywhere from reduced oxygen levels of diverse habitats to toxicological threats to our wildlife through ingestion and entanglement. On top of the ecological effects, the cost of mismanaged waste can be substantial. In a 2012 an EPA study recorded that West Coast communities of the United States spend more than $520 million dollars annually to prevent trash from littering the ocean.

Topics: Zero Waste, Facility Maintenance, Waste Diversion