Additional research has continued in an effort to measure if and how cleaning can not only reduce the contaminants as demonstrated by Dr. Berry, but could directly impact health and attendance. Such a study conducted by Dr. Leonard Krilov was published in the Journal of Infection Control. His research team looked at a group of children in a day care setting run by the Association for Children with Downs Syndrome in Bellmore, NY, focusing their research on health indicators and resulting attendance impacts as a result of implementing a green cleaning strategy. Their green cleaning process demonstrated the following results:

• Total Illnesses Declined 24%

• Number of Doctor Visits Declined 34%

• Number of Courses of Antibiotics Declined 24%

• Days Absent from School Declined 46%

Recently, Dr. Berry led another team of researchers into the Charles Young Elementary School in Washington, DC, where they undertook a major renovation including the methods of cleaning in an old and decaying school.

This study was designed to determine if student performance on standard tests could be improved based on an improved indoor environment without changing teachers, curriculum, technologies or other typical strategies that school boards used to address such improvements issues. The resulting improvements were staggering:

• Passing Math Scores on Standardizing Tests Increased 51%

• Passing Reading Scores on Standardizing Tests Increased 27%

• Attendance Increased 4.5%

It is, however, only fair to point out that cleaning was not the only change in the building as major renovation work took place and the improved indoor environment did affect teacher morale and retention, thus affecting their ability to teach.

With these types of results, it is time that green cleaning professional make their voices heard at the board table!

Show Me the Money!

Like Jerry McGuire, you may be asked to "Show me the money." Answer by showing them the money they can save by green cleaning that makes their buildings more conducive to good health, better attendance rates and achievement scores. Spell out clearly these benefits in dollars and cents

Researcher and consultant Judith Heerwagen, PhD, has been assessing the affects of the indoor environment on worker productivity. Evaluating numerous, documented studies, Dr Heerwagen found that productivity increases of between 0.5 - 7.0% (translating into approx. 3 to 34 minutes saved per day) are not unusual when improving the indoor air environment.

On the conservative end, those three short minutes might be saved by reducing the frequency of blowing a nose, rubbing an eye, or dealing with a headache due to allergens, particles or VOCs in the air.

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