Green Cleaning Products:
Cost Competitive, Cost Neutral or Just More
Costly?
There has been a fundamental shift in
thinking about the performance and cost of Green cleaning products over the
past couple of decades. Historically, many of these products have been viewed
as inferior in performance and costly when compared to their non-Green
counterparts.
Even as their performance improved, there
was still considerable reluctance to use Green cleaning products due, for the
most part, to the fact that their cost remained stubbornly high. This often
caused building service contractors (BSCs) working in very cost-competitive
markets, as well as end customers, to believe that transferring to
environmentally preferable cleaning products would likely depress their profits,
hurt their competitiveness, or both.
This was true for not only Green cleaning
products but also for the use of many other environmentally preferable products
as well. For instance, it was commonly believed in the 1980s and 1990s that
incorporating Green designs, construction materials, and operating practices
into facilities added as much as 20 per cent to the overall building project –
if not more. How much of that added cost could be recouped as a return on
investment (ROI), in tax benefits, rebates or other paybacks, was essentially
unknown.
Today, because of new technologies and the
more common use of a variety of Green building products and practices, the
overall additional cost to build and operate Green facilities has been reduced
significantly, to about five per cent. In addition, the ROI and other cost
benefits are clearer and have even been documented.
For instance, software manufacturer Adobe
Systems invested more than $1.2 million to incorporate Green features into
their new world headquarters in San
Jose, Calif., which
opened last year. The company reports savings just under $1 million annually
because of these feature, mostly in utility savings, and have received more
than $325,000 in rebates from the local power company – Pacific Gas and
Electric.*
An example of how this is being
accomplished deals with the landscaping of the headquarters. A $3,600 smart
irrigation system was installed to regulate watering. Adobe found that the
system had paid for itself in less than five months in reduced water bills, and
will save the company more than $10,000 annually. In other words, instead of
depressing profits or hurting their competitiveness, going Green has become a
savings account for Adobe that just keeps growing and paying dividends year after
year.
Unfortunately, evaluating the potential
cost savings of using Green cleaning products is not as clear nor are there
reliable studies documenting their cost savings. This leaves BSCs to wonder
what, if any, cost savings are possible using Green cleaning products and – if
they do exist – how can they take advantage of them.
WHAT WE KNOW
Some things about the use of
environmentally preferable cleaning products are now well established, such as
product performance. If the products have been certified by EcoLogoM,
it means they have been tested and proven to meet basic industry standards of
performance.
We also know that prices have come down and
come down considerably. The “sticker shock” associated with some Green cleaning
products, for use in both residential and commercial facilities, is now a thing
of the past.
However, it is also true that some Green
cleaning products still do cost somewhat more than non-Green products. Yet,
this does not tell the whole story because even if these products cost a bit
more at the checkout stand, they may still be cost competitive or even cost
neutral, when all factors are taken into account. A closer examination points
this out.
CASE IN POINT:
GREEN CLEANING PRODUCTS ARE COST
COMPETITIVE
Many environmentally preferable cleaning
products are used, delivered and packaged in ways that help keep their costs
economical. For instance, Green cleaning products are usually produced and sold
in bulk, concentrated form. This is much less expensive than purchasing cleaning
products in aerosols or sprayers. It also helps reduce transportation, handling
and storage costs, which often lowers the cost of these products for the BSC
and end customer as well.
And, inherent with using concentrated
cleaning products, and often a critical component of Green cleaning, is the
requirement of using auto-dilution systems to properly mix these products.
These systems make sure just enough chemical is used to perform the required
cleaning task satisfactorily. Cleaning workers have a tendency to “overuse”
cleaning chemicals, believing that if using some is good, more will be even
better. This is usually not true, and is wasteful and costly. An
auto-dispensing system prevents this from happening.
In addition, companies making
environmentally preferable cleaning products tend to use recycled containers
and packaging materials. In many cases, this also helps keep costs down.
Furthermore, it makes the product environmentally preferable every step of the
way: from the ingredients used to manufacture it, to how it is packaged, to how
it is delivered to the end customer.
CASE IN POINT: GREEN CLEANING PRODUCTS ARE
COST NEUTRAL
But what if the Green cleaning product is
still more costly than a non-Green product? There are often intangible cost
savings that may be unknown or overlooked that “neutralize” these added costs.
For instance, we know that environmentally preferable cleaning products can
help reduce allergies and illness. If office workers are healthier, their work
performance usually improves, improving worker productivity substantially,
which, in turn, is a cost savings for employers.
A healthier workforce also means workers’
compensation costs as well as liability costs in general may be reduced. Such
intangible benefits can prove to be significant cost savings for employers.
In schools, when Green cleaning and other
Green features have been incorporated into educational facilities, attendance
often improves, as does student performance. Many school districts in North America receive state and federal money based on
attendance. If absenteeism declines, then this intangible feature of
environmentally preferable cleaning products becomes very tangible indeed, in
the form of more government funds.
Finally, don’t forget about the
opportunities employing environmentally preferable cleaning products can
present BSCs. Some federal, state and local cleaning contracts now specify that
only environmentally preferable cleaning products be used to clean their
facilities. We are seeing this in private industry as well. This means that not
only are Green cleaning products proving to offer cost savings, but they are
opening new doors and new possibilities for cleaning professionals as well.
(* San
Jose Mercury News, Jan. 17, 2006)
