GCI Green Building Certification Process

One of the basic goals fo the Green Clean Institute is to make "Going Green" uncomplicated yet very effective.  Other Green certification projects have gone too far as either a "Pay to Play" system that is as simple as filling in a form and paying a fee, or as complex as audits, extreme demands, and very high prices.

Searching the Internet, you will find several websites that ask the application to "Self Declare" that they comply with various Green standards, pay a fee, and get their Green approval or certified seal.  If you like the "Fast Eddie" approach that ignores sincerity, there are plenty.

More demanding Green building programs like LEED and USGBC are acquired at very high prices and demanding compliance reviews.  Frankly, these building certifications are very limited because of high price and onerous compliance rules.

Somewhere between "Pay and Play" and "Extreme Compliance Rules", the Green and Healthy Building Partnership (GHBP) seeks to provide a more credible, more practical, and more affordable way to help each and every building improve their Green & Health status.

PAYING GREEN AUDITORS:  With credit for trained professionals who survey energy use, waste production, carbon footprint, IAQ testing, Recycling efforts, Cleaning product ingredients, use of pesticides, Green space, and ventilation air, we feel that this is often too much to accomplish in one effort.  Instead, the GHBP process starts with the most elemental process that every building uses ... the cleaning service.  

A GCI Green Clean Certified cleaning service is already at "GROUND ZERO" in the condition of the building.  Why pay some high-priced Green Auditor to produce a list of a hundred items costing thousands of dollars to the building owner, when we have on-site, trained people who can start the Green program with a minimal cost.

There are no big consulting fees required because any GCI Green Cleaning Firm can follow the GHBP program to perform an audit and implement changes that often cost little to nothing to install.  For example, a high-quality Green window cleaner or bathroom cleaning product can actually COST LESS than the standard cleaning product already in use.  Your cleaning service can make the switch and save money at the same time.  This is true for a large array of modern Green cleaning products.

USING A REALISTIC POINT SYSTEM is the next part of the GHBP process.  The GHBP checklist offers 900 points on the well-known processes that will improve the environmental and health issues for any building.  Initial qualification happens at 350 points, which leaves plenty of room for progressive improvements.  The Green Clean Institute follows a "Progressive Greening" attitude that means that the GHBP program becomes a pathway to year-by-year improvement for the workplace.

THE FIRST STEP for the GCI Green & Healthy Building Partnership certification is requiring that the CLEANING SERVICE qualify as a GCI Green Cleaning Certified firm.  This is a simple and low-cost requirement.  The cleaning services uses the online training process to train the frontline workers and in-house staff.  Training is followed by the introduction of proven Green products.  The third step is INSTALLING Green practices into the building that are serviced.  

As you may now realize, a number of the GHBP points are already in place.  Therefore, reaching the first tier, GHBP certification is already at work when the cleaning service is GCI certified.  It is only required that the cleaning service document the actual implementation of the GHBP elements for the building to be awarded the Green & Healthy Building Partnership certification.

In this case, the Green Clean Institute is the independent third party validator.  The GCI Certified federal trademark may not be sold, copied, or falsely used.  Neither is the GHBP certification sold as a self-approved program with no audit process or independent third-party authority.

At the end of the concept of Green buildings, the process must be applicable to all buildings in the city, not just a few that can afford the time and money required to earn the Green building status.  The GHBP building certification can be applied to all buildings making this a collective, rather than an elitist opportunity.  When we follow the GCI plan of using a ready-made and onsite service via the cleaning service, the cost and difficulty is lowered and more buildings can participate.

GHBP Green Building Certification

The Green Clean Institute offers one of the most effective projects to develop Seriously Green Cities.  This will cost the city nothing to install and even more important is that this need not impose any serious cost to the building owners to qualify their building for the GHBP Green City program.  Remember that  GHBP employs the smart approach of training the cleaning services to provide the elements of a Green & Healthy building that any building needs to follow anyway.  Entry mats, for example, are already used by most buildings, but actually count as a GHBP element in the point system.  Changing from ammonia-based window cleaner to a Green concentrate window cleaner saves money, reduces the carbon footprint, and reduce plastic in the land fills.  So, that is an area of points earned.  

Why make Going Green as a city or building comlpicated?  There may be a point where the building upgrades their AC, lighting system, or installs better window shades.  These ideas earn points as well, but these are not expensive rennovations that must be done ... yet.