Page 265 - Green Building Through Integrated Design

OCCUPANCY AND OPERATIONS 241

is we help them put green practices into place, for example cleaning with green prod-
ucts. A lot of it is just awareness. Once people realize what they’re doing, they real-
ize their impact.
It’s not that difficult to get a green cleaning program in place. Frankly, the service
providers really welcome the change that’s happening on the cleaning side because
it’s healthier for them. When CBRE is managing the building, it’s usually not an
issue to go to the janitorial company and ask them to make these changes. I’m a tenant
broker and when I go to a building that’s not a CBRE-managed building, I generally
get some resistance, but once you push them further and make them dig a little
deeper they realize that the janitorial service won’t really have a problem with it. In
a sophisticated market most of the janitorial services are already going to have a
[green cleaning] program.

Over the long run, sustainable operations are absolutely critical for reducing carbon
footprint. While I have focused in this book on the integrated design process for new
construction, LEED-EB and other methods of encouraging building owners and ten-
ants to change behavior and reduce the environmental impacts of existing buildings
are very important for the future of global warming, as well as improving the health
and productivity of both people and planet.