University at Buffalo
OP-11: Cleaning Products Purchasing

Part 1

Institution has an institution-wide stated preference to purchase Green Seal™ or EcoLogo^TM certified cleaning products.  The stated preference can take the form of purchasing policies, guidelines, or directives to purchase green cleaning products. Policies and directives adopted by entities of which the institution is part (e.g. state government or the university system) may count for this credit as long as the policies apply to and are followed by the institution. 

Part 2

Institution’s main cleaning or housekeeping department(s) and/or contractor(s) purchase Green Seal or EcoLogo certified cleaning products.  This credit does not include cleaning products for which no Green Seal or EcoLogo certified products are available. 

This credit applies to all institutions. 

Each part of the credit is scored separately.  Institutions may earn points based on the percentage of expenditures on cleaning products that are Green Seal or EcoLogo certified (Part 2), regardless of whether they earn points for having an institution-wide stated preference for purchasing such products (Part 1). 

Part 1

0.5 points are awarded for having an institution-wide stated preference to purchase Green Seal and/or EcoLogo certified cleaning products. 

Part 2

Up to 1.5 points are awarded for purchasing Green Seal or EcoLogo certified green cleaning products.

Institutions earn the maximum of 1.5 points available for this part of the credit by purchasing exclusively Green Seal and/or EcoLogo certified cleaning products.  Incremental points are available based on the percentage of purchased products that are certified.  For example, if 50 percent of cleaning product expenditures were on Green Seal certified products, an institution would earn 0.75 points (half of the points available for this credit). 

Timeframe

Part 1

Report on current policies, directives, or guidelines.

Part 2

Report the most recent data available. 

Sampling and Data Standards

Part 1

Report on purchasing policies, directives, or guidelines that apply to the entire institution. 

Part 2

Include purchases made by all major housekeeping or cleaning departments, including outsourced or contracted service providers. 

Institutions may track purchases over a one-year time period or take a representative sample to determine the percentage of expenditures on cleaning products that are certified green.  When using a sample, institutions should strive to ensure that the sample recognizes seasonal and other variations that influence purchasing behavior.