Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 77.43
Liaison Daimon Eklund
Submission Date Oct. 14, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of Washington, Seattle
OP-13: Cleaning Products Purchasing

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.99 / 1.00 Claudia Christensen
Procurement Manager
Procurement Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have an institution-wide stated preference to purchase third party certified cleaning and janitorial products?:
Yes

A copy of the green cleaning product purchasing policy, directive, or guidelines:
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The green cleaning product purchasing policy, directive, or guidelines:

University Executive Order 13 spells out the University's committment and directive regarding all activites associated with sustainability. The University of Washington will strive to be a model of environmental stewardship and sustainability by identifying and supporting efficient, cost-effective, sustainable practices in all its operations (which extends to the selection of cleaning products and other goods and services.) See more at: http://f2.washington.edu/ess/executive-order#sthash.keFpRDhB.dpuf

Procurement Services ensures that consideration is given to selecting and sourcing environmentally safe cleaning products and suppliers are required to provide certifications supporting product claims.


A brief description of steps the institution has taken to ensure that the purchasing policy, directives, or guidelines are followed:

The University Procurement Services Department provides oversight and guidance to campus departments regarding purchasing decisions, processes and policies. The department promotes sustainability at the desk level and with suppliers. Contracts include sustainability considerations, depending on the product or servce and suppliers are evaluated based on their ability to ensure the promote the University's green initiatives. Solicitations incorporate language that enables the buying staff the ability to assess suppliers committment to sustainability both at a corporate level and at a product level. Suppliers are required to identify and promote products that meet or exceed environmental standards. Through campus forums, departmental outreach meetings and daily interaction with faculty, staff and students, the procurement service staff encourage and promote the benefits of purchasing green or environmentally responsible products. The policy and guidelines are published at: http://f2.washington.edu/fm/ps/

There is the easy to use eProcurement web-portal, which makes it easy to by the correct green products.
http://f2.washington.edu/fm/ps/ecommerce/eprocurement

There is the "How to buy guide", which gives a lot of guidelines on how to and what to buy.
http://f2.washington.edu/fm/ps/how-to-buy


Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 of this credit (expenditures on cleaning and janitorial products)?:
Yes

Expenditures on Green Seal and/or UL Environment (EcoLogo) certified cleaning and janitorial products:
689,506.85 US/Canadian $

Total expenditures on cleaning and janitorial products:
695,544.66 US/Canadian $

Has the institution's main cleaning or housekeeping department(s) and/or contractor(s) adopted a Green Seal or ISSA certified low-impact, ecological (“green”) cleaning program?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s low-impact, ecological cleaning program:

Custodial Services has replaced many standard practices with low-impact, safe cleaning products and practices: See more information at:

http://www.washington.edu/facilities/building/custodial/files/documents/services_brochure_11.pdf University has implemented a low-impact sustainable

http://www.washington.edu/facilities/building/custodial/files/documents/GreenPolicy.pdf


A copy of the sections of the cleaning contract(s) that reference certified green products:
The sections of the cleaning contract(s) that reference certified green products:
The website URL where information about the institution’s green cleaning initiatives is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Note: brushes, brooms and containers for recycling and composting, which not specifically "green" are a component of the overall spend and impact the overall percentage of Green Cleaning products.

American School and University named UW Building Services Department as the recipient of the The Green Cleaning Award for Schools & Universities 2014 Higher Education Grand Award!


Note: brushes, brooms and containers for recycling and composting, which not specifically "green" are a component of the overall spend and impact the overall percentage of Green Cleaning products.

American School and University named UW Building Services Department as the recipient of the The Green Cleaning Award for Schools & Universities 2014 Higher Education Grand Award!

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.