Delivering a project that meets today’s growing requirements for sustainability is one of the top demands facing design professionals. With green building growing at double digit rates and owners in both the public and private sectors increasingly querying firms as to their proficiency regarding matters of environmental responsibility, a knowledge and understanding of what truly constitutes green is critically important.

The green market has clearly matured since the U.S. Green Building Council certified its first LEED® building in 2000. Fears that fly-by-night manufacturers whose products would not live up to long-term scrutiny would undermine the entire green movement have not materialized. Nor is green thought of as a fad anymore. Rather, investment in green products has delivered welcome returns as more manufacturers incorporate sustainability in their planning strategies. But telling questions remain: How do design professionals distinguish a truly green product in today’s market where virtually every product has some aspect of green in its description? How do design professionals argue for the additional expense of a high-end, high performing and truly green sustainable product in a market that increasingly focuses on the bottom line?

These questions are particularly relevant for those specifying commercial cleaning systems, where long-term benefits of higher-end models must be evaluated and compared with the immediate benefits of lower initial price points. Green should not be thought of as products in isolation but instead, as a “system” in which all the pieces need to work together. It is essential, therefore, that design professionals not only examine products, but also understand the manufacturer’s “system,” and how all the pieces work together to deliver both cost benefits and sustainability. In other words, the manufacturer’s policies, manufacturing techniques and commitment to environmental—and product—responsibility are an integral part of being truly green. When examining the benefits of a truly green and more expensive sustainable system, therefore, design professionals would be wise to look at both the product and the manufacturer. “One way to identify efficient high quality products that are environmentally responsible is to examine the manufacturer and see if it has a clear sustainability program in place,” says Miele applications sales manager Marvin Royal.

A typical high-end production facility for laboratory glass washer cleaning systems employs cutting edge technology. Image courtesy of Miele Professional