Executive Housekeeping Today - April 2008 - (Page 13)

In the big picture of how your facility operates, one color has recently dominated—Green. Whether you are within the hospitality, educational institution, healthcare, or another segment of the cleaning industry, large strokes of Green are likely omnipresent. Thinking and acting in a more environmentally-friendly way influences how we do our jobs, the processes we use, and most importantly, the tools and solutions we employ to do them. Manufacturers understand this and have gone to great lengths to market their products as “Green.” But that only puts more pressure on us as consumers to filter out the marketing noise and get down to what products actually help us conserve resources (and hopefully maximize profitability for our facility). Laundry is one area where great strides can be made. Energy and water efficiency in laundry equipment have reached unprecedented levels. Cutting-edge technology has also given managers the utmost control of processes to reduce costs. However, truly embracing Green may require the fortitude to ignore the “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” mentality. In reality, your old washer-extractors and drying tumblers, while in good working shape, may be costing your laundry far more annually than you would have spent upgrading to more efficient equipment. The first step in exploring a Greener laundry should be a review of your current operation by your laundry equipment distributor, as well as a discussion of procedures with your chemical company representative. Below are some additional considerations to i A Greener Approach to Laundry by Kim Shady remember when adopting a Green emphasis within your laundry. water consumption. It is also a contributor to determining energy consumption. Consider a simple prewash. This cycle component is only necessary for heavy soil loads, but often is part of a variety of wash formulas, even for light soil loads. Roughly 15 to 25 percent more water will be used in cycles with a prewash component. Likewise, a bleach bath (which often uses an extra hot water fill) could require 15 percent more water with an additional energy cost because it is hot water. Programmed for Efficiency Perhaps the biggest red flag that your laundry isn’t as Green as it could be is a washer-extractor that utilizes an old electronic control. Greater efficiency starts with a programmable microprocessor control. But a modern programmable control alone will not guarantee efficiency. It’s up to managers to work with their chemical company representative to ensure linens receive proper care without using too much water or excessive chemicals. Both parties must also be cognizant of the extra cost of hot water, due to the energy input it takes to heat it. Washer programming is the biggest variable in controlling The Importance of Levels Many washer-extractors only offer three water levels to choose from, eliminating the operations’ abilities to tweak cycles to the (continued on page 24) WET-TECH Wet-Tech, a global company headquartered in Worcester, Mass., designs, develops and manufactures energy and water-saving EnviroSaver II Ozone equipment. With over 40 years of washroom experience and over 24 years of Ozone equipment manufacture, our EnviroSaver II Ozone equipment and our Pruven Technology OBF (One Bath Forward) water reuse systems make the most out of all washrooms from the usual OPL through the largest commercial or Industrial laundries. Our chemical enhancing and bacteria destruction systems are suitable for land based installations or ships at sea. Wet-Tech has the lowest long term operating costs of any system in the market place. The “Tamper Proof “installation provides the extra protection of outside adjustment of the units. This insures continuity of design factors for plant operations. WET-TECH has partnered with O3 Wash Pty ltd of Australia and is known throughout the lodging industry as an authority in ozone treatment for the laundry. Call (508) 831-4229. www.wet-tech.com April 2008/Executive Housekeeping Today 3 http://www.wet-tech.com http://www.wet-tech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Executive Housekeeping Today - April 2008

Executive Housekeeping Today - April 2008 Contents Executive Corner Green Certification Issues The Green Benefit from the Roof Down Frugal Housekeeper LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance Greening with Mats A Greener Approach to Laundry Feature Article 2008 Candidate Information The Green Scene 2008 Convention Information Get Into the "O-Zone" Product Highlights CEH/REH Members New Members Joint IEHA/ISSA Members Advertisers' Index Calendar of Events Inside I.E.H.A. What I.E.H.A. Has Done For Me

Executive Housekeeping Today - April 2008

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