Service

Green Cleaning for DMV Facilities

Office Care achieved Green Seal Certification in 2010, as an early adopter of green cleaning in this region. The point was never marketing — it was that the people most exposed to cleaning chemistry are our own staff and your occupants.

Office Care specialist cleaning with EPA-approved products

Overview

Green Cleaning

“Green cleaning” is used loosely enough in this industry to be close to meaningless, so it is worth being specific about what it means here: independently certified products, applied with methods that reduce what ends up in shared indoor air.

It is a way of running every service line, not a separate service you buy. Our crews use EPA-registered products across janitorial, disinfection and floor care alike.

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Scope

What green cleaning means in practice

Three things distinguish a real green program from a relabelled one.

Products registered under the EPA’s Safer Choice program, and List N disinfectants where disinfection is required
Green Seal certified operations — achieved in 2010 and maintained since
Lower-VOC chemistry, which matters most in buildings with limited fresh-air exchange
Controlled dilution so product is used at label strength rather than by eye
Microfiber for capture-and-remove rather than push-around
Safer handling for the cleaning staff who are exposed to these products every shift

What “EPA-approved” actually refers to

The EPA does not run one blanket approval, which is part of why the term gets stretched. Two specific things are worth asking any contractor about.

Safer Choice certifies that every ingredient in a product has been reviewed against the EPA’s criteria for human and environmental health. List N is the EPA’s list of disinfectants that meet its criteria for use against SARS-CoV-2. A vendor who cannot tell you which of these they mean is probably not using either.

Indoor air quality is the real payoff

In a modern commercial building, air is recirculated far more than it is exchanged. Volatile organic compounds released by conventional cleaning products do not simply dissipate — they accumulate and get redistributed through the building for hours after the crew has left.

That is the mechanism behind the complaints facility managers actually field: headaches, irritation, and the “chemical smell” that occupants read as cleanliness but is in fact off-gassing. It matters most in schools, healthcare, childcare and any building with occupants who have respiratory sensitivities.

Green does not mean weaker

The tradeoff green cleaning was once accused of — gentler products, worse results — has not been real for a long time. Certified products carry the same efficacy claims as their conventional equivalents, and disinfectants on List N have met the EPA’s efficacy criteria to be there at all.

We use EPA-registered, hospital-grade products across every service line, including disinfection. Effective pathogen reduction, without unnecessary chemical exposure.

Who We Serve

Who This Service Is For

K–12 Schools

Childcare & Daycare Centers

Medical & Healthcare Facilities

Corporate Offices

Universities & Colleges

Government & Municipal Buildings

Service Area

Green Cleaning across the DMV

Available throughout our service area — roughly 60 miles around our Laurel, MD headquarters. Pick your area for what the building stock there tends to need:

Laurel, MD · Columbia, MD · Silver Spring, MD · Bethesda, MD · Rockville, MD · Washington, DC · Arlington, VA · Alexandria, VA · Annapolis, MD · Fairfax, VA · Frederick, MD · Gaithersburg, MD · Baltimore, MD

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Keep Reading

Related Services

Most facilities combine two or three of these into a single program.

Ready to talk about a green cleaning program?

Tell us about your facility and we'll put together a tailored plan and a free, no-obligation estimate. Serving Maryland, DC & Virginia.

Request Free Estimate Call 301-604-7700