Everything seems green. No, not just some things. Everything.
Anyone who attended the National Facilities Management and Technology Conference in Baltimore earlier this month — or any other national conference, for that matter — witnessed the phenomenon firsthand. No matter the product or technology in question, manufacturers have found ways to tie its benefits to the push for environmental friendliness in facilities.
Their efforts are understandable. Organizations of all types and sizes are more interested than ever in minimizing facilities’ impact on the environment, and manufacturers are happy to help. But new products with green benefits, such as using less energy, are only part of the environmental story.
As any manager knows all too well, protecting the environment from facilities operations also requires managing existing hazardous materials in facilities and avoiding new materials that present hazards to health and the environment.
From solvents and refrigerants to cleaning chemicals and products that contain mercury, many facilities are rife with hazardous materials. Federal and state agencies that enforce laws protecting the environment know this, too, and they’ve become more vigilant in seeing that institutional and commercial facilities comply.
Comprehensive hazmat management might not be the sexy part of green. But it’s an essential strategy for any organization that truly wants to be green.