FEMA awards Munters with $5 million contract

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA — The moisture control specialists Munters Corporation has been awarded a $5 million contract to provide temperature and climate control services to six flood-damaged buildings in the City of Cedar Rapids, according to The Gazette.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded Munters the contract from June 1 through November 30, which includes $1.43 million in equipment and staff and $3.58 million in fuel costs, the story stated.

The six unoccupied buildings are: The Veterans Memorial Building; the library; Paramount Theatre; the first floor of the Public Works Building; the Ground Transportation Center bus depot; and the GTC's Montessori School, the story noted.

Ontario urged to step up hospital cleaning standards

HAMILTON, ON, Canada — Cleaning staff must be made an integral part of care teams if Ontario hospitals are to reduce infections like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin resistant enterococcus (VRE) and Clostridium difficile (C. diff), according to the Hamilton Spectator.

After going on a national tour organized by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) against hospital-acquired infections (HAI), Steve Davies, a social sciences researcher at Cardiff University in Wales, urged the Ontario government to implement cleaning standards and not to undervalue cleaning and downsize or contract services out, the story stated.

Michael Hurley, president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, said: "The sad reality is people innocently go into these institutions not knowing about the infections there and may not ever come out again. The scale of the tragedy is enormous. The loss is large, but totally preventable."

Some hospitals have increased cleaning frequencies and stepped up patient and visitor awareness by reminding everyone to wash their hands both verbally and through signage, the story noted.

The problem facing many hospitals with budget constraints is that outsourcing is geared toward saving money, while infection control is geared toward saving lives, the story added.

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GOJO releases Green Hygiene Solutions Guide

AKRON, OH — GOJO Industries recently unveiled a new, downloadable tool to help building managers implement an environmentally responsible, comprehensive strategy for hand hygiene, according to a press release.

The GOJO Green Hygiene Solutions Implementation Guide helps companies put an effective hand hygiene program into practice while supporting the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings Operations & Maintenance (LEED-EBOM) requirements, the release stated.

GOJO’s Green Hygiene Solutions Guide includes an extensive communications tool kit that allows companies to implement, promote and improve hand hygiene strategies in green buildings, the release noted.

Included in the Green Hygiene Solutions Implementation Guide are templates for a green cleaning policy, letters and e-mails to employees and building occupants, a press release and posters, the release added.

Procter & Gamble asks 300 to retire early

ALBANY, GA — Industry giant Procter & Gamble is asking 300 individuals at its Southwest Georgia paper plant to retire early, according to Georgia Public Broadcasting News.

Severance packages will be offered on a case-by-case basis to employees who decide to follow through with the company's request, the story stated.

Vince Falcione of Procter & Gamble said of the early retirement package: "It will include severance pay. It will include an extension of employee benefits. It will also include career counseling and assistance."

Albany's largest employer, Procter & Gamble, is branding the move "voluntary separations," which has different connotations than calling the proposal "layoffs," the story noted.

The Georgia Department of Labor stresses that voluntary separations are different from layoffs because unemployment benefits are determined differently and not guaranteed with voluntary separations, the story added.

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Health care facilities get new LEED-HC rating

WASHINGTON — There will soon be a fair way to evaluate hospitals and other health care facilities that want to go green; it is called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Healthcare (LEED-HC), according to the Michigan Business Review.

LEED-HC, which is focused on design issues and conditions specific to the health care industry and incorporates elements of the Green Guide for Healthcare, is expect to roll out in mid-2009, the story stated.

According to the story, one of the biggest concerns with LEED-HC is mercury elimination and the reduction of other persistent bioaccumulative toxins.

Dan Haas, development manager for Skanska USA Building, said: "Does that mean LEED-HC is easier? No. What it means is that LEED-HC is specific to the health care industry. It looks at energy differently, it looks at water differently, it looks at staff use and indoor environmental quality-type issues differently — things that typically give health care facilities trying to be certified in the LEED for new construction system hurdles."

One of the additions in the current draft of LEED-HC is a credit for equipment efficiency, which encourages facilities to use equipment that is EnergyStar rated in the top 25 percent of performance, the story noted.

Daylight and views credits, which refers to providing a connection between general indoor spaces and the outdoors and had been particularly tough for the health care industry under the old version of LEED, will be broken down into three different areas in LEED-HC: Diagnostic and treatment areas; inpatient units; and daylight quality, the story added.

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Illegal immigrant custodian arrested - BERKELEY

BERKELEY, CA — Over 100 students and employees from the University of California at Berkeley rallied earlier this week in protest to the arrest of an undocumented immigrant worker last month, according to the Berkeley Daily Planet.

According to the story, the crowd urged the university administration to turn Berkeley into a sanctuary campus.

Jesus Gutierrez, a custodian at the university was arrested on April 29 on the charge of felony identification theft because he used someone else's Social Security number to prove residency to work, the story stated.

University of California Police Department (UCPD), who contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after arresting Gutierrez, allegedly had denied Gutierrez’s request to have his union representative or a lawyer present after he was arrested, the story noted.

American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) organizer Maricruz Manzanarez said: "They failed to notify the union that a federal agency wanted to investigate Gutierrez. Every time a federal agency wants to interrogate or interview an employee, they have to notify us either by phone or by letter. In this case, our member was arrested and nobody knew about it."

Protesters marched down the streets handing out flyers and urging supporters and sympathizers to show up and support Gutierrez at his May 21 hearing in Oakland, the story added.

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, 17 percent of all JanSan employees (an estimated 680,000 workers) are illegal immigrants.

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Green cleaning mandated in Maryland schools

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, on May 7, 2009, signed legislation into law that requires the state’s K-12 public schools to obtain and use green cleaning products, according to a press release.

HB 1363, which officially becomes law October 9, 2009, makes Maryland the fifth state to adopt a green cleaning for schools policy of one form or another, the release stated.

According to the release, HB 1363 allows schools to first use existing cleaning products and supplies before they transition to green cleaning products and allows schools to opt out of implementing a green cleaning program if it is not "economically feasible."

The bill defines "green cleaning products and supplies" as those that have "positive environmental attributes" such as: Biodegradability; low toxicity; low volatile organic compound (VOC) content; reduced packaging; and low life cycle energy use, the release noted.

The County Boards of Education must allow for "multiple avenues" in qualifying cleaning products as environmentally preferable, including at the very least products recognized by the: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Design for the Environment (DfE) Formulator program; Environmental Choice; and Green Seal, the release added.