Several weeks ago I attended a BOMA luncheon.  This was BOMA’s annual meeting in which several people are  invited to speak on the “state of the economy” as it relates to property managers and  owners. The invitees are mainly Brokers and make up the panel to present their predictions.   This year the panel was bit different from past years.  This panel consisted of one-Broker,  one-sustainability representative, and one investor; a refreshing approach.  The Q&A was also different; rather than “lots of stats” the conversation was centered on sustainability and investment and very little statistical information.

I always try to walk away from any event with something that I will benefit from or makes me better.  For me, the highlight of this event was something the investor said in his presentation .  He said, “investors always invest in things that cause disturbances”.  This resonated with me and I have since challenged myself and the Customized Team to step out of the box of routine thinking and to be a disturbing force!

The office kitchen or the break room is place that everyone uses. Don’t forget the guest and the occasional “would you like a cup of coffee” trips. What does your Business Kitchen or Break Room say about your company? It is an important question to consider as it may be speaking volumes to your visitors, not to mention the effect it may have on you and your co-workers that use it everyday.

Your commercial cleaning, or janitorial service may do the nightly cleaning of these rooms but they generally are not around all day during office hours to look after all the little tidying up that is often needed after each and every person uses the break room.

Here are some simple manners and common courtesies that should be kept in mind by all. Not “Break Room Rules” , just some helpful reminders to us that enhance our professional lives.

Be considerate

Okay, admittedly that might sound a little bit like dear old Mom. But think about it, everyone is entitled to some space in the fridge or a spot in the cupboard. With that in mind – don’t just toss your lunch into the spot up front. Take a moment to arrange your items carefully among others that might already be in there, leave a little room for the next person and their items.

Where’s my sandwich?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Identify what belongs to you. No, we are not talking about going to camp and putting I.D. Tags on everything, nor staking our territory as a specific shelf in the fridge. Simply marking your items will help to avoid any misunderstandings in the case of misplaced, discarded or wrongfully eaten food. That half eaten sandwich on a shelf may be something you planned to eat later but another well-meaning individual might assume it is a leftover that has been forgotten and toss it in the trash.        If it’s yours and you want it, label it so others know!

Preventing Spoiled items                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

On Friday, or if your day off is approaching, be sure to remove items that belong to you that will spoil.
Consider taking turns caring for the Break Room. Select someone in the workplace to be in charge of creating a cleaning schedule for things like dishes etc. that the janitor service might not cover or might take care of much later that evening.

That last cup of coffee                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

The Coffee Pot

If you are the one that drinks that last of the coffee in the pot, it is considerate to make another pot.  Or, if it is too late for more, make sure that the pot is turned off.  What’s worse than the awful smell of burned coffee?

Microwave and behind that closed door

If you use the microwave to reheat leftovers, be sure to wipe it down if your dish has overflowed or sprayed around the oven. Spills that are left unattended not only dry hard and become more difficult to remove; they also create an odor for the next person who uses the oven. Another tip if you are the one that cleans the microwave. Take 2 cups of water and ½ a cup of white vinegar, heat on high for 2 minutes. All those crusty splatters can simply be wiped clean.

Crumbs and Spills                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Little spills in the kitchen should be swept up as they happen.  This will leave the room neat and tidy for the next person’s use. Tables and counters should also be wiped down. All empty disposable cups and napkins should be disposed of.

Hey! We are all out of water                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Replace the bottled water if you use the last of the supply, or arrange to have a new water bottle put on the cooler if you use the last of it.

Hope this helps

These are just a few simple things that everyone can be aware of and perhaps be a little more pro-active to help make the office a cleaner, healthier place for yourself, your guests and for everyone.

As we come to the end of 2010, we look back on the highs and lows, reflect on both the good and bad and look forward to a New Year, a fresh start, a new view.  It’s a time for cleaning out the old baggage and making way for new opportunities that come.  In my life, this process is part of the week between Christmas and New Year’s and is NOT one of my favorite things.  However, the traditions of New Year’s which involve food ARE some of my favorites.  Being Southern, I come to the table on the first day of the new calendar year expecting to see some traditional dishes…..well, only if you expect to experience luck, wealth and prosperity for the year!

Black eyed peas    -   luck and prosperity

Greens (collard or turnip greens are the most common)   -   wealth

Hog Jowls   -   forward progress

Corn Bread   –   health    Okay, I think it just tastes great with the pork, greens and black eyed peas.

New Year’s traditions and food seem to be entwined as regional and cultural rituals and are really kind of fun!  I have decided to embrace a new (to me) tradition that I understand originates in Spain and many Hispanic cultures practice.  At midnight on New Year’s Day, a grape is eaten for each strike of the clock, representing the months of the new year.  If you should have a sour taste, or other “off” taste, you can expect that month to provide a challenge.  I’m sure it’s bad form to stack the deck and pick 12 perfect grapes, but, I think I’ll take my chances on that.

New Year’s Day will find the Southern dishes on my table and the Outback Bowl (Florida Gators vs Penn State) on my television.   I’ll make my way to an open house later in the day to celebrate with friends and to meet some new people…..especially appropriate on New Year’s Day.

Customized Performance wishes each of you a healthy and prosperous 2011!

I am not certain I could count the number of times I have been talking with friends or family over the years and someone asked; “what exactly is a cleanroom?” “If it’s already a cleanroom, why do you or your team have to clean it?”  “It is already a cleanroom, right?” 

Well, to many of us that have been working in cleanrooms for years the answers seem pretty simple. However, recently a friend of the family asked me again; “what do you do?” The fact that I had to help someone to understand once again reminded me that some of us work in some very special environments.

  The fact is a cleanroom is a controlled environment where products are manufactured, i.e., semiconductor equipment and components, medical devices, or medicines. This room (cleanroom) or area possibly sectioned off into several rooms was designed to control the concentration of airborne particles to specific limits so as to protect the end product that will be produced in this controlled environment. The room has controlled air-flow and special filtration that will eliminate sub-micron airborne particles to a specified limit. These particles, or contaminates are generated by people, the process and equipment used to manufacture the end product. How many of these particles and the size that need to be removed depend on the standards required for the company that owns the cleanroom to produce a safe and quality product. The government has a Federal Standard 209E now replaced by ISO 14644-1 and ISO 14644-2 which outline the requirements for certain cleanroom classifications that come under the standard.

  The only way to control contamination is to control the total environment. This includes the air-flow rates, or the number of times the total volume of the air in the room completes the filtration cycle.  In addition to the number of times the room’s air is filtered the direction of air-flow pressurization, temperature, and humidity all must be regulated and controlled as well. To have a cleanroom that provides sufficient protection to the product being made requires more than just filtration of the air in the room.  In the cleanroom of an Advanced Technical manufacturer the cleanroom must be planned and manufactured using strict protocol or standards. You will frequently find cleanrooms in electronics, biopharmaceutical, and medical device manufactures. I tell friends and family that once a cleanroom is built is must be maintained and cleaned to the same standards and that is where my company’s team of critical cleaning technicians provides those needed services.

  In a typical office building the air will contain from 500,000 to 1,000,000 particles of 0.5 microns or larger, per cubic foot of air. To help someone new to the idea of particles measured in microns  -   a human air is about 75 – 100 microns in diameter. Yet a particle 200 times smaller (0.5 micron) could mean a major disaster for the products produced in a cleanroom. Contamination can lead to expensive downtime and increased costs. For those of you who remember NASA’s Hubble Telescope, it was damaged and did not perform as designed because of a particle smaller than 0.5 microns. While not everything that comes out of a cleanroom has a billion dollar price tag such as the Hubble, it can cost many thousands of dollars –  into the millions in damage.

What is Contamination

  Contamination is defined as when materials or a surface is soiled with an unwanted or unsafe material.  In electronic manufacturing a surprisingly small particle or film of particles can drastically reduce the coating adhesion on a wafer or a chip.  It is widely accepted that particles of 0.5 are the common targets of contaminations control.  However, tolerances have continued to get smaller and smaller.  In some industries particles even smaller are of concern, i.e.,  0.3 microns.  Another source of contamination is virus and bacteria, as in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals.

  I hope this helps some of our readers who have wondered; “what is a cleanroom anyhow?” and that those of you that already know – well,  I hope it proved interesting to you as a reader as well.

Okay, so the elections are over.  I hope you voted!  I truly feel that I’m part of the process as I make my trek to my precinct (in a local school) and complete the ballot. 

With the perspective of an “outsider” as I’ve only been in California for two years, I was not surprised at the election results.  I’ve heard from friends and colleagues who have more years here that they were.  It will be very interesting to follow the results as they play out in real world situations.  Other than the most obvious, I don’t have the ability to see all of the impacts right now.   It appears to me that on the “green” scorecard, it was a mixed result.  Californians did not vote to suspend the implementation of measures to report and reduce greenhouse gases under Assembly Bill 32 as a “yes” on Prop 23 would have done.

We did, however, pass Prop 26 which was supported by big oil, tobacco and alcohol and may allow taxes to be disguised as “fees,” resulting in the public participating in payment for impact on the environment made by these large corporations.   

California is one of the most aware and forward thinking States regarding green and sustainability.  This election reminds me that the work is not over. We all need to educate ourselves and remain vigilant as we cast our votes, sort our recyclables and choose the most environmentally responsible vendors.

Fall seems to be a great time for review of plans.  If it’s holiday plans, we have a reason for anticipation and if it’s tax plans, we still have a couple months for course corrections if needed.  But what about plans for “just in case?”

Having made the transition from hurricanes (East Coast) to earthquakes and fires (West Coast) only recently, it became clear to me that we really get complacent with the “evil that we know.”  Hearing of an impending storm while living in Florida, my preparations were simply to listen a bit more closely to the news.  I rarely took the recommended precautions of having food and water on hand, never considered evacuating – the one preparation was to have candles and matches and an oil lamp on hand.  I had lived through storm after storm with minimal effects and became “immune” to the warnings.

Shortly after moving to the Bay area, I experienced a small earthquake.  That was a first and it got my attention!  I was now paying attention in presentations on emergency and disaster preparedness, making sure I had survival basics on hand and for once, I had a plan. This is the time of year that I revisit the supplies, make sure that I am clear on how to turn off utilities in the event of an event, and just review the basics. 

Maybe you have reached the level of complacency regarding earthquakes, fire and the more common West Coast events that I had reached with hurricanes.  I hope not, but, if so I would urge you to just take an hour or so and review the basics (links below to some helpful sites) and make sure you and your co-workers and you and your family have basic supplies and plan knowledge….just in case.

http://www.redcross.org/www-files/Documents/pdf/Preparedness/checklists/Earthquake.pdf

http://www.earthquakeinfo.com/topten.html

http://www.ready.gov

• Size of Sanitary Supply and Building Services Contracting Industries

Having worked in the commercial and industrial cleaning world for most of my career, I forget sometimes how large a group this really is.  In a few weeks the cleaning industry will gather in Orlando for one of the largest Tradeshow and Educational events within this business segment.  The ISSA/Interclean Show (http://issa.com/?id=north_america_2010&utm_source=hpb&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=NA%2B2010) held in conjunction with the Building Services Contractors Association International (BSCAI) Convention is expected to register 14,000+ attendees who come together for educational sessions and the most comprehensive look at what’s innovative and new in the cleaning world.  Granted, this show attracts from outside the U.S. but the numbers give an indication that we are a LARGE group!

• Impact on Environment through Products Produced and Consumed

Stephen Ashkin, recognized leader and author on the subject of green cleaning, provides these statistics  in an article located on FMLink  website from March, 2009.   These products are produced, used and disposed of by the commercial and industrial cleaning market of the U.S. on a yearly basis.

• 6.2 billion pounds of chemicals
• 4.5 billion pounds of janitorial paper products
• 1 billion pounds of janitorial tools, supplies, and equipment which fill approximately 40,000 garbage truck loads that go into landfills.

These numbers make a great case for a business segment the size of the cleaning industry to recognize the significance of their impact on Mother Earth.  Less chemical, more sustainable paper products and alternatives to the more “disposable” equipment, tools and supplies are readily available and preferable to the old standards.  The Cleaning Industry is becoming more environmentally responsible, but, there is clearly more work to be done.

To read the entire Ashkin article on FMLink, follow this link:

http://www.fmlink.com/ProfResources/Sustainability/Articles/article.cgi?Ashkin%20Group:200903-25.ht

What I CAN Change 

• You can’t change your entire life, you can only change your next action

• You can’t change a relationship with a loved one, you can only change your next interaction

• You can’t change your entire job, you can only change your next task

• You can’t change your body composition, you can only change your next meal

• You can’t change your fitness level, you can only start moving

• You can’t de-clutter your entire life, you can only choose to get rid of one thing right now

• You can’t eliminate your entire debt, you can only make one payment, or buy one less unnecessary item

• You can’t change the past, or control the future, you can only change what you are doing now

• You can’t change everything, you can only change one, small thing…and that’s all it takes

This excerpt, taken from Mike Robbins’ weekly blog was one I thought  worth passing on.  He said it came from a friend as an email and I’ll admit that if I had received it as an email, I’m guessing I would have missed it as I delete almost all forwards without even a look.

I’m glad that he didn’t miss it and printed it in his blog.  It made me think.  I’ve been guilty of the “grand gesture” winning out many times in my life, but, when you get right down to it….the next step really is the only one we can take.  And, the one that matters the most.  So, I wish you success in every change you undertake….one step at a time!

If you’d like to see the entire post by Mike Robbins, check this link to his Appreciation in Action column:   http://www.mike-robbins.com/blog/2010/09/what-we-can-change/

We would like to invite you to come by the Northern California Facilities Expo on September 22^nd and 23^rd  to visit with Customized.   We can chat about Day Cleaning or about how effective cleaning with water (!) can really be.  We’ll be in booth #433 and will be registering our guests for a chance to win a home model of the ActiveIon product, the Ionater.  This link will take you to a short video featuring Bill Nye, the Science Guy to explain the concept of cleaning with ionized water.   http://www.activeion.com/videos.aspx

Here’s the link to the Expo site for more information regarding times, seminars,  speakers and location.   http://www.facilitiesexpos.com/fenc/index.po

See you at the Expo!