Ashkin Addresses Real Estate Roundtable Making It Easy to Go Green

Feb. 1, 2011 - PRLog -- Bloomington, IN -  Stephen Ashkin, president of The Ashkin Group and executive director of the Green Cleaning Network, recently met with members of the Real Estate Roundtable's Sustainability Policy Advisory Committee in Washington, D.C.

The Real Estate Roundtable is a non-profit public policy organization based in Washington that represents the interests of the commercial real estate industry throughout the U.S.  They focus on a variety of property-related issues including energy, homeland security, and the environment.

The organization is made up of some of the largest real estate firms in the country such as Brandywine Realty Trust, TIAA-CREF, GE Capital Real Estate, Vornado Real Estate Trust, and others.

According to Ashkin, the goal of his presentation was to show the Committee and the organization's members how easy it is to incorporate Green Cleaning into their properties.

"Most of these [Roundtable] members spend enormous amounts of time and money addressing issues such as energy use, financing, building acquisition, renovations, tenant concerns, LEED certification and more," says Ashkin.  "So with everything on their plate, cleaning frequently fails to get the attention needed to move beyond their traditional [cleaning] program to Green cleaning."

To simplify the process, Ashkin provided the group with his company's "Green Cleaning Product Contract Addendum."  

The Addendum can be attached to a building manager's request for proposal (RFP).  It outlines exactly what types of cleaning chemicals, equipment, paper products, and other tools are to be selected in order for a Green Cleaning system to be implemented.

"The Addendum is easy to understand and follow," says Ashkin.  "It takes the guesswork out of Green Cleaning and puts everyone on the same 'Green Cleaning' page."

Ashkin adds that it is clear to him that many of these major real estate organizations will be transferring to Greener and more sustainable cleaning systems in coming years.

"These are excellent business people and since many of the earlier issues regarding Green cleaning products have been addressed, the final barriers leading to large scale adoption have been overcome."



Steve Ashkin is available for interviews, presentations, and commentary on Green Cleaning-related issues, sustainable buildings, industry trends, and facility management. He may be reached by calling (812) 332-7950.

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About Stephen Ashkin and The Ashkin Group
Stephen P. Ashkin is president of The Ashkin Group, a consulting firm specializing in greening the cleaning industry and CEO of Sustainability Tool LLC, an electronic dashboard that allows jansan companies to measure and report on their sustainability efforts.

He is also coauthor of both The Business of Green Cleaning and Green Cleaning for Dummies.

Ashkin has worked in the cleaning industry since 1981 and has held senior management positions in leading consumer and commercial product companies. He began his work on Green Cleaning in 1990 and today is thought of as the "father of Green cleaning". For more information, visit www.AshkinGroup.com