LEED-EBOM Revisions Now Available for Public Comment

Bloomington, IN – November 21, 2010 - The Ashkin Group has been selected to help the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) gather comments regarding revisions to the Version 3 LEED-EBOM (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance).

  According to USGBC, LEED-EBOM helps building owners and managers measure building operations, including cleaning and maintenance issues, with the goal of maximizing efficiency while minimizing the environmental impact of the facility.

  The LEED-EBOM criteria incorporates a whole-building approach to cleaning and maintenance issues and includes such things as recycling programs employed in the facility, exterior maintenance programs, and other systems and procedures related to building maintenance operations.

  Many of the revisions currently being reviewed by USGBC will likely become prerequisites for the standards, which are scheduled to be put into place in the next 12 to 24 months.

  Just as was done in January of this year, The Ashkin Group has developed a special website allowing cleaning professionals to comment on the suggested revisions. That site is located at: www.ashkinleedeb.com.

  “This is something we must all pay very close attention to,” says Stephen Ashkin, president of The Ashkin Group and Sustainability Dashboard Tools, LLC. “LEED-EBOM is very important for our industry and our customers because cleaning and maintenance issues are front and center for those facilities seeking LEED-EBOM certification.”

  Because of its importance, Ashkin is encouraging all cleaning professionals to review the revisions and comment on them as soon as they are posted on his firm’s special website. 

  “In January, more than 700 people commented on the revisions, which was really impressive,” he says. “I am hopeful, especially now that we are reaching the end of the public-comment process, that at least that many will again review and comment on them.”