Green Cleaning: A Study on Benefits for Malaysian School Building

Cleaning is one of the important activities during the operation and maintenance stage to any type of core business. Schools nowadays are looking seriously at the cleaning aspect as they realize the availability of health and environmentally friendly facilities that encourage academic performance and staff welfare. These concerns are due to the conventional cleaning practices and products used to keep the school clean. The cleaning contractors are responsible to understand that chemicals with high levels of volatile organic compound (VOCs) emissions and other carcinogens plus dust from poorly filtered vacuums can have a negative impact on the health of students, staff and janitors. Thus, it is a good time for the building managers to make a move to green cleaning practice in school, as a rising number of green cleaning products that are much more effective are available. This study was hence conducted to identify the critical benefits that can be gained through the implementation of green cleaning practice in Malaysian school. Twelve benefits were identified from the literature, and a questionnaire survey that involved green cleaning experts was carried out. Frequency analysis and Importance Index calculation were performed to rank the benefits. The result indicates that “improve indoor air quality (IAQ)” and “provide a safe and healthy environment to occupants and janitors” are the most important benefits of green cleaning practice during operation and maintenance stages in Malaysian school. The findings of this study can provide a significant contribution to the built environment industry. By knowing the benefits that can be gained through green cleaning implementation, efforts can be carried out to explore measures that can be taken to implement the green cleaning practice in Malaysian school or other types of building.