Montgomery College’s Center for Early Education on the Germantown Campus Achieves Prestigious GS-42 Green Seal Certification

The Germantown Campus at Montgomery College has obtained certification that its Center for Early Education's cleaning standards are environmentally responsible and safe, making it the first childcare center located inside a community college to receive the Green Seal GS-42 Certification.

Green Seal is a Washington, D.C. based non‐profit organization that identifies products and services that protect the environment and human health.

Studies by the Environmental Protection Agency and the American Journal of Infection Control have shown that green cleaning in PreK-12 Education reduced absenteeism by 46% and increased test scores by 25%. When infant, toddlers and preschoolers attend child care centers with green cleaning programs the impact on their health, growth and natural development is priceless. 

The Green Seal Standard for Commercial and Institutional Cleaning Services, GS-42, establishes requirements for cleaning service providers of commercial, public, and institutional buildings, including in-house and external cleaning services, to ensure a quality operation carried out by a highly trained workforce skilled in effective green cleaning practices. Custodial teams meet requirements for building-specific operating procedures, sustainable purchasing, employee training, and tenant communications to ensure a safer, cleaner, healthier building for custodial teams and building occupants.

According to Green Seal, the GS-42 standard’s benefits and features include uncompromising cleaning performance, safer indoor air, improved occupant health, notable reductions in waste generation and packaging, reduced environmental impact of the building, effective disinfecting for pathogens, as well as training and safety precautions for custodial workers.  

“This certification has been earned through a relentless pursuit towards excellence while striving to provide a better standard of service to our students,” said Rodney Boone, Building Service Supervisor at Montgomery College.

The College’s Cultural Arts Center building at the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus had previously received the certification in 2015. This made Montgomery College the first and only community college in the U.S. to hold a GS-42 certification from Green Seal.

Currently, all buildings in the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus and the new East County Education Center are maintained to a Green or GS-42 standard.

“Our effort to expand this certification through the college continues. Each certified building is the result of a years-long process in which the Montgomery College Facilities teams have been devoted to healthy cleaning standards. Our goal is to only clean ‘green’ when we clean,” said Terrence Evelyn, Collegewide Director of Facilities Operations.

Green Seal is a global nonprofit organization that pioneered the ecolabeling movement with a mission to transform the economy for a healthier, greener world. For 30 years, Green Seal’s rigorous standards for health, sustainability and product performance have driven permanent shifts in the marketplace, empowering better purchasing decisions and rewarding industry innovators. With thousands of certified products, services and spaces from the world’s leading companies, the Green Seal certification mark is a universal symbol that a product or service meets the highest benchmark of health and environmental leadership.