B Y G M G J A N I T O R I A L

The USGBC's current LEED Initiative Promotes Transparency

in Building

The USGBC's current LEED Initiative Promotes Transparency in Building

GMG Janitorial provides environmentally sound maintenance and janitorial service to customers throughout many California municipalities. Founded by Gina Gregori in 1987, GMC Janitorial is committed to following the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) guidelines for all of the janitorial services it provides.

The USGBC's current LEED Initiative Promotes Transparency in Building

The USGBC’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) programs offer third-party confirmation green building practices. The most current version of LEED further refines these approaches by identifying toxic ingredients in commonly used materials for construction, which include formaldehyde and various flame retardants. Many of these ingredients can lead to health complications. LEED v4 encourages designers by providing points for disclosing the ingredients in building products, regardless of whether or not they are toxic. This promotes transparency, which may lead to positive changes in manufacturing practices. Some organizations involved in this initiative include the University of California, San Francisco; Adobe; Google; and Kaiser Permanente. Dan Geiger, director of Northern California’s USGBC chapter, indicated this was the first instance of companies and institutions from various sectors working together in the interest of supporting health via green building.