Tag Archive for: eco-friendly

What Makes HDPE Sustainable?

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As a facility manager, you’ve probably heard about the benefits of choosing a sustainable material like HDPE for your next project. Utilizing sustainable building materials like HDPE not only pushes you closer to LEED certification, but having these types of materials can also lower your maintenance costs. But when it comes to HDPE products, facility managers tend to ask what makes HDPE sustainable?

We’ll gladly show you what makes HDPE sustainable and why you’d benefit greatly by using it in your next renovation or remodel project.

How HDPE Is Sustainable

A variety of factors make HDPE a sustainable material that you can use in your facility, the major ones being the following:

  • HDPE is made from recycled materials.
  • HPDE contains between 25% and 100% pre-consumer material.
  • Not only is HDPE sustainable by being made from recycled materials, but it’s also 100% recyclable.

Given that HDPE is made up of recycled material, it’s GREENGUARD Gold Certified, meaning that it’s an approved material to be used in schools and healthcare facilities. This certification requires stricter criteria, and HDPE makes the cut for its green construction.

Improving Air Quality

One of the biggest advantages that HDPE brings to your facility is through helping your air quality. HDPE is impervious to humidity and moisture, which can be abundant in areas like the restroom or locker rooms. Most plastic and metal partitions or storage compartments located in an environment with constant moisture will not only begin to wear, but they also run the risk of growing mold. Because of HDPE’s solid plastic construction, mold won’t find a way to grow, allowing HDPE to remain unaffected and helping to keep your air quality high.

Low-Cost Maintenance

Another major benefit of HDPE that you can add to the pros column is that it requires little maintenance. Not only does HDPE stand up to the elements, but it’s also a highly durable material. It can take a few hits and bumps and come out pretty much unscathed. Even graffiti doesn’t stand a chance against this solid plastic.

When it comes to maintaining your HDPE materials, you’ll be happy to know that it won’t cost you a lot of time or money. HDPE requires only a light cleaning now and then. The material doesn’t require repainting, which not only saves you more money, but it also won’t have a negative effect on your facility’s air quality due to the harmful VOC emissions.

On top of the lack of serious and involved maintenance, HDPE plastic can last for years, so you won’t be looking at a costly or involved replacement any time soon. HDPE pays for itself within two years due to the lack of costly maintenance and repairs that other materials would require.

Was this post informative for showing you what makes HDPE a sustainable building material? For more information, download Scranton Products’ eBook Sustainable Building Products: How to Make Your Facility Eco-Friendly from Top to Bottom.

How to Leverage Sustainability to Boost Profits

We live in an era where sustainability is one of the most important practices with businesses. Millions of companies around the world have gone paperless. Several buildings are being designed with sustainable practices and materials, and natural and sustainable energy are making a huge impact on businesses around the world. The threat of climate change has enacted entrepreneurs and innovators to explore greener alternatives, and with the green movement and sustainability are on the rise, they aren’t going away anytime soon. What Makes HDPE Sustainable

Businesses that make sustainability more than just a practice have seen their efforts pay off with their profits. Your business can make efforts to implement a sustainability plan that will not only help the green movement, but will help grow your business.

The Importance of Sustainable Practices

No matter what type of business you’re in, you can always take steps to make it more sustainable. Whether it’s implementing a thorough recycling program, replacing your light fixtures with LEDs, using green building materials, or even going solar, these sustainable practices are only meant to reduce harmful emissions into the atmosphere, but lower the costs of unnecessary expenditures. By taking these steps to make your business align with the green and sustainability movement, you’ll be able to do your part, lower your costs, and even inspire others.

How Sustainability Can Boost Your Profits

There are several ways where sustainability pays off. It helps reduce your energy costs when you go solar or install LED light fixtures. There are various programs out there that offer incentives to companies that recycle properly. Basically, going green and using sustainable technology will help lower your overhead costs.

Sustainability can also improve your actual profits. Whether you’re in a direct-to-consumer or a business-to-business industry, customers and clients love to see business that they partner with on the upward trend. Being a sustainable business can actually attract customers and clients with a similar mindset towards the green movement.

Getting Started on Becoming Sustainable

When you’re looking to improve your sustainability with your current facility, there are a few things you can go to lower your energy costs and help reduce any emissions. While recycling is important, it’s an on-going practice. You’ll want to set things in place now, so they can begin to pay off.

The first step is choosing lower-energy lightbulbs and motion sensors, so the lights can automatically shut off when they’re not needed. If you’ve got it in the budget, consider installing solar panels, which will show a huge decrease on your energy expenses. You’ll also want to incorporate some green building materials in your facility. Consider replacing your toilet partitions and vanities in your restrooms with HDPE, a durable, recyclable, and sustainable building material. By implementing a plan of sustainability, you’ll see your facility and energy costs go down and your profits rise.

Want to learn more about how to become more sustainable? Check out this eBook, Sustainable Building Products: How to Make Your Facility Eco-Friendly from Top to Bottom, from your friends at Scranton Products.

 

Why Sustainability is so Important in 2020

Our collective future depends on sustainability. There are many factors that can help people embrace sustainability, whether it’s electric cars, LED lights, or even solar panels. The idea of becoming more sustainable has become increasingly popular, but not just as a growing fad, but as a way to help pave the way to a brighter future.

As a facility manager, you may have heard of different ways to make your facility more sustainable, but have you embraced them yet? We’re going to give you a few tips and tricks to help you learn more about sustainability. We’ll even show you ways that you can make your facility more sustainable and eco-friendly.

What is Sustainability & Why is it Important?

Sustainability essentially means that everything we need to survive, and thrive, as a society all depends on our natural environment. This means utilizing building and energy sources that can either be recycled or continuous. We’ve seen great strides with eco-friendly cars, low-energy devices, and even building materials. Sustainability is important because it helps society become self-reliant and it steers us away from utilizing materials that can be harmful to the environment.

Ways That Can Help You Make Your Facility More Sustainable

Whether you’re about to break ground and build a new facility, or you’re looking to renovate your current one, there are several ways that you can reduce your facility’s carbon output. Utilizing some of these methods and materials will not only help you make your facility greener, but you’ll also notice a reduction in overall costs and maintenance.

  • Saving on Energy: There are several ways that you can reduce your facility’s energy A really effective way is by getting rid of any incandescent or fluorescent lights, and replacing them with more efficient ones like CFL or LED light bulbs. You can even invest in some solar panels to put on the roof, which will help you utilize clean energy while reducing your overall costs.
  • Improve Your Recycling: Recycling is one of the backbones to sustainability, and ensuring that the proper things are being recycled helps the wheels of sustainability turn. This also includes replacing disposable items with more eco-friendly ones that can be easily recycled.
  • Invest in HDPE: HDPE plastic is a strong and durable material that can have a variety of applications, including lockers, vanities, and bathroom partitions. This material is low maintenance, mold/mildew resistant, and best of all, 100% recyclable, containing roughly anywhere between 25-100% pre-consumer material.What Makes HDPE Sustainable
  • Going Green: There are plenty of ways that you can go green. This includes taking advantage of beautiful weather by opening the windows and turning off the air. You can also use green cleaning materials to reduce your use of harmful chemicals.

The Importance of Being Sustainable

Making your facility sustainable can have positive effects on the environment, your occupants’ outlook, and even your overhead costs. Sustainability not only helps you save money on your costs, but it can have a positive effect on the health of your occupants, and it even contributes to reducing harmful emissions that are detrimental to the environment.

Want to start taking the steps towards making your facility more sustainable? Download Sustainable Building Products: How to Make Your Facility Eco-Friendly from Top to Bottom, a free eBook from your friends at Scranton Products.

 

How to Reduce Your Facility’s Carbon Footprint

Are you looking for ways to make your facility greener and eco-friendlier? Newer buildings have a great start with using LEED-certified materials and newer practices that can reduce the environmental impact of the facility. But if your facility has already been built before the green movement, you don’t have to worry. There are ways that you can make your facility eco-friendlier. Here are a few steps on how to reduce your facility’s carbon footprint.

Get the Most Out of Your Energy

One of the most efficient ways to reduce your facility’s carbon input is to either reduce your energy use (which is next to impossible) or find ways to use less energy. Any rooms that aren’t being occupied shouldn’t have any electrical equipment running. This includes computers, TVs, and even lights. However, if you don’t think you can run your facility in partial darkness, you may want to invest in solar panels to make your facility a renewable energy source.

Keep Your HVAC System Well Maintained

Did you know that heating, ventilation, and air conditioning are responsible for 40% of all carbon emissions? In order to keep these emissions low, you need to make sure that you keep up with maintenance on your HVAC system to ensure that it’s running as efficiently as possible. You can also reduce these emissions on especially nice days by opening your windows and turning the system off. That way, fresh air pumps through your facility without any emissions.

Use Green Building Materials

If there’s a remodel or renovation project coming up in your facility, you should utilize green building materials to add to your facility to give it a greener edge. Look for any recycled materials to use in your building. If you have a restroom project in the near future, consider using HDPE (high-density polyethylene) plastic for your stalls and partitions. This material is highly durable; impact-, dent-, and graffiti-resistant; and 100% sustainable. Not to mention, HDPE outlasts most other plastic materials, and requires very little maintenance and upkeep.

Use Low-Energy Lightbulbs

While it may seem like a tedious process, it certainly helps reduce the energy bill. Using LED lights can greatly reduce your energy consumption because they only use 10 watts, while bulbs like incandescent lights use up 60 watts. If you do the math, you’ll see huge savings when the energy bill comes in.

Boost Your Recycling

A lot of facilities fall short in this category, but you don’t have to. Consider getting more recycling bins for your building and have them placed in convenient high-traffic areas. Educate the occupants on the benefits of recycling, and even what can be recycled. By implementing a rejuvenated recycling plan, your facility can help pave the way to a greener future.

Are you ready to start reducing your facility’s carbon footprint? Check out this eBook, Sustainable Building Products: How to Make Your Facility Eco-Friendly from Top to Bottom, from us at Scranton Products.

10 Ways to Make Your Existing School a Greener Facility

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Do you ever try to come up with new ways to improve your school’s efficiency? Making a pre-existing school facility greener can be a frustrating concept; but it’s not that hard to take the building in a greener direction with a few implementations and additions. Here are 10 ways that you can make your existing school a greener facility.

 1. Use Green Cleaning Products.

One of the best ways you can take a step toward making your school greener is by using green cleaning products. These products are free of harmful chemicals and leave very little effect on the environment.

 2. Improve Recycling Programs.

Getting behind a more thorough recycling program is essential. Make sure that your facility is executing these practices. You can also use it to educate students about the importance of reusing, reducing, and recycling.

 3. Use Green Building Materials.

If you’re considering any remodels or renovations in the coming year, you may want to utilize green building materials that’ll not only last, but will make your facility more efficient. Materials like HDPE (high-density polyethylene) not only provide high durability due to being impact-resistant, but they’re also recyclable and require very little maintenance due to being power-washable.

 4. Open the Windows.

If the weather’s right, you may want to consider opening the windows, rather than relying on the HVAC system. It helps by providing fresh air to students and faculty, and it helps you save energy costs.

 5. Get Plants for the Classroom.

Placing a plant in each classroom has numerous benefits. A plant can help reduce dust and carbon dioxide levels while preventing the growth of pollutants. It can also help improve humidity.

 6. Find Weaknesses in Your HVAC and Water Systems.

There’s nothing like a flaw in your energy systems to prevent your school from entering the green realm. Conduct an audit of your HVAC and water systems to find out if there are any repairs you should make in order to avoid wasting energy.

 7. Improve Your Air Quality.

Improving your air quality is one of the benchmarks for greening your facility. While air fresheners can be effective, seeking out the culprit that’s reducing the quality of your air is far more effective. Oftentimes, the stalls and partitions in the restroom and locker rooms of your school are sprouting mold. Consider replacing them with the previously mentioned HDPE, which is resistant to moisture and humidity.

 8. Consider Going Solar.

A lot of schools and commercial buildings have made the jump to solar energy. With just a few panels, you can reduce your energy costs while having your facility run on clean solar power.

 9. Test Your Water.

It’s always smart to ensure that you’re supplying your students and faculty with the cleanest drinking water possible. Check the quality of your water supply to make sure it’s in good standing.

10. Reduce Your Energy Use.

While the classrooms and hallways should be well-lit, there are other ways that you can reduce your energy use. One of the best and easiest ways is by turning off all the computers before leaving for the day, rather than setting them to sleep mode.

 

By implementing a few of these practices, you’ll see a noticeable difference, and your school will become greener every day. Do you want to learn more about how to make your school greener? Download the Sustainable Building Products: How to Make Your Facility Eco-Friendly from Top to Bottom eBook, courtesy of Scranton Products.

Where School Facilities Are Falling Behind: Improve Your Infrastructure Report Card

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How’s your school facility holding up? Does it meet the standards of the ASCE Infrastructure Report Card? There are a variety of factors that can attribute to a school falling behind based on its infrastructure and overall safety. The Infrastructure Report Card assesses the current state of your facility and how it’ll last over the years.

Getting an A is easier said than done. It requires your school facility to be in exceptional shape and have the capacity to handle its growing student body. However, a lot of schools fall behind because of the lack of maintenance or renovations to help keep the facility prepared for the future. Usually, these schools all suffer the same drawbacks that can affect their Infrastructure Report Card. Here are a few tips to get started and to improve your grade.

Finding Weak Areas in Your Facility

Before you try to improve your grade, you need to figure out what’s holding your facility back. While your school may not be in shambles, it’s important to consider all the factors with not only the structural integrity, but also with the various systems and components inside. Have an audit of your facility so you can have a manageable list of things to work on in order to bump up your grade on the Infrastructure Report Card.

Testing Your Air Quality

One of the most common contributors to a less than adequate grade of a facility is its air quality. This is a huge factor because not only does it have a negative effect on your grade, but it can also put your occupants’ health at risk. If you begin to search for areas with weak air quality, you should start with the restrooms.

Restrooms are a hotbed of mold growth due to the overwhelming moisture and humidity. While the walls and surfaces can be cleaned extensively to combat the threat of mold, the battle may be useless if it’s begun sprouting in your stalls and partitions. It’ll greatly reduce the air quality, as well as emit foul odors. A great way to reduce the risk of mold growth is replacing your stalls and partitions with a stronger material like HDPE (high-density polyethylene). This plastic material is not only resistant to scratches and dents, but due to its solid construction, mold won’t find a way to sprout inside.

Choosing Sustainable Products

One of the biggest contributors to the A grade on the Infrastructure Report Card is that the facility is long lasting. One way to help keep your facility in long-lasting shape is by utilizing sustainable materials that’ll last the years without any signs of damage or wear. The previously mentioned HDPE is one of the best materials to use for this. While it can help boost your bathroom’s air quality, HDPE can also be used for lockers. The lockers will outlast traditional metal or coated steel because they won’t dent, and will even resist graffiti.

Using HDPE materials wherever you can will benefit your school greatly. Not only will this material improve your air quality and resist any damage, but it’s also very low maintenance. You can save on maintenance costs because HDPE only needs routine cleaning—no repainting or adjusting.

 

Want to learn more about how you can improve your Infrastructure Report Card grade? Get the Sustainable Building Products: How to Make Your Facility Eco-Friendly from Top to Bottom or The Ultimate Guide for Facility Maintenance & Property Solutions eBooks, courtesy of Scranton Products.

What Is a Sustainable School?

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You may have heard the word “sustainability” a lot recently, and as a facility manager of a school, you may be wondering how you can make your school more sustainable. Many educational facilities across the country have been implementing sustainability and green plans to make their schools more eco-friendly and energy efficient. But what makes a school sustainable?

What Makes a School Sustainable?

In recent years, many organizations and schools have begun taking the necessary steps to reduce their carbon footprint though various means. The most popular route that schools have taken is with recycling. Ramping up their recycling process, and even hosting recycling-oriented events have proven successful in not only reducing waste, but also educating students on the environmental benefits of properly recycling their trash.

While recycling is effective at reducing waste and taking the necessary step toward eco-conscious practices, there are other ways that schools have made their facilities more sustainable. Cutting down on unnecessary energy by opening the windows during particularly nice days and utilizing non-toxic cleaning materials and school supplies have become popular practices. Even implementing green materials during renovations have proven to be highly effective. 

Making Your School Sustainable

Taking the necessary steps toward making your school sustainable has numerous benefits, including student health, reducing waste, conserving energy, and helping the environment. There are many different ways that you, the facility manager, can help make your school more sustainable and eco-friendly.

 

Using Green Materials

Whenever you need to renovate or remodel a portion of your school, you should implement green building materials wherever you can. Green building materials can help you use your resources and energy more efficiently. Materials like cork flooring, solar hot water heaters, and even recycled carpeting go a long way in increasing your school’s sustainability. Updating your school’s corridors with HDPE (high-density polyethylene) lockers has numerous sustainability benefits, and they even last longer than traditional lockers due to their durability and rust/mildew resistance, resulting in effective lockers that require very little maintenance.

 

Cleaning Your Air

One of the scourges of the environment is poor air quality. Unless you’re regularly testing your air, you may be dealing with poor air in your school. Touching up or completely repainting sections of your school can release VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions in your air, which over time can result in poor air quality and health complications.

 

Focusing on the Bathroom

One of the best ways that you can move your school into a greener direction is by updating your restrooms. Whenever there’s a drop in your school’s air quality, the restrooms tend to be ground zero. Due to the constant barrage of moisture and humidity, mold will sprout. If it’s on the walls and on the floor, it can be easily removed. However, mold could be inside the stalls and partitions, so you’ll need a more durable and eco-friendly replacement. Utilizing HDPE materials for your stalls will not only reduce the mold growth, but it’ll also increase the air quality of your restrooms for a long time.

Taking the necessary steps toward sustainability will not only reduce waste, but it’ll be more cost-effective and eco-friendly.

 

Want to learn more about how to make your school more sustainable? Read Sustainable Building Products: How to Make Your Facility Eco-Friendly from Top to Bottom, courtesy of Scranton Products.

Green Building Materials: Types of Green Building Materials

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Whether you’re designing a new facility or looking to do some renovations on your current facility, utilizing green building materials is a smart route to take. Sustainability is important when picking your building materials because you want them to last a long time. Luckily, there’s a variety of green building materials and sustainable products that can be used to make your facility structurally sound and eco-friendly.

Green Building Materials & Why You Should Use Them

When planning to build or renovate, choosing the right materials based off of sustainable design practices is crucial. When you choose a green material, it means that not only are you getting a quality product that will last for a long time, but you’re also doing your part to positively impact the environment long-term.

Sustainable Flooring

If you’re starting at the ground level, flooring will probably be your first step. Several types of flooring look good and also are sustainable, meaning that you likely won’t have to replace it in the short-term.

Linoleum, for example, is a smooth, eco-friendly flooring made from linseed oil, jute, and flax that doesn’t release VOCs (volatile organic compounds) like other types of flooring, such as vinyl. Repurposed wood is also a great option because it looks good and has been recycled.

Sustainable Roofing

Your roofing material needs to be durable so it can resist the elements but also sustainable enough that replacement will be far down the road. Tile is a good option because it’s thicker, so it helps to keep cool or warm air inside. Choosing a lighter color also has benefits because it reflects less heat into the atmosphere.

Sustainable Windows

A lot of considerations go into choosing sustainable and eco-friendly windows, especially if you intend to meet LEED standards. Starting with the frames, you should always choose a stronger material that’s more likely to improve insulation.

When it comes to choosing the glass, you could get multiple panes that will trap air between the panes to improve the facility’s insulation. If you prefer single-pane windows, you could get a clear coating that doesn’t affect the visibility but does enhance the ability to retain warm and cool air inside the facility.

Sustainable Plastic School Lockers, Bathroom Stalls & Partitions 

Making your facility greener isn’t just about the overall construction but also the materials inside. When designing your bathroom, instead of choosing a  metal or stainless steel for your stalls and partitions, try HDPE (high-density polyethylene). It’s a durable material that is resistant to moisture, scratches, and graffiti. It also doesn’t require painting, which results in less VOC emissions.

Another benefit is that HDPE products such as partitions and lockers contain recycled post-consumer products. By choosing HDPE, you take a huge step in making your facility more green and sustainable.

Eco-Friendly Building Materials

When renovating or erecting an eco-friendly building, it’s essential embrace to pick the right building materials. Then you can consider better ways to use solar energy and recycle rain water.

Want to learn more about how you can make your facility green? Download our eBook Sustainable Building Products: How to Make Your Facility Eco-Friendly from Top to Bottom.

If you have any questions about the benefits of HDPE and the sustainability of our school lockers and commercial bathroom stalls, contact us at Scranton Products.