KB Building Services had to meet many qualifications in order to receive the CIMS-GB with Honors accreditation.

CIMS is divided into five areas of management best practices:

• Quality Systems
• Service Delivery
• Human Resources
• Health, Safety & Environmental Stewardship
• Management Commitment

CIMS certification can also go two steps further with the accreditation, GB & Honors. KB has completed the Green Building (GB) portion of the certification, which verifies that we demonstrate and specialize in green cleaning practices. KB has also been awarded the Honors accreditation, which states that we go above and beyond in creating and adhering to exemplary processes and procedures.

In order to meet all of the qualifications, KB was required to submit documentation relating to each individual requirement for each of the five areas of management, in addition to the green cleaning section. Upon successful completion and approval of the documentation, an independent, accredited assessor visited KB, as well as multiple KB accounts. It is the assessor’s role to review the management and operations systems, and verify compliance with the principles and requirements of CIMS.

After the on-site visit, which included meetings with multiple KB customers and employees, the assessor awards the certification and informs the ISSA. The accreditation is held for two years, and then re-certification is required. KB completed the first re-certification in 2016 and passed with flying colors.

LEED accreditation

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) offers an accreditation for companies called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED for short. The LEED accreditation is specific to either newly constructed buildings (LEED-NC) or existing buildings (LEED-EB) that have put an emphasis on tailoring their facilities to meet environmental standards.

The criteria required in the Green Building (GB) section of CIMS-GB is directly related to some of the requirements for LEED. The CIMS-GB certification demonstrates KB’s capability to assist customers in achieving LEED points, and offers customers assurance that KB can partner with them in the LEED process. It was recently announced that any facility seeking LEED-EB will automatically qualify for the green cleaning associated points if a CIMS-GB with Honors janitorial company is utilized for janitorial services.

KB’s Chief Xperience Officer (CXO) has the LEED Green Associate credential, which is defined as a person who demonstrates a solid, current understanding of green building principles and practices, as well as a clear commitment to professional growth in the field. In order to achieve this credential, Channing Johnson, the CXO, was required to attend classroom-based training courses and successfully pass a two-hour computer-based exam comprised of 100 randomly delivered multiple-choice questions relating to each of the LEED requirements. This credential is renewed every two years through continuous education requirements and direct involvement in LEED associated projects.

Benefits to You

KB’s CIMS-GB with Honors certification provides many benefits to our customers, and should be a table stake in the Request for Proposal (RFP) bid process. It is a powerful, pre-qualification tool that helps customers take the guesswork out of the equation when trying to determine which janitorial provider to hire. Some of the customer benefits of hiring a CIMS-GB with Honors janitorial provider include:

• Management systems & internal structure in place
• High level of importance placed on consistently delivering high-quality service
• True commitment to meet the customers’ expectations
• Benchmark tool to compare janitorial providers apples-to-apples on service, instead of main focus being on price
• Specialization on green cleaning and environmentally-friendly practices