McCormick Place, the largest convention center in North America, has become the first facility to achieve Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) Green Building + Sustainability Certification with Honors from ISSA, The Association for Cleaning and Facility Solutions. The designation recognizes McCormick Place’s commitment to measurable, third-party-verified sustainable cleaning and facility management practices, including environmental stewardship, sustainable operations, and continuous improvement.

CIMS Sustainability Certification provides an independent framework that validates how organizations manage sustainable cleaning operations across people, processes, and performance, while meeting the five core pillars of the CIMS standard—quality systems; service delivery; human resources; health, safety and environmental stewardship; and management commitment—plus CIMS-Green Building (GB) criteria for green cleaning practices.

“Earning CIMS Sustainability Certification demonstrates that the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA) | McCormick Place prioritizes sustainable cleaning and facility management practices and reflects our deep responsibility not only to our clients and partners, but to the broader industry,” said Larita Clark, MPEA CEO. “As the first facility team to achieve this certification, McCormick Place is proud to help set the standard for what responsible, accountable, and sustainable cleaning practices look like at scale.”

Unlike self-reported claims, CIMS Sustainability Certification is independently audited, providing confidence to visitors, exhibitors, event organizers, and stakeholders that sustainable and effective cleaning and facility management practices are backed up by credible systems and documented results.

“McCormick Place’s achievement represents a defining moment for the meetings and events industry,” said ISSA Executive Director Kim Althoff. “As the first facility team to earn CIMS Sustainability Certification, McCormick Place demonstrates that sustainable cleaning and facility management is built on verified practices—not promises—and a model that other facilities can follow.”

As expectations for sustainability and healthy indoor environments continue to increase, major venues and facilities are looking for ways to demonstrate accountability, transparency, and performance. CIMS Sustainability Certification provides organizations with a trusted framework to document progress, support reporting requirements, and signal leadership to clients and partners.

“This achievement would not have been possible without our strong collaboration with the Aramark team,” said Cullyn Doerfler, McCormick Place senior sustainability manager. “This certification reflects our campus-wide commitment to sustainability, from implementing green cleaning practices and environmentally responsible products to prioritizing the health, safety, and well-being of both frontline staff and campus visitors.”

“The Aramark/Globetrotters team was proud to be part of this process,” said Daniel Martinez, Aramark district manager. “Our training programs, rigorous safety protocols, and meticulous chemical and equipment tracking reflect industry-leading best practices. We were honored to work closely with the accreditors, showcasing the procedures that help ensure an environmentally responsible campus environment.”

“ISSA has hosted our ISSA Show North America Show at McCormick Place and experienced firsthand their commitment to best practices, sustainability, operational excellence, and accountability” Althoff added. “This certification reinforces the role of CIMS as a credible standard for organizations serious about sustainable cleaning and facilities management. ISSA is excited to be bringing the ISSA Show North America back to McCormick Place in 2028.”

For more information about CIMS Sustainability Certification, visit cims.issa.com/cims-sustainability.

The workplace looks nothing like it did six years ago. Labor shortages, hybrid offices, automation, robots, internet-connected sensors, and the highest inflation in decades have reshaped how buildings get cleaned and how cleaning companies survive.

For Jill Frey of Cummins Facility Services, every one of those pressure points aims in the same direction: technology and the discipline to use it. She shared her thoughts in a session at the Altus Summit at ISSA headquarters on June 9.

The new moat is … technology!

Frey framed technology as the modern version of a castle’s defenses. “Historically, a moat protected the castle,” she said. “Today, technology creates separation between companies as competition increases.” With private equity continuing to enter the industry, she argued, the gap between companies that adopt technology and companies that stall this adoption keeps widening.

 “Your real moat is not the technology itself,” Frey said. “It’s how you adopt, create, and utilize the technology. That’s the moat. That sets you apart.”

Adoption starts with understanding

Cummins started building a technology-friendly culture in 2015, when Frey gathered her employees and told them they were going to learn what “internet of things” (IoT) meant. Soon, she said, workers were spotting the term everywhere, even on their refrigerators. The company added “Tech Talk Tuesdays,” sessions built around conversations and hands-on time with new machines and robots and let its own leaders decide which products to buy. It also ran technology road shows, dropping equipment at client sites for a week to see how it would get used.

“Technology adoption starts with understanding, not just purchasing,” Frey said. She compared the alternative to the impulse buys that pile up at home, like the closet organizer that sits unopened on the dining room table for six months. Tools only pay off, she said, when companies teach people how to use them.

Robots and an aging workforce

The average age of Frey’s workforce is 54, and that shapes how she thinks about automation. “Robots handle most of the autonomous tasks,” she said. “They reduce physical strain.” The payoff shows up in safety numbers: Trips and falls had been the top driver of the company’s worker compensation claims, and Frey credited automation with bringing them down. “We have less trips and falls because of our robots,” she said.

The machines also make the remaining work more appealing. A company survey found employees were more willing to stay. “Our employees want to work for us longer if they have someone helping them, or if they have a robot helping them,” Frey said.

Because the demand comes from the floor, she built a process around it. Employees who want a robot add their name to a list, then complete roughly six weeks of education on how the machines fill labor gaps, improve consistency, and increase productivity before they earn the right to run and maintain one. The result is ownership in every sense. Crews name their robots, give them faces, and even run Instagram accounts for them. “They’re part of their family,” Frey said, and that personalization, she noted, tends to push productivity higher.

Data becomes the deliverable

Since 2017, Cummins has used IoT and occupancy data to rewrite its scope of work, shifting toward cleaning on demand and giving clients hard evidence of the service. Robot reports document hours worked, square footage covered, and water saved, and monthly summaries show exactly how much chemical the building used. Frey treats sustainability as part of the technology story, not a separate one.

Why European standards matter  

Frey, who does extensive work in Europe, believes the continent runs about three years ahead of the United States regarding technology. She pointed to the European Data Act, passed this year, which requires buildings to share their data securely and at no cost. The change is controversial for an obvious reason. “Data’s gold,” she said. “You’re giving up the gold.” It also raises the stakes on cybersecurity.

Standards set in Europe tend to migrate. Any building headquartered in Germany or Amsterdam pulls those expectations across the Atlantic, and Frey expects them to arrive regardless of the current political climate. That means contractors will need to track consumption closely. “We have to understand our water consumption,” she said. “We have to understand our chemical consumption. We have to consider our energy consumption.”

AI is not optional

Frey placed the industry in the early, narrow stage of artificial intelligence (AI), with more general capability likely within a few years and a far more powerful super intelligence arriving in roughly five to eight years. Whatever the timeline, her message to the room was blunt. “Please use AI,” she said. “You haven’t started? Please start. It’s not going anywhere, and it’s only going to get faster.” Companies that sit it out, she warned, risk becoming someone else’s acquisition.

Smart buildings, new revenue

The same shift opens a door. Sensors, indoor air quality monitoring, and energy management give building service contractors a way to diversify, Frey said, and offering energy services can help protect janitorial budgets that otherwise get squeezed on price every few years in a race to the lowest bid. She framed technology adoption as a chance to deepen client relationships and add new revenue streams rather than defend old ones.

Training is the future

No matter how good the technology, none of it works, Frey said, without training. Cummins employs an ambassador named Jerry whose job is to make sure people understand and enjoy their work, and the company runs a mandatory annual training event that stretches four to five hours and is offered both in person and online. In the past, the curriculum centered on Occupational Safety and Health Administration compliance, safety data sheets, and basics like ladder and cord safety. Now it covers smart buildings, tools, building data, robotics, and technology adoption, and completion is tied to the company’s CIMS certification.

“Training has to be the future,” Frey said. “We can’t allow our employees to go into buildings and not understand what they’re doing.”

She closed with a simple test of survival: The companies that learn fastest, adopt fastest, and train their people best are the ones that will still be standing for the next generation. Automation, she stressed, does not erase the human role. “There is always room for humans,” Frey said. “Always, but robots have a spot too.”

Be sure to watch for the next Altus Summit event!