CMM Columnist Joins LEED Technical Advisory Group

Cleaning and Maintenance Management’s (CMM) regular green cleaning columnist Stephen Ashkin has been invited to join a U.S. Green Buildings Council (USGBC) LEED committee.

A long-time contributor to CMM, Ashkin is president of The Ashkin Group, a consulting firm specializing in green cleaning and sustainability. His Sustainable Solutions column appears in each issue of CMM.

Ashkin will now serve on the USGBC’s LEED Indoor Environmental Quality Technical Advisory Group, a volunteer committee consisting of experts from across the green building industry and business sectors. LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the rating system used by the USGBC to measure a building’s sustainability and resource efficiency.

Ashkin has previously served as a subject matter expert on green cleaning to the USGBC. His new role with the LEED Technical Advisory Group positions him to help shape the credits and prerequisites in the rating system, ensuring LEED’s integrity remains grounded on technical and scientific considerations of the highest quality.

“Steve and The Ashkin Group have been outstanding partners in helping to evolve and adopt green cleaning guidance in LEED,” said Melissa Baker, senior vice president for Technical Core at USGBC, in a press announcement. “Their help has proven invaluable, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re delighted to bring his expertise to our Indoor Environmental Quality Technical Advisory Group.”

Ashkin said that his new position will give him a much stronger voice to advocate for the cleaning industry. 

“I want to hear from people in our industry,” he said. “Considering the pandemic, we must all work together promoting the important work our industry does, especially when it comes to keeping people healthy.”

You can reach Ashkin at [email protected]. Read his Sustainable Solutions columns and other articles for CMM here.

Hear Ashkin outline the impact of green cleaning in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic and learn what organizations are doing now to make a difference in the Straight Talk! episode below.