Certification for Sustainability Professionals Provides Validation, Says ISSA

Professionals working in the facilities management at the housekeeping level have a new credential that may “validate their roles as sustainability practitioners” and help them stand out as qualified experts: IEHA has announced a new Sustainability Professional designation for those in the professional cleaning industry who are proven to drive internal sustainability programs and integrate with corporate sustainability management systems.

IEHA is a division of ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association. As ISSA points out, sustainability is a huge issue in today’s health care and hospitality worlds, and few are in as good a position to help these organizations reach these goals as the professionals who clean these facilities.

Those who become certified as a Sustainability Professional will learn:

• Why sustainability is the “right thing to do,” and why it is important to environmental services executives and their employers from an environmental, personal, career, and business perspective
• How to establish the ROI of sustainability in health care facilities, thus providing a financial incentive, as well as action strategies;
• How to sell sustainability to stakeholders - both upper management and line workers - including examples of persuasive language to use to convey the value of sustainability initiatives within the environmental services departments.

Recertification is required every two years.

ISSA expects that professional organizations that have certified employees will be more appealing to customers searching for a “higher level of environmentally friendly services.”