Sustainable maintenance and value preservation with the building services provider for residential and commercial real estate

Since 1983 Immobilien Service Deutschland has been looking after the maintenance and value preservation of real estate and properties of every type. Building cleaning is an important business unit alongside building services, green space maintenance and winter service. With representation in 90 locations, the company takes care of 20,000 objects with a workforce of more than 6,000 employees.

Immobilien Service Deutschland is actively engaged in sustainability. In large cities, for example, employees are using cargo bikes to get to objects quickly and cleanly (no emissions). At some locations electric vehicles are being tested with the goal of making fleets fit for the future. In the garden too the air is clean. For the protection of the environment and employees, emission-free garden equipment has been in use since the company’s 35th anniversary.

In the course of the restructuring, cleaning chemicals also were converted. Since then Immobilien Service Deutschland has been working with Werner & Mertz and has scored several successes. From January 2019 to December 2020, the following reductions were achieved: 42,115 kg of carbon dioxide, 13,412 kg of crude oil and 7,132 kg of plastic. The switch to sustainable products has been enthusiastically accepted by customers, employees and job applicants alike.

The Zimmer Tower in Lier is cleaned with Green Care Professional, making it a sustainability role model

Before the Zimmer Tower got its name, it was a simple keep within the city walls of Lier in the 14th century. The current name was given to the tower in honor of the Belgian clockmaker Louis Zimmer (1888-1970), whose Jubilee clock is built into the front of the tower. It’s a very unusual clock in which 12 smaller clocks circle the large clock with 57 dials. Technically, they are not all clocks, but rather displays of information such as moon phases and tides and the time of day on all continents.

In 1960 a new pavilion was built next to the tower in order to present Zimmer’s latest masterpiece, the astronomical clock, which was prepared for the World Fair 1935 in Brussels and then exhibited in the USA. Albert Einstein was fascinated by Zimmer’s astronomical clock and congratulated the clockmaker for the clock’s mechanism. One of the clocks, for example, takes 25,800 years to complete a single orbit, which corresponds exactly to Earth’s axial precession cycle. Zimmer later expanded the clock to include a mechanical planetarium. It’s no wonder that the tower with so much history was placed under historic preservation in 1980.

Since 2019 the Zimmer museum has been cleaned with Green Care Professional products from Werner & Mertz. It’s a special challenge since too much moisture could damage the clocks. That’s why we adapted the work processes and cleaning methods in close cooperation with the responsible parties so we could satisfy all the requirements.

Our success in brief

• switch from traditional products to Green Care Professional
• development of specially adapted work processes and cleaning methods

Antwerp cleans with Green Care Professional,
making it a sustainability role model

Antwerp Central Station boasts an indefinable architectural style that seamlessly combines elements from the present and the past. The railway station’s unique structure has made it a top candidate as “the most beautiful train station in the world”. For Belgium it is a multifaceted reminder of the tiny nation’s innovative influences on the railway industry during its earliest days.

Built in the glory days of Belgian train travel, Antwerp Central – also known as the “Middle station” – made commuting much easier for Belgians. Belgium was the first nation in Europe with a public railway established in 1835, just a few years after the country had gained independence. The terminal in Antwerp played a key role in the first rail route. In recognition of its importance, the original station made of wood between 1895 and 1905 was replaced with the current version.

Today the central station extends over four especially spacious levels. To the credit of the team responsible for the renovation, the station’s original functions were retained and a few historic elements were prominently incorporated. It’s one of the world’s most beautiful train stations, which we hope will be maintained for centuries to come. To that end, Green Care Professional came into the picture. Particularly dirty places, which had been repurposed by many as urinals, have been cleaned with a special BIOBACT solution since 2019, resulting in a significant improvement for the noses of passengers and employees.

Our success in brief

• cost-efficient cleaning of “urinal spots”
• increased cleanliness and an improved smell
• greater satisfaction of travelers and station employees

Chirohuis Heibrand Westmalle, the second largest nature reserve in Belgium, cleans with Green Care Professional, making it a sustainability role model.

For others, scouting was synonymous with adventures in the forest, cooking over an open fire and spending the first weekend away from parents, but in Belgium it’s still Chiro Flandern. More than 70 years ago the youth organization purchased its own property and created a retreat for young Belgians. The site has grown to accommodate up to 248 overnight guests.

The nature-loving and forward-thinking Chiro Flandern organization doesn’t just talk about the importance of sustainability and ecological values, but lives them as an example to the children. When governmental funding was cut in 2019, the management of Chiro Flandern asked us for help in reducing costs, but not at the expense of quality and the environment.

Thanks to the good cooperation and our longstanding expertise, we achieved our first success with just a few measures. By switching to the more efficient cleaning products of our Green Care Professional brand, we were able to reduce costs and simultaneously increase quality in hygiene. When such measures are introduced, employees are often neglected. However, getting them involved boosts motivation and contributes to success. With Chiro Flandern, for example, we could improve quality because the employees were involved and trained right at the beginning.

Our success in brief

• cleaning costs within budget
• better environmental compatibility
• happier personnel with more compatible products
• improved hygiene increased guests’ satisfaction

Ghent, the second largest city in Flanders, cleans with Green Care Professional, which makes it a role model in sustainability.

Green procurement in Ghent

Since 2008 the City of Ghent has followed an action plan for sustainability (“Ghent 2020”), which includes more than 105 actions and initiatives to make Ghent a more sustainable city, including sustainable procurement processes. Initiated in 2012, the first procurement strategy with a focus on sustainability was renewed and signed by the city’s mayor in 2014.

In recent years Ghent has worked steadily to make its municipal cleaning services sustainable and that includes the use of integrally sustainable cleaning products. Ghent purchases products that satisfy the EU Ecolabel criteria and was the first city to introduce “Cradle to Cradle®” certified products for the cleaning of its buildings and facilities. More than 340 sites in the city (office buildings, schools, museums, etc.) use the municipal cleaning services. For many other public facilities, the City of Ghent acts as the central contact for procurement.

About the City of Ghent

Ghent developed from a Celtic settlement where the Scheldt and Lys rivers flow together. In the Middle Ages, the thriving textile industry made Ghent one of the largest and most important cities in Europe. The flax and linen industry and the city’s staple rights for grain also contributed to Ghent’s wealth. After a brief period of Calvinism, the city deteriorated visibly until its return to prosperity at the end of the 18th century when Ghent became one of the first industrialized cities on the European mainland.