Janitors typically do their work sight unseen, after everyone else has gone home. But soon that's going to change at the Hennepin County Government Center and other heavily used county buildings.

Starting March 1, about half of Hennepin County's buildings -- 63 in all -- will be vacuumed, wiped down, swept and emptied of trash during the daytime rather than at night.

By shutting off the lights and turning down thermostats at night, the county expects to save at least $100,000 a year in energy costs. It's thought to be the first public entity in Minnesota to move to day cleaning, a trend that has gained popularity in the private sector.

"Daytime cleaning makes sense here in Hennepin County," said Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, who announced the cost-saving shift last week.

Despite the fact that moving to days almost certainly will cut janitorial hours, the move is backed by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 26, which represents more than 4,000 janitors in the metro area.

SEIU members, whose contract expired Dec. 31, are threatening to strike for more full-time janitorial jobs that promise better health care and to banish the use of toxic cleaning products. Javier Morillo, SEIU local president, said he believes the county's savings from day cleaning can be used to create more full-time positions down the road.

Workers want to be included in the county's planning for day cleaning, he said, and also seek a two-month training and readjustment period for moving from night to day work.

Good business sense

"This is a tough economy and everyone is making tough choices," Morillo said. "Our members are willing to work in different and innovative ways so we can move forward without huge cost increases."

Hennepin County, which contracts with janitorial companies for most of its maintenance work, already cleans some facilities during the day. The county facilities now slated for daytime cleaning are among its biggest, including the 24-story Government Center, Century Plaza, the Central Library and service centers at Brookdale, Southdale and Ridgedale.

The day-shift cleaning idea came out of the county's hunt last year for ways to cut spending, said Mary Beaque, the county's facility manager. She consulted Marsden Building Maintenance, which has implemented day cleaning at Travelers in downtown St. Paul.

They determined that cleaning buildings during the day saves the cost of lighting the building at night, reduces heating and cooling costs, and cuts down on elevator usage.

"It seemed like it was not only good from a sustainability and green standpoint, it also made good business sense," Beaque said. "And it had great potential for Hennepin to pave the way in this area."

Minneapolis will launch a pilot program this year to clean a limited number of its buildings during the day. The idea is promising, said Greg Goeke, the city's property services manager, but there needs to be more talk about how to make sure cleaning gets done without interfering with normal workplace routines.

"It's going to be clumsy," he said. "I applaud Hennepin County, but we want to try it on a manageable scale before we use it in half our buildings."

Fewer working hours

Beaque said janitors will be trained to avoid disrupting the workplace. For example, they will do most of their vacuuming early in the morning and save their lighter cleanup chores for when people are at their desks.

Right now, the county's Property Services department calculates that the county could save a total of $450,000 this year by switching from nights to days, including the energy savings estimated at $100,000.

Much if not all of the remaining savings would come from reduced hours for janitors, since many workplaces now cleaned both day and night will only be cleaned during the day.

For SEIU and its workers, the upside is the chance for more janitors to work normal hours and reconnect with their families.

"I can meet people, and I can have a real life," said Marie Flores, who recently switched from a night-owl shift at Travelers in St. Paul to a 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. schedule.

Judy Hollander, Hennepin's Property Services director, said the amount of savings the county can realize from reduced janitorial hours won't be clear until the county finishes negotiating with its janitorial contractors and the day cleaning system gets underway.

But the appeal of day cleaning is undeniable for a county struggling to maintain programs in the face of state and federal funding cuts.

"If we're able to do this more efficiently, then the county has more money to do its real work," Hollander said.

Kevin Duchschere • 612-673-4455