Green Seal GS-37: Cleaning Product Certification Guide for
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Green Seal GS-37 is the commercial cleaning products standard from Green Seal, a Washington DC-based nonprofit certification organization established in 1989. GS-37 is distinct from EPA Safer Choice (though both evaluate cleaning product safety) and is specifically referenced in LEED v4 certification criteria for existing buildings (LEED O+M) and in many institutional procurement policies that require third-party environmental certification for cleaning products. Understanding the difference between GS-37, EPA Safer Choice, and other "green" labeling claims is operationally important for BSCs competing in the institutional cleaning market.
What GS-37 Certifies
GS-37 evaluates commercial cleaning products across three primary dimensions:
1. Chemical safety (ingredient evaluation): GS-37 prohibits or restricts over 100 chemical categories, including:
- Carcinogens, mutagens, reproductive toxins (CMR substances)
- Persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals (PBT)
- Acute aquatic toxicity above defined thresholds
- Ozone-depleting substances (ODS)
- Specific prohibited functional groups (certain alkylphenol ethoxylates, chlorinated solvents, formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, phthalates)
2. Environmental performance:
- Biodegradability: surfactants must meet OECD 301 ready biodegradability threshold
- Aquatic toxicity: products tested against defined EC50/LC50 thresholds for key aquatic organisms
- Packaging: requirements for recycled content, concentrated product preference (higher use-dilution = less packaging per gallon of cleaning solution)
3. Efficacy testing: GS-37 requires product efficacy testing: the product must demonstrate it actually cleans to defined standards. This is a key difference from some "green" claims that focus only on ingredient safety without requiring performance validation.
| Factor | Green Seal GS-37 | EPA Safer Choice |
|---|---|---|
| Administering body | Green Seal, Inc. (non-profit) | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Ingredient assessment method | GS-37 prohibited/restricted substance list | Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL) |
| Efficacy testing required | Yes: cleaning performance testing | No: ingredient safety only |
| Disinfectants included | No: GS-37 does not cover disinfectants (use EPA List N separately) | Yes: Safer Choice products may also be EPA-registered disinfectants |
| LEED O+M credit | Yes: GS-37 is specifically listed in LEED v4 O+M EQ Credit | Yes: also accepted in LEED v4 |
| Product count | Approximately 3,000+ certified products | 4,000+ certified products |
| Annual certification fee (manufacturer) | $2,000–$10,000+ depending on volume | No charge (EPA government program) |
GS-37 and LEED O+M Certification
LEED for Building Operations and Maintenance (LEED O+M) version 4 includes a credit for green cleaning products under the Environmental Quality category (EQ Credit: Green Cleaning: Products and Materials). Products certified to GS-37 satisfy this credit requirement.
LEED O+M EQ credit requirements for cleaning products:
- 75% of cleaning products (by volume) used in the building must be Green Seal GS-37 or EPA Safer Choice certified, OR
- All products must meet GreenGuard Gold or equivalent third-party certification
For BSCs cleaning LEED-certified buildings, this is not optional guidance; it is a contractual requirement tied to the building's LEED certification maintenance. If your products don't qualify, the building owner's LEED O+M certification may be at risk.
Documentation required by LEED O+M:
- Product names and manufacturer
- Certification standard and certification number
- Volume (gallons or liters) used per year per product
- Percentage of total cleaning product volume that is certified
Maintain a product compliance log and audit it quarterly. Many LEED building managers will request this documentation as part of their annual recertification submittal.
Building Your GS-37-Compliant Product Kit
Transitioning to a GS-37-compliant product line for institutional accounts is straightforward because many major commercial cleaning product manufacturers offer GS-37-certified lines:
Common GS-37 certified product lines:
- Spartan Chemical: Multiple GS-37 certified multi-purpose cleaners and degreasers
- Diversey / Ecolab: CareLine and Clax product families include GS-37 certified options
- Betco: GreenEarth product line: GS-37 certified multi-purpose and bathroom cleaners
- Method Professional: All-purpose, bathroom, glass cleaners in GS-37-certified formulations
- Simple Green: Simple Green Pro HD and Simple Green D Pro: GS-37 certified industrial degreasers
Verification: Search the Green Seal certified products database at greenseal.org/find-a-product: filter by GS-37 standard. Do not rely on manufacturer marketing claims ("green," "eco," "sustainable") without confirming the current certification status in Green Seal's database.
GS-37 Does Not Cover Disinfectants
The GS-37 standard explicitly does not certify disinfectants, sanitizers, or antimicrobial products; these require EPA registration under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). For institutional clients requiring both LEED product compliance and EPA-registered disinfection:
- Use GS-37-certified cleaners for all general cleaning tasks (75%+ of product volume)
- Use separately EPA-registered disinfectants (EPA List N or equivalent) for disinfection tasks
- Document both categories separately in your LEED compliance log
Some EPA Safer Choice certified products carry both EPA Safer Choice and EPA registration (EPA List N), making them compliant for both certification requirements. These dual-certified products are operationally the most efficient solution for LEED-compliant institutional cleaning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is "Green Seal certified" something a cleaning company can carry itself, or does it only apply to products?
It can apply to the company, but through a different standard. Green Seal GS-42 certifies commercial cleaning service companies rather than products, and earning it means Green Seal has audited your cleaning protocols, the products you use, your training program, and your management systems. As a market credential, that carries more weight than simply buying GS-37-certified products off a list.
Once a product earns GS-37, does the listing hold indefinitely?
Renewal is annual, and the burden sits with the manufacturer. A certification can also be suspended or withdrawn mid-cycle if the company changes the formulation or fails to keep up with testing requirements. Treat any product list you are carrying as a snapshot rather than a permanent record, and confirm current status before you rely on it.
Are contractors charged anything to search the Green Seal certified products database?
Nothing. The certified products database is publicly accessible at greenseal.org/find-a-product at no charge, so an estimator or account manager can confirm a product's status without a subscription or a call to the manufacturer's rep. That makes verification cheap enough to do before a bid goes out instead of after a client questions it.
How should GS-37 products be handled in LEED compliance documentation?
Verify the certification is current on the Green Seal website before the product goes into the submittal. Certifications renew annually and can be pulled if a manufacturer reformulates, so a product that qualified on your last project may not qualify on this one. Your documentation is only as good as the certification status on the day you file it.
How we built this guide
Opora editorial sources from BLS OEWS wage tables, ISSA-447 production rates, NCCI workers' compensation classifications, EPA List N, OSHA 29 CFR standards, and primary state regulatory filings. We don't recycle blog posts; we audit primary documents.
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