Window Cleaning News

Why All London Window Washers Must Salvage Rain Water And Use It For Sustainability: Large metropolitan areas such as London house a huge amount of office buildings, hotels, historical buildings, apartments, private homes and even palaces, and all of these buildings have windows. Window cleaning in a large city such as this offers a valuable employment opportunity for many people, but it also creates a sustainability problem because of the large amounts of water used. Why use city water, save money and save water by collecting rainwater in rain butts which are connected to gutter systems? Rain water is chemical free as well as free, and most of it is lost back into the sea and sewer systems anyway.
It may surprise some to find out that rain water is almost pure, compared to tap water it only contains a fraction of the impurities found in mains supplied water. For reach and wash window cleaning systems this is very helpful as the water purification process is easier and filters needn’t be replaced as often. Most of the rain which falls on cities is just sent back into the sewer system or falls into the sea. Expend a little energy as a once off, installing the rain buts you need and create a sustainable pure fresh water supply. Why on earth pay for one of the only sure free things in life?
The roof of a building which is 2 000 sq ft is able to collect as much as 1 000 gallons of rainwater in run-off. A half inch rainfall can fill a 50 ‘ 80 gallon rain butt, and this is only one half inch. How many half inches do we get in London? Thinking about it logically, every window cleaner in London should be able to happily not have to pay for their water supplies in a good rainfall year. Enough to keep every London window cleaner happily working for a very long time without even touching city supplies! Window cleaning is hard work, but collecting water in a rain butt is not, just put it in place and leave it till its full. They have through which the water can be dispensed and recycling is the thing of the future, lets get with the times. Think of your roof as a giant funnel dispensing free water, you just channel, collect and use.

A window cleaner who was caught nearly three times over the drink drive limit has been banned from driving for three years and ordered to do 180 hours of unpaid work. Gary Hopper, 30, of Low Road, Keswick, was found to have 235mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood, when the legal limit is 80mg, after his Peugeot 306 was involved in a crash on February 18 this year. Norwich magistrates heard how he had been drinking alcohol on the anniversary of his cousin's death. His car collided with a red Ford Escort which was parked on the roadside. He was disqualified for three years and given a 12 month community order. District judge Philip Browning told Hopper: “Because of the level of alcohol, which I've calculated to be 16 units, I think a community order is required. “I have taken in your early guilty plea and good character into account but you were a danger on the road at that time. You will do unpaid work for the benefit of the community.”

Past TV reality star visits OSU to share success: the Ohio Union’s Performance Hall will be filled with eager students and small business owners looking for guidance to become successful leaders. James Sun, a finalist on the 6th season of “The Apprentice” and a successful investor and entrepreneur, will speak about the importance of creating one’s own success. By age 11, Sun was already building his business. He conducted door-to-door sales for window cleaning companies and claimed 25 percent of the profits. Sun invested $5,000 at age 18 in a technology investment company and became a multi-millionaire in four years. He founded two companies and hosts an international business reality show called “Sun Tzu.” Sun helps failing entrepreneurs make sound business investments. His latest project is producing a feature film. “It starts with your mentality and your passion for life,” Sun said. “I always tell students and people that if you are not passionate about something, or where you’re going, and you are not determined in your mind to get there, then success rarely follows.”

Residents in Westerham have accused a housing association of "frittering away" thousands of pounds of taxpayers' hard-earned cash. Moat Housing Association, which owns 65 homes in Atterbury Close, Westerham, has been accused of charging for services, like communal heating and window cleaning, which have not been provided, and failing to declare two of their homes. Residents have questioned the whereabouts of rent and service charges, adding up to thousands of pounds, after two properties failed to appear on their statements for six consecutive years. Mrs Oakley said charges to her home had been added for communal heating and window cleaning but she had not been receiving these services.

Norfolk man dies in house blaze: Flowers have been laid outside the home of a 69-year-old man, whose body was found at his fire-ravaged home in north Norfolk. William King, from The Street, Upper Sheringham, was pronounced dead at his home on Monday, April 12. Police attended and Mr King's body was found in the kitchen, the inquest heard. There was no sign of life and he was pronounced dead. A post mortem examination was carried out, but the cause of death has not yet been established. Mr King's body was identified by his daughter Joanna King. The Norwich inquest heard that he was a married, retired window cleaner who had been born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Jailed: Window cleaner who stole from elderly Bristol customers - A window cleaner who gained the trust of more than 270 customers and then stole from them has been jailed for two and a half years. Among David Green's mostly elderly victims was French resistance heroine Andree Peel, of Long Ashton, who died last month aged 105. He stole a bank card from Mrs Peel, who was known as Agent Rose during World War II when she saved the lives of more than 100 Allied airmen.
Green, 43, of Hill View Court, Locking Road, Weston-super- Mare, admitted four specimen charges of burglary at Bristol Crown Court and asked for a further 271 similar offences to be taken into consideration. Some 147 of those burglaries were committed in Bristol and 124 in Swindon. Detective Constable Mark Hawkes, the police officer who arrested Green, said it was not just jewellery and cash he took from his elderly victims but their memories. He stole irreplaceable diamond engagement rings and gold necklaces and bracelets given to the women, many of them widows, by their late husbands. Over a period of time Green built up trust with his more vulnerable customers, taking advantage of their good nature to get into their homes.
He would offer to clean the inside windows and then use the opportunity to help himself, taking cherished jewellery, handbags, cash and bank cards. One of his customers in Cairns Road, Clifton, discovered her purse containing cash, a Visa card and a debit card, was missing after a visit by Green on July 6 last year. He used the cards and ran up bills totalling £3,000.
Green also burgled the home of a customer in Broad Street, Wrington, in October. A gold and diamond engagement ring, a gold chain, a gold watch and sapphire earrings were among the jewellery he stole from a widow in her 70s. He burgled another house next to the A369 at Abbots Leigh in September. The court heard he had been to the house a number of times to clean the windows. He offered to clean the inside too and helped himself.
DC Hawkes said: "When I went to see the lady she didn't know her things had gone. I explained to her that it was likely that Green had stolen from her and when she went to check she discovered some very expensive jewellery had been taken. "A gold necklace given to her by her husband 35 years earlier was gone, and a diamond ring. "She was absolutely devastated. "He wasn't just stealing possessions, he was stealing the memories of a lot of people. "Many of the things that were taken held great sentimental value."
Green owned up to the Abbots Leigh burglary after he was caught by DC Hawkes, who spent three months investigating his crimes. Officers spoke to more than 50 of the victims to get statements. The theft of Mrs Peel's bank card came to light when a carer reported it to police. Green had tried using it but used the wrong PIN number at a cash machine and it was retained. DC Hawkes said Green is thought to have been responsible for between 300 and 400 offences reported in Bristol, North Somerset, Swindon, Dorset, Bournemouth, Bridgwater and Taunton. He said he was satisfied with the two-and-a-half-year jail term. "There is some satisfaction in that it sends the right message to the people who prey on the good nature of vulnerable people but it won't make up for the distress suffered by his victims," he said. "It takes him out of society for a while and a lot of people will be better off without him around."

NASHVILLE, Tennessee: Health officials said they found mosquito larvae last week for the first time this year. They're now monitoring places with standing water and recommend changing the water in bird baths, fountains, rain barrels and wading pools at least once a week. Standing water can be eliminated from pooling in wheelbarrows, canoes and boats by being stored upside down. They said homeowners can do their part in discouraging the pests by cleaning out gutters and downspouts; emptying flower pots, buckets or other outdoor containers; covering trash and recycling cans with tight-fitting lids; and making sure window and door screens are in good repair.

So who are the ones slamming British Columbians with a death tax now? The grim-reaping Liberals, naturally, with their poisonous HST. The harmonized sales tax will apply to funerals starting July 1 -- something that has B.C. funeral directors in a downright morbid mood. "We believe it is wrong to tax people more for funeral services, which are necessary for all families," said Michael Crean of the Society of Independent Funeral Homes of B.C. The government likes to emphasize that the HST won't apply to condo strata fees, or to the rents charged by landlords. But while the HST won't apply directly to those fees, it will apply to landscaping, roofing, window washing, gardening, replacing light bulbs -- all necessary for maintaining residential units and properties.

Window cleaning and Floating Homes: This was the request we found on the Facebook Fan Page for Seattle Houseboats this AM: We are looking for a referral for a window cleaning company that can do a two story floating home with no side decks." Funny -- I had this exact question yesterday at my open house on one of The Log Foundation docks. It wasn't an issue for the particular Eastlake Floating home I was holding open because it happens to have a spectacular offering of walk around decks, but one of the open house visitors pointed across the channel and asked that exact question. So how do you clean the upper story of Seattle floating home windows? Obviously, you would need to clean the exterior windows in a Lake Union friendly manner. Sit in a kayak with an extra long extending squeegee? What are some of your earth friendly solutions? Do you have someone that does that for you? Let us know and we will get the word out!

Daniel Radcliffe will make his Broadway musical debut in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying: The Harry Potter star, 20, will take to the stage next spring in the Pulitzer Prize-winning satire. He will play a young window cleaner who climbs the corporate ladder to become vice-president of advertising. The role was originally played by Mad Men's Robert Morse in 1961 while Matthew Broderick starred in the most recent Broadway revival in 1995. Morse also starred in the film adaptation which came out in 1967. Radcliffe, who made his Broadway debut in 2008's Equus, is currently filming the second part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

With county officials looking on, crews from Standard Renewable Energy of Boulder installed photovoltaic panels on two custom-built racks on the roof of the county courthouse offices building at 200 W. Oak St. The solar arrays are expected to provide about 10 percent of the building's annual energy needs, said Steve Balderson, facilities operations manager with the county, and reduce its electrical bills, particularly during times of peak air-conditioning use. "We expect this will pay for itself in 15 to 20 years," he said.
The arrays cost about $158,000, with funding coming from a combination of federal and local sources. The county's share is $35,000. The driving force behind installing the arrays was to get the county involved in clean energy and set an example for others, Commissioner Lew Gaiter said. "This is a great opportunity to take advantage of some new technology and use some surface space we have already," he said. Racks to hold the panels were attached to tall metal walls on the courthouse roof that screen the use of building's heating and air-conditioning systems. Posts that provide anchors for window-washing crews were also incorporated into the racks.

Organic photovoltaics (OPV) company Solarmer Energy has announced a joint development project with Joel Berman Glass Studios. The two companies have worked on an OPV glass panel that can be used as decorative glass in architecture, according to the press release. Solarmer's lifetime project director Vishal Shrotriya recently outlined its plans to break into the building-integrated PV market in an interview with +Plastic Electronics. The OPV firm will begin manufacturing of solar cells - for portable electronic charging - later in 2010, it claims.

The largest float glass factory in the Middle East will come on stream Saturday in Qazvin Province, northwest of Iran. According to Iran's Mehr News Agency (MNA), the factory's construction, which started six years ago at a cost of US$300 million, will be able to produce 180,000 tonnes of glass annually. The factory will also daily produce 120,000 square meters of glass from 1.2 to 19 millimeter thickness, and 30 percent of the output production will be exported to Europe. The news agency also reported that the project will create a total of 7,800 direct and indirect jobs. Float glass is a sheet of glass made by floating molten glass on a bed of molten metal, typically tin, although lead and various low melting point alloys were used in the past. This method gives the sheet uniform thickness and very flat surfaces. Modern windows are made from float glass.

KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Kong-based Sun Bear Solar Ltd, a global player in the solar energy industry, will be investing RM5.2bil in a solar glass manufacturing plant in Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park, Sabah. The first phase would cost RM2.2bil and involved the purchase of fixed assets, including the building of two glass manufacturing lines for the 300-acre plant, said Lee Judd, chairman of its wholly-owned subsidiary Sun Bear Sdn Bhd. “The second phase, costing RM3bil, will kick off six months later and involves the development of two larger glass manufacturing lines. The plant will be fully operational by the first quarter of 2012,” she said yesterday at a media briefing on the plant.
Judd said Sabah was the ideal site for the plant because of the abundance of raw materials in the state for the manufacture of various types of glass, a critical component in the production of many value-added products such as solar panels. Moreover, Sabah also has good logistics and infrastructure, as well as manpower and expertise for the plant which potentially could be the largest glass manufacuring plant in the world over time.

The Lambert family had been in bed for just a few minutes when they heard the familiar booting on the front door. Answering the door in his night clothes, dad-of-three Tony Lambert was confronted by police officers calling to check on the whereabouts of his 19-year-old son. Tony, a coach driver, has an older son who has never been in any trouble, and a daughter who is due to finish a university degree this year. But youngest son James was recently given an interim anti social behaviour injunction (ASBI), banning him from the Kingsfold estate in Penwortham after he and his associates caused misery for people living there.
His family accept he is no angel, and know he has been involved with a gang on the estate – but argue that the order is not the way forward. Tony, of Busell Place in Penwortham, says: "People would not believe how often police knock on the door – it feels like it has happened around 100 times since September, often at ridiculous times of the morning. One night all the family were in bed. Other times they knock on our door just to say things like 'James, we are targeting you'.
"He's 19 and he needs to grow up. I'm not saying he's an angel. But people have just been shown one side of the coin." "He is a self employed window cleaner and also does landscape gardening. He's not a down-and-out like people paint him to be. There are many members of this group in Kingsfold worse than him. "We were the last to know this ASBI had been applied for."
James, who is also banned from wearing a hoodie, has become a statistic. At any one time there are usually 250 "live" ASBOs, CRASBOs and ASBIs active in Lancashire, from interim orders through to full orders. Youths only form a small part of them, with around 50 regarding under 18s. Whilst many communities are sceptical of ASBOs and ASBIs, police believe their effect is evident from figures over the last 12 months, which show the county has seen an 11% reduction in complaints of anti social behaviour.

Window Cleaning Add-On? Local sheriff’s deputies have a new weapon to protect themselves — not from criminals, but from the infectious diseases they might carry. Aided by a $25,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security, the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department recently purchased a rapid decontamination system that can disinfect a squad car or jail cell in a matter of minutes. “The purpose of this is not only protecting the patrol officer, but to make the backseat as clean as possible,” said Jim Cleary, a representative of Advanced Health Technologies who trained sheriff’s officials and demonstrated how the device works during a press conference yesterday.
After punching in a few commands on a touch-screen computer, he stood back and let the Zimek Micro Mist System go to work. The device, resembling a large vacuum cleaner, expelled a fine mist of disinfectant into the closed squad car through a tube sealed to the window. After a few minutes, Cleary disconnected the equipment and opened the vehicle’s doors, allowing faint wisps of the cleaner to escape. “You can probably do six to seven vehicles in an hour and decontaminate the entire fleet in a short period of time,” he said. The cleaning agent used by the machine, a fairly nontoxic disinfectant used primarily in the healthcare industry since the 60s, kills bacteria, staphylococcus, hepatitis, HIV, influenza and other pathogens.
Although most commonly used as a spray, the cleaner is converted by the device into extremely small particles that are smaller than a micron, or one thousandth of a millimeter.“It’s a touchless system, so you don’t need to wipe anything down,” Cleary said. “You can just get in and drive away.” While the equipment will be offered to other law enforcement agencies, fire departments, ambulance companies and public health organizations in the region, the portable device will be kept at the jail where it is expected to be used extensively.
“I know we’re definitely going to be using it for cells here for prisoners with infectious diseases,” Commander Thomas Jenkins said. “We have a lot of people come into the facility who are ill.”
Sheriff’s officials hope the decontamination system will cut down on sick leave among deputies and the transmission of illnesses among prisoners. While it’s often difficult to determine how a disease is spread, Jenkins said there have been cases of deputies contracting an illness from a prisoner. “Part of it is peace of mind,” he added.
Deputies will be able to leave any item in their vehicle, such as a laptop or a cell phone, without concern that it might be damaged. It takes approximately three minutes for the system to complete its cycle, followed by a brief wait to allow the cleaner to dissipate. Cleary said the cost of operating the system ranges from 25 to 32 cents per minute, meaning it costs less than $1 to disinfect a patrol car.