CBRE Innovation Challenge Winner: what this means for the industry

13-05-2026

SpaceVac International, in partnership with Tecnovap, was recently named a winner in the CBRE Innovation Challenge 2026 (Soft Services category), a program focused on identifying solutions capable of delivering measurable operational impact across CBRE’s global operations.

More than an award

The recognition was awarded for an innovative approach to industrial steam cleaning, combining SpaceVac’s high-access systems with Tecnovap’s steam technology to enable cleaning in elevated and difficult-to-access areas from ground level.

This includes environments where oil, grease and production residue can accumulate across ceilings, pipework, walls, overhead structures and even around operational conveyor systems.

Being recognized in this context is significant because it reflects a growing demand for cleaning solutions that improve safety and efficiency without creating unnecessary operational disruption.

The challenge with traditional industrial cleaning

In many industrial environments, steam cleaning remains a highly manual and access-dependent process.

Cleaning elevated areas or hard-to-reach production spaces often requires:

• Lifts or scaffolding
• Production downtime
• Restricted access to operational equipment
• Increased labor and safety considerations

At the same time, build-up from oil, grease and residue cannot simply be ignored. In sectors such as food production and manufacturing, maintaining clean operational environments is critical for both hygiene and performance.

This creates an ongoing challenge for facilities and operations teams — how to clean effectively without introducing excessive disruption or risk.

A different approach

The solution recognized by CBRE enables high-level industrial steam cleaning to be carried out safely from ground level.

By combining SpaceVac’s high-access capability with Tecnovap’s steam technology, facilities teams are able to clean elevated surfaces and difficult-to-access production areas more safely and efficiently, while reducing reliance on traditional access methods.

Importantly, this also creates opportunities to clean around operational equipment, including conveyor systems, where minimizing downtime is a major consideration. Rather than simply improving existing methods, the approach changes how the task itself can be delivered.

Proven operational results

The operational impact of this approach is already being demonstrated within real production environments.

In one Nestlé facility, the combined system delivered:

• Around 60% reduction in cleaning costs
• Cleaning during production without full shutdowns
• Improved access to elevated and difficult-to-reach areas
• Reduced reliance on access equipment and working at height
• More consistent cleaning outcomes across production environments

Importantly, these savings did not include the additional operational benefit of avoiding production downtime — a factor that can significantly increase the overall cost impact within manufacturing environments.

This is where the difference becomes commercially significant. The focus is no longer simply on cleaning effectiveness, but on how cleaning can be integrated into live operational environments with less disruption, lower risk and greater efficiency.

Why this matters now

Across industrial sectors, there is increasing pressure to improve efficiency while maintaining high standards of hygiene, compliance and operational continuity.

For many facilities teams, traditional industrial cleaning methods create ongoing operational challenges, from production downtime and access restrictions to increased labor and safety considerations.

What this approach demonstrates is that high-level industrial steam cleaning can be integrated more effectively into live operational environments.

By reducing reliance on lifts and scaffolding, minimizing disruption and enabling cleaning to be carried out safely from ground level, facilities teams are able to improve hygiene outcomes while maintaining operational continuity.

Additional benefits such as reduced water usage, minimal clean-up requirements and lower dependency on specialist access equipment also contribute to longer-term operational efficiencies.

Recognition from CBRE reflects a wider industry shift towards solutions that improve safety, efficiency and compliance simultaneously — rather than treating them as separate operational priorities.

From innovation to impact

Winning the CBRE Innovation Challenge reflects a broader shift in how industrial cleaning is being approached across operational environments.

Rather than relying on increasingly resource-intensive and access-dependent methods, facilities teams are looking for solutions that improve safety, reduce disruption and deliver measurable operational value.

For SpaceVac, the recognition highlights the growing role of high-level steam cleaning solutions that can be implemented more safely, efficiently and practically within live production environments.

For more information on high-level industrial steam cleaning solutions, or to discuss specific operational cleaning challenges, please contact the SpaceVac team at: [email protected]