August 31st, 2012 by TRT Blog

As we reach the final hurrah of the summer, Labor Day, we are drawn toward the thought of another school year and how parents, students and faculty alike, are all striving to establish sustainable solutions that save money and help the environment.

For those of you returning to school, or sending a child off to school, here are a few tips that are eco-conscious and budget-friendly:

1. Carpooling: If you’re driving kids to elementary school, or commuting to undergraduate college classes, consider setting up a carpooling group. In a recent article, we learned that families spend an average $150 on gas and driving costs per month. By carpooling, those costs could be reduced significantly depending on how large your group, and carbon emissions could be reduced by minimizing the number of cars on the road.
2. Recycle: Many school functions revolve around paper products, from composition books to textbooks, and students are hard-pressed to find a day that doesn’t require the use of paper. This school year, be conscious about conserving all types of paper products – whether that means you commit to a paperless study habit or set a cap on how much you print per week. This also includes recycling; instead of throwing away paper, make the point to recycle it. If your school doesn’t have a recycling program, drive the initiative and get one started.
3. Reuse: While not all school products are reusable, get creative about the ones that are. Have a half-used notebook from last semester? Continue using the remaining pages until it’s full. Not sure where all your pens went? Go through book bags and desks before buying new ones. And reuse doesn’t stop at traditional school supplies – encourage your school to reuse and refurbish non-traditional items as well, including desks, chairs, podiums and more. Often times furniture refinishing or an updated color changes will bring these pieces back to like-new condition.

Have additional ideas as to how schools, students and families can become more sustainable this year? Submit a comment on the blog or send us a tweet at @RefinishTouch. As always, we would love to hear from you.

And from the entire team at The Refinishing Touch, we hope you have a safe and happy Labor Day!

furniture refinishing, higher education, Labor Day, recycle, Sustainability, undergraduate classes, Universities

August 28th, 2012 by admin

Which do you think the hospitality sector is more driven by?

August 28th, 2012 by TRT Blog

As tourists pack up their bags and the summer comes to a close, hoteliers around the nation are taking the time to evaluate operating performances during the end of season lull – and the results are spreading some much needed optimism around the industry.

According to a recent article in 4Hoteliers, hotel markets in key Floridian locales – including Orlando, Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Daytona Beach – have fully recovered and gained momentum since the nightmarish recession.

In the Orlando area alone, the number of occupied room nights has surpassed pre-recession statistics, with over 4.6 million room nights sold this past year (May 2012 YTD). The figure indicates a 3 percent increase from the nights recorded five years earlier, in May 2007 YTD.

As providers of sustainable, on-site furniture asset management services to numerous hospitality clients across the nation, The Refinishing Touch commends the industry for demonstrating persistence, tenacity, and, as a result, recovering from the economic slump that severed so many other business sectors.

Our furniture refinishing, reupholstering, and remanufacturing services have been implemented in some of the most well-known hotel chains, such as the Hilton, InterContinental Hotels Group, and Wyndham Worldwide. And even as the market continues to flourish, our sustainable services remain as the leading sustainable, cost-effective furniture asset management, improving the overall appearance of an establishment while remaining cognizant of a company’s bottom line.

For more information on The Refinishing Touch’s furniture asset management services across the hospitality, government and higher education industries, please visit http://www.therefinishingtouch.com/projects.html. For the latest updates on our sustainable renovation projects, be sure to follow us on Twitter: @RefinishTouch.

4Hoteliers, armoire modification, Florida, furniture asset management, Hilton, hospitality industry, InterContinental Hotels Group, refinishing, remanufacturing, reupholstery, Sustainability, The Refinishing Touch, twitter, Wyndham Worldwide

August 24th, 2012 by TRT Blog

Over the past few months, we have noticed an uptake in the discussion about green government buildings. While the pending election may act as an influence, here at The Refinishing Touch, we hope to encourage an ongoing, continued discussion about the importance of furniture asset management and how government buildings can benefit from the practice.

A recent article in Sustainable Industries discusses how the Federal Government should and can make sustainability a priority on all levels of decision making. The first of which is about changing the fundamental thinking behind green buildings: business- and investment-wise. Currently, 87 percent of the money spent in federal buildings accounts for salaries and benefits, as opposed to green initiatives.

As a sustainable, on-site furniture refinishing company, with over three decades of experience in the government, hotels and universities industries, we understand the important of environmentally-friendly, energy-conserving initiatives, while maintaining budget requirements.

While we believe it’s important for government buildings and organizations to review traditional green strategies, including access to public transit, telecommuting, and indoor air quality control, non-traditional tactics are also important to consider. Federal agencies, Army housing, Navy bases and even the White house have implemented The Refinishing Touch’s furniture asset management services, through refinishing, remanufacturing, and reupholstering, to save up to 80 percent on budget, and 90 percent carbon emissions when compared to buying new.

For more information on The Refinishing Touch’s services, or to get a free quote for the services at your government building, visit our website at www.therefinishingtouch.com.

armoire modification, budget, carbon emissions, furniture asset management, Government, refinishing, remanufactuiring, reupholstering, Sustainability, Sustainable Industries, The Refinishing Touch

August 21st, 2012 by admin

What cost-saving government initiative do you find most effective?

August 21st, 2012 by TRT Blog

As the last few weeks of summer dwindle down, we here at The Refinishing Touch would like to take a moment to reflect on a season that made its way into both our hearts and our record books. As we continued to provide our on‐site environmentally safe and sustainable furniture asset management services throughout the scorching hot months, we also celebrated a couple of very memorable milestones.

In the early summer season, The Refinishing Touch announced its first international expansion with the opening of an administrative office in Toronto, Canada. Since then, the new division has serviced our hospitality clients across various Canadian provinces. With an estimated 270,000 rooms across 10,000 hotels, Canada provides us with a robust market accompanied with eye-catching scenery.

The office expansion wasn’t the only occasion we were celebrating. One month later, The Refinishing Touch reached its 35-year anniversary, a milestone that means the world to us. Over the years, we have been privileged to work with over 20,000 clients in the hospitality, government and higher education sectors. Through it all, we have remained dedicated to providing environmental business practices to protect both the environment and a company’s bottom line.

The next month, in July, we kept busy by sponsoring ‘Pressure Free PIPs’, a Hotel Interactive webcast dedicated to providing advice on saving a hotelier’s budget and franchise status through renovation alternatives.  We were joined by hospitality industry veterans, Glenn Haussman (Hotel Interactive), Jennifer Ramsey (Ramsey Purchasing) and Anne Jones (Design Atelier). In case you missed it, you can view the webcast in its entirety here.

We’d like to thank all of our clients and loyal supporters who have made the summer season such a success. We look forward to ringing in the fall with you. To stay updated with all of The Refinishing Touch’s projects and events, be sure to like our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter: @RefinishTouch.

35 year anniversary, armoire modification, Canada, Facebook, furniture asset management, Hotel Interactive, PIPs, refinishing, remanufacturing, reupholstery, Sustainability, The Refinishing Touch, twitter, webinar

August 17th, 2012 by TRT Blog

Here at The Refinishing Touch, we take pride in our innovative, award-winning furniture refinishing processes. All of the lacquers we use are clean, non-toxic and non-flammable – ultimately allowing us to complete all refinishing services on-site, ensuring a safe, healthy environment throughout our project locations.

Hazardous chemicals are more prevalent than most people realize, making their way into millions of buildings across the nation, even during today’s health-conscious movement. Toxic stain protectors can be found in fabrics and textiles, which upholster public seating areas, while formaldehyde and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) lurk in common finishing lacquers across the market.

Fortunately, progress has been made in the battle for chemical regulations. Since 2003, 30 states have passed more than 150 policies to ban toxic chemicals, according to a recent article in The Huffington Post. A push for a national ‘Safe Chemicals Act’ grabbed headlines last month, making its way to the US Senate Environment and Public Works committee in late July.

Until regulations are implemented, consumers have been turning to other alternatives. The Refinishing Touch’s furniture refinishing process guarantees indoor air quality and safety for both our technicians, and a business’s guests and employees. Our non-toxic lacquers are free of VOCs, making them hypoallergenic, clean, and safe. And because of our innovate services, our environmentally-friendly refinishing alternatives have been implemented by the government, universities and hotels across the nation.

For more information on the Safe Chemicals Act, click here. To find out more about The Refinishing Touch’s sustainable, environmentally-conscious refinishing techniques, visit http://www.therefinishingtouch.com/impact_env.html.

chemical regulation, furniture asset management, non-toxic chemicals, refinishing, reupholstery, Safe Chemicals Act, The Refinishing Touch, US Senate Environment and Public Works committee, VOCs

August 15th, 2012 by admin

Which do you think the government sector is more driven by?

August 14th, 2012 by TRT Blog

As we featured on our blog last month, Robyn Rocco, Community Association Manager of The Dover House Resort and Landex Resorts International, discussed the work The Refinishing Touch had done on the Dover House property and the benefits the property has seen  since implementing our furniture asset management services. As she said in her guest blog post, “[The] property took one of the easiest and most energy-efficient changes directly by partnering with The Refinishing Touch and investing in [our] furniture asset management services.”

Since Robyn’s guest blog post, and a joint press release on the project, we were very excited when Lodging Magazine took interest in the project as well. In an online article, Lodging Magazine gives an overview of the renovations, and describes how The Dover House, through the help of The Refinishing Touch, took a different approach to how they replaced case goods, nightstands, headboards, and end tables. The Resort knew that its furniture was in need of an update, but it also wanted to be conscious of budget and environmental impact.

Through The Refinishing Touch, the Dover House was able to refinish 231 pieces of existing furniture assets within budget, as well as minimize its carbon footprint by over 90 percent, when compared to buying new furniture. As with all of The Refinishing Touch’s projects, The Dover House furniture refinishing was completed on-site, using non-toxic, odorless, clean materials.

For more information on this sustainable project, or to read the entire article, go to Lodging Magazine here. For more information on our sustainable furniture asset management services, or a free quote, email sales@therefinishingtouch.com.

furniture asset management, hospitality, Landex Resorts International, Lodging Magazine, refinishing, renovations, reupholstery, Robyn Rocco, Sustainability, The Dover House Resort, The Refinishing Touch

August 10th, 2012 by TRT Blog

Here at The Refinishing Touch, we have seen many efforts from both local and state governments to become more environmentally-aware. In the past, our furniture asset management services have made their way into The White House, military barracks, naval air stations and courthouses in various states, along with many other legislative edifices.

And the government’s environment commitment hasn’t stopped there. Other green measures include the implementation of energy-efficient architecture, the increase in LEED certifications, and most recently – the rise of paperless offices. 

Over 70 government entities have signed a non-binding pledge to reduce paper consumption through the use of iPads and other technologies, according to recent news from Government Technology. The pledge, named the ‘Government Go Green Project’, is a nationwide initiative launched by Granicus, a cloud technologies company that focuses on government transparency.

The most recent survey conducted by the company found that nearly 1.5 billion sheets of paper were used in local legislative processes each year – a statistic startling enough to call for a decrease in wasteful paper-based workflows.

Under the Project, government agencies are encouraged to upload board meeting packets, whitepapers, case studies and other notoriously long documents onto iPads, or other technology devices – an initiative that decreases an office’s overall carbon footprint and long-term debt.

Read the full list of pledging governments here, and find out more about The Refinishing Touch’s furniture asset management services in the government industry by visiting http://www.therefinishingtouch.com/projects.html.

budget, debt, Government, Government Go Green Project, iPad, LEED, local government, paperless, state government, Sustainability