The Refinishing Touch Blog

New exciting additions to Touch Textiles!

2010-03-09T09:00:00.001-05:00

We’re pleased to announce that we’ve expanded our Touch Textiles upholstery fabric collection to include a new line of weatherproof upholstery fabrics, durable enough for both indoor and outdoor use.

We first launched Touch Textiles in 1990, and since then we’ve seen the market for sustainable upholstery grow. In addition to function, our customers want great fabrics with rich textures and bold patterns and palettes –that don’t cost the earth in any way.

The new additions to the range are, as you’d expect, in line with our core values: they’re made with an environmentally responsible manufacturing process with low chemical emissions and a dyeing process that creates no harmful wastewater, and they’re built to last, with durability that lasts up to ten times longer than standard fabrics, with resistance to UV rays, sunlight and cleaning agents. And, of course, they look great.

For more on Touch Textiles, read some of the first press coverage from our friends at Askmando.com, and of course, check out the Touch Textiles website.

Sustainability around the world: Hong Kong

2010-03-05T09:35:00.002-05:00

Hong Kong, one of the world's biggest financial centers, attracts an estimated 30 million travelers each year as part of a thriving hospitality industry. A huge urban center, Hong Kong is not necessarily considered a green place.

However, amidst the bustle of the most densely populated city in the world are signs of green life. Two major Hong Kong hotels have earned significant sustainability accolades. The hotels, the Eaton and the InterContinental, both in downtown Kowloon, each received certification from Green Globe, a program managed by EC3 Global.

The Eaton Hong Kong in downtown Kowloon earned a Green Globe Benchmark Bronze award, hiring a full time environmental manager to ensure the hotel maintains green standards. To date the hotel has earned best practice ratings in energy consumption, potable water consumption, water savings rating, community contributions and pesticide products ratings.

The InterContinental received Silver Certification, ensuring that its staff complies with Green Globe standards in energy and water conservation, harmful substances management, solid waste management and green purchasing. Like the Eaton, the InterContinental has committed to sustainability on a staff level, forming a Green Globe Committee of representatives from major departments, and appointing Green Globe Ambassadors to help other workers follow procedures.

To paraphrase a Hong Kong proverb: 'As long as we have hope, we have direction, the energy to move, and the map to move by. We have a hundred alternatives, a thousand paths and an infinity of dreams. Hopeful, we are halfway to where we want to go; hopeless, we are lost forever."

Hong Kong is headed in the right direction as its hotels embrace green practices. Hope must not be in short supply.

A (green) school grows in Brooklyn

2010-03-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

The 1600-plus public schools in New York City include schools of all different shapes and sizes, with areas of study ranging from language-immersion programs to schools for the sciences and academies for the performing arts. Recently, these have been joined by green schools, or more specifically, schools that have involved environmental education into all subject areas.

The “green” in the name of the Green School in Brooklyn or the Growing Up Green Charter School in Queens isn’t a buzzword, but an essential part of the curriculum. How schools apply their environmental focuses varies: some high schools teach vocational skills, like how to install solar panels and insulation. Elementary schools take a different approach, teaching students introductory lessons about recycling and habitats.

Even with a well-designed, scalable curriculum, these schools face the challenge of appealing to a broad range of students. To do so, they tap into local resources, investigating contamination of Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal or the ecological implications of razing homes. Through the development of practical skills and conceptual frameworks, students are meant to about more than the environment, but that their choices make an impact in the world around them.

Parents and teachers are part of a generation that is learning how to become environmentally conscious. These green schools are part of a larger movement: fostering the growth of a group of young people who already are.

The beat goes on

2010-02-26T09:00:00.003-05:00

Recession has taken a toll on a number of industries, including, as we’ve touched upon here, the hotel business. Companies that have weathered the storm have found unique ways to maintain customer loyalty. Among the businesses that have managed to stay afloat? The modern day jam band.

Bands like Phish and moe. have established a business model that is almost entirely different than other artists. They don’t sell many records, they keep concert prices low and they encourage taping at their show. Although this might seem to hinder the band’s success, when Phish announced a tour in March 2009, it had 10 million requests for 400,000 tickets at $50 each. By keeping tickets relatively inexpensive, Phish promotes a community concert experience. Devoted fans can travel to shows at a fairly low cost, and do it alongside their peers. This experience keeps Phish fans coming back.

Hotels are charged with the same task: generating loyalty amongst travelers. By giving customers what they want, they will return, and what more and more travelers want are environmentally-friendly facilities. If hotels are trying to meet customer demand, establishing green practices isn’t a bad place to start. Battling unfavorable economic conditions requires thinking about more than short-term gain, but about cultivating long-term relationships and financial viability. Taking steps to become environmentally conscious sounds like it fits the bill.

‘Widespread Panic’ is a jam band, not a prognosis for the hospitality industry. Hotels, like jam bands, can learn to appeal to customers and keep them coming back.

Hotel industry pulse weakens slightly on the bumpy road to recovery

2010-02-23T09:14:00.003-05:00

As the economy as a whole continues to recover from last year’s recession, individual industries are facing their own unique hurdles to overcome. The hotel industry is no exception, as noted by the recent decline in the Hotel Industry’s Pulse index (HIP), the real-time monthly composite indicator of business activity throughout the hotel industry, similar to a GDP measure. This includes indicators such as revenue generated by consumers staying at hotels and motels, room occupancy rates and hotel employment. Despite increasing by 2.8 percent in December of 2009, the HIP fell in January, signaling a slight hiccup in the hospitality industry’s economic recovery.

Still, this slight drop doesn’t mean that the hotel industry is heading for another sharp decline. As with any recovery effort, there are going to be bumps in the road, with some months seeing an improvement whereas others see decline. Although January saw a slight decline in the probability of business improvement when compared to December, it still saw a strong probability for improvement of 96.4 percent.

The HIP is a useful indicator of the timing and degree to which the hotel industry and the U.S. business cycle sync, and with December historically seeing a bigger boost in consumer travel, it makes sense that January would fall slightly in comparison. As the hospitality industry continues to improve and learn from the lessons of last year’s economic difficulties, the HIP is sure to reflect those changes with increasing numbers and a more positive outlook.

Gold, Silver, and Green

2010-02-19T09:00:00.001-05:00

Last week the world’s foremost winter athletes descended on Vancouver, kicking off the 2010 Winter Olympics. These Olympics see the realization of more than 12 years of careful planning, and then, only 16 days after they began, they’ll be gone.

The city of Vancouver will be left with more than sporting memories though. In these past 12 years, Olympics planners haven’t just been structuring events schedules and sketching logos; they’ve also been determining what kind of legacy they want to leave in British Columbia. The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Games (VANOC) took a big step in crafting that legacy by creating the Sustainability Stars program, which recognizes initiatives by sponsors, partners and VANOC itself that promote social, economic and environmental sustainability.

Sustainability Star awardees thus far include Purolator, which created a battery-operated electric delivery vehicle called the Quicksider for Vancouver’s couriers. The Quicksider generates 99 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than traditional courier vehicles. The City of Vancouver’s LiveCity Yaletown project, paved with recycled rubber tires, also earned a star. More sustainable than brick or asphalt, the pavers will be used in other parts of the city after the Games end. Teck and the Royal Canadian Mint’s Metal for Medals program is another star recipient. Teck provided metal from e-waste as part of the winners’ medals, created by the Mint, for both the Vancouver Olympics and Paralympics.

Vancouver and the rest of the world will see its share of memorable performances and world records over the course of the 2010 Winter Olympics, the kind of moments that stay with spectators for a long time. These memories are to be cherished, but the Sustainability Stars program ensures that that Vancouver will see its Olympic legacy throughout the city, in tangible, environmentally-conscious ways.

Sustainability around the world: Tunisia waves blue flag

2010-02-16T09:20:00.002-05:00

Since 1985, the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) has operated Blue Flag, an ecological certification program for beaches and marinas. To date, 3,355 beaches and marinas have received this sustainable development award. The North African country of Tunisia recently received its first six of these, and this number appears ready to increase.

To keep pace with the growing sustainable tourism sector, Tunisia’s minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Nadhir Hamada, launched an emphasis on beach protection. This endeavor has already proven fruitful; in addition its six Blue Flags, Tunisia has five more beaches in a trial period for certification.

As a growing tourist hot spot for many European travelers, Tunisia’s push for Blue Flag certification appeals to a burgeoning group of eco-conscious travelers.

The Tunisian campaign for tourists can’t lose. Even if travelers don’t take to Sousse and Tunis in droves, the country and its beaches will have undergone a change for the better. Tunisia, if not the most popular vacation destination, can be the most environmentally viable.

Clean energy movement still findings its legs

2010-02-12T09:00:00.001-05:00

In early January, the Obama administration announced an award of $2.3 billion in Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits, designed to stimulate job growth in the clean energy sector. While the government’s plans are commendable, they need help to succeed. Despite willing workers and an influx of funding, the clean energy movement has been slow to get off the ground. Furthermore, because the term ‘green job’ in the eco-friendly energy sector has such a vague definition and is not held up to any real standards, employers can label any job a ‘green job’ without worrying about accountability.

On top of that, many clean energy projects have been sprouting up, but often without actual jobs in tow. For example, a 36 thousand acre Texas wind farm seemed poised to create a number of jobs, using $1.5 billion of stimulus money, but the project, financed by China’s Shenyang Power Group, fell through. Although it required nearly 3 thousand workers, only 15 percent of those would have been for citizens in the United States.

Luckily, creating green energy jobs while adopting environmentally friendly practices has become a top priority for the government, and the pieces for creating a fruitful clean energy sector are there: a willing administration, an International Labour Organization that sees value in going green, stimulus money and opportunity. With more time and some redirected efforts, decision-makers can take these factors and help turn possibility into actuality.

Corporate Responsibility and the Environment…in the Real World

2010-02-09T09:00:00.002-05:00

Today we’re excited to introduce Stephen Smoke as our first ever guest blogger. Stephen is an accomplished writer who has penned 28 books, the latest of which, Cathedral of the Senses, will be published this spring. He’s also written and directed feature films, including “Street Crimes,” starring Dennis Farina. Most importantly, Stephen is an old friend of our CEO and founder, Mario Insenga.

We’ve always admired Stephen because of his views on personal and corporate responsibility. His Bill of Responsibilities series of books, which includes The Corporate Bill of Responsibilities, highlights how it is important for both individuals and corporations to recognize the social, economic and environmental impacts of their actions, and provides a guide on how to act in a manner that will benefit everyone. Stephen was nice enough to compose a blog post for us in which he describes how, even early on, he and Mario believed in social responsibility and environmental commitment, and how not much has changed in three decades.

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Corporate Responsibility and the Environment…in the Real World
By Stephen Smoke

In what seemed like another incarnation, Mario Insenga and I were roommates thirty-five years ago in Toledo, Ohio. Although we hadn’t spoken since then, we had experienced some of the best times of our lives together. Recently he tracked me down via the Internet and we arranged to meet in Los Angeles. Since we’d seen each other, I’d written nearly 30 books, most of them novels, and Mario had founded The Refinishing Touch and built the business into one of the most successful and environmentally-conscious companies in the world.

A Google search revealed that Mario’s clients included the U.S. government, Hilton, Marriott and Westin, among many other well known companies. I streamed a clip of him being interviewed on the Discovery Channel about how his company refurbished existing furniture, on site, in a unique and environmentally-friendly way. Furthermore, I learned that his exclusive refurbishing method resulted in a savings of up to 80% on replacement costs, while dramatically decreasing any negative environmental impact that would result from manufacturing and shipping new furniture and disposing of the old furniture. Finally, I read an interview with him in the Wall Street Journal.

When we got together a few months after our initial phone conversation, it seemed more like three days than three decades since we had last seen each other. We laughed about old times till tears ran down our cheeks. Although we had taken different paths and our lives had been shaped by people and events we could not have anticipated so many years ago, when our paths crossed again, we were still friends.

Even back in our halcyon days we felt strongly about the importance of personal responsibility and environmental stewardship. Therefore, it was not surprising when our conversation turned to talk of the environment and personal responsibility. The difference between our college days and now was that now we spoke not from a purely ideological or theoretical point of view, but from a practical, “real world” perspective.

“I put the green in green,” said Mario one night over dinner at a sushi place in Santa Monica. “Lots of companies want to do the right thing for the environment, but then they look into it and determine that going green will hit the bottom line hard. I believe—and I’m living proof of this—that doing the right thing for the environment can also result in increased profitability and sustainability.”

I knew that Mario was “green” decades before it was fashionable to be green. And the more we talked the more I realized he was pretty much the same “save the planet” guy he was back in the day. One important difference was that he now ran a successful, environmentally-conscious business with offices in several cities, a warehouse, and employees all over the world. He was walking the walk, not just talking the talk.

“It’s not about decorating your company PR with ‘green speak,’” Mario continued. “It’s about understanding ‘sustainability’ and how to manage existing assets. Instead of automatically tossing out assets, whether they’re furniture or personnel, consider how to manage those assets or re-purpose them. Not only is it cost-effective, it makes sense for the environment and for your employees.

“I’ve actually seen people drop high-end desks out of a second-story window because they didn’t want to spend the money to dismantle them, or take the time and effort to donate them. Sometimes outdated tax regulations encourage companies to buy new ‘things’ rather than manage existing assets and recycle in a smart way.

“The current financial situation causes people to think differently. Now clients are very interested in saving 80% on replacement furniture, and at the same time they’re genuinely interested in decreasing any negative impact on the environment.

“Another existing asset that can be managed is personnel. Not long ago I needed to hire someone to do in-house marketing. Instead of looking outside the company, I chose an existing employee who already knew my business well. I believed it would be more difficult and time-consuming to train a marketing person who knew nothing about my business, than it would be to teach marketing strategies and techniques to someone who knew my business inside and out. In a relatively short time that person learned the marketing skills needed to do the job, and my expectations for that position have been exceeded.”

While my old friend continued talking about sustainability and managing existing assets, I thought about our friendship.

And about how true it was that some things were truly worth sustaining.

Post-graduate students merge studies with sustainaiblity

2010-02-05T09:00:00.000-05:00

As we saw with the world trade summit in Copenhagen, central government has a long way to go before reaching concrete solutions to environmental problems. Still, there are other ways in which individuals can work to reach their own solutions. A recent article in the New York Times showcased how universities across the country are training postgraduate students to deliver practical solutions to the sustainability issues that many businesses face.

Universities in Massachusetts, Colorado and New York have taken sustainability focused post-graduate programs and included urban environmental issues to better fit the demographics of the student population, most of which live in urban areas. Whether they began their studies in engineering, biology or public policy, doctoral and masters students are now finding value in incorporating sustainable issues into their programs to better fit the jobs they aspire to have.

One of the major challenges for the future is finding ways to equip people with the practical know-how to engage with existing businesses and show them that making the shift to a more sustainable business model doesn't have to mean sacrificing profitability. We here at TRT have worked hard to build a successful business organized along environmentally friendly lines, to work in a way that balances the need to generate income with the desire to work in a way that is sustainable. We know that it's possible, and these programs are great stepping stones to help get people and businesses to realize that too.

Hotels down, don't have to stay there

2010-02-02T09:00:00.001-05:00

According to a recent Reuters article, the hotel industry, while beginning to show promising signs of recovery, faces a slow climb back to pre-recession standings. PKF Hospitality Research expects a drop in revpar (a measure of occupancy and room revenue) of only 1.1 percent, well below the 17 percent drop it experienced in 2009. Additionally, last year's occupancy rate of 55.1 percent is expected to rise to 55.4 percent this year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Although it's a small gain, it's a step in the right direction.

While hotels now must take action to expedite the a long trek towards recovery, the fate of the hospitality industry is tied to the rest of the economy; once more people get jobs, they'll travel more, both for business and leisure. When travelers do return, they'll find that excess is out of style as corporate spending has gotten leaner and luxury purchases are on the wane. Mike Shannon of KSL Capital Partners argues that affordable luxuries are back in style, and makes the claim "It's the $200 Lomilomi massages in Hawaii that are not doing so well."

As customers are adopting a no-frills style for traveling, hotels can follow suit. The hospitality industry needs to find success without a dependency on frivolous spending. Some of this goes into what we discussed about travel resolutions. When travelers walk or take public transit, they save on spending and help the environment in the process. When hotels opt for a linen reuse program, they save on energy expenses and do the same. As hotels and their clientele take the extras out of their traveling, customers will have more money for just that: their traveling.

The economy will eventually improve, but hotels don't have to wait for it. Hotels can find success without excess and adopt practices to help them thrive in any economic environment.

Net-zero buildings score more than zero for homeowners

2010-01-29T09:00:00.001-05:00

Energy-neutral buildings, once considered implausible, have begun to spring up throughout the nation as technology catches up with sustainable ambitions. Buildings and housing developments in Massachusetts, California and Arizona, planned or being built, utilize new, cutting-edge technology to produce or offset as much energy as they use. The government is also looking into applying the technology to reduce the energy usage of Federal buildings. This means that buildings, which currently account for about 40 percent of all energy usage in the U.S., will be able to lower their net energy usage to zero or near zero.

The technology exists for buildings to go energy-neutral, one of the major hurdles is cost. Despite growing popularity and slowly declining prices, the technologies that allow buildings to run on a net energy of zero are considered too high for the everyday homeowner to purchase: The estimated savings for switching to solar panels and wind-powered generators meets the initial outlay in about 12 years. While 12 years may seem like a long time, the amount of energy saved during that time alone means big benefits for the environment.

While net-zero energy technology is a huge help to the environment, it’s also shows that everyday homeowners can get involved in taking bigger steps towards sustainability and that large-scale changes are not limited to national hotel chains and corporate buildings. Every person can take steps to be more sustainable, and with any luck, as technology improves, tomorrow it will become ordinary for everyday people to adopt initiatives that today may seem extraordinary.

Keeping it Green: Interview with Karl Van Orsdol, Sustainability Leader and Energy Risk Manager for the City of Palo Alto

2010-01-26T09:00:00.001-05:00

In December, we wrote about the City of Palo Alto, California and their web conference with AltaTerra Research called Carbon Footprint Reduction for the Long Haul. One of the key voices behind the conference was that of Karl Van Orsdol, Sustainability Leader and Energy Risk Manager for the City of Palo Alto. Karl was kind enough to take some time to talk to TRT and share his thoughts on sustainability as the first to take part in our series of “Keeping it Green” interviews.

What inspired you to get involved in sustainability?
I have always been inspired and awed by the natural environment. Starting out as a tropical biologist, I realized that forest use by timber companies, water use by power companies, and industry were major threats to the natural environment. So I focused my career on the interface between business and the environment. Sustainability is a natural outcome of that evolution. Sustainability is business and people acting to preserve nature and natural resources for future generations.

What does your job involve?
I work to help the City of Palo Alto develop and manage renewable power. At this point, about 70% of the City’s electricity comes from renewable, non-fossil sources. I also manage the City’s Greenhouse gas emissions work, where we are working to cut emissions by 15% by 2012 from their 2005 levels. This involves setting up an enterprise-wide system for monitoring electricity, natural gas, water, gasoline, diesel and compressed natural gas use in our fleet of 130 facilities and 600 vehicles. We are also looking at reducing our CO2 by ensure all products that are recyclable are not discarded.

What’s the best example of sustainability you’ve come across?
This is a tough question. Certainly some European cities, especially in Scandanavia, have developed renewable energy, public transportation, and 100% recycling programs that are clear leaders and which we in government in the US are trying to model. The key is to maximize sustainability while maintaining and improving living conditions.

What’s the most difficult element of your job? Do you find it challenging to motivate others to be sustainable?
The most difficult part of the job involves motivating myself and others to be sustainable. People want to be sustainable and want to make the right choices – or at least if they knew the impact of some decisions and had lower cost options available, they would choose those options. Motivating myself and others to continually look at what they do, what choices they make, and to see if there are better options is challenging sometimes. You can’t aim to achieve perfection, but if you can do the 80:20 rule, we would be so much closer to a sustainable future than we are now.

If you could enforce everyone to follow one sustainable initiative, law, or regulation, what would it be?
I don’t think enforcement works. I much prefer providing options that take into account the true environmental costs of actions, and letting people choose. Ultimately, if we fully account for the hidden costs of environmental degradation in products and services, people would make the lower cost, environmentally sustainable, choice. What we need to do is ensure that those costs are fully incorporated into products and services.

Who is your green icon?
The rural people of sub-Saharan Africa. In my years of working with them they show a resourcefulness in recycling, a lack of conspicuous consumption and an ability to live within the natural environment that is amazing.

What do you do in your everyday life to be more sustainable?
In California we have a looming water issue – so we reuse our dish and shower water to water houseplants and the lawn. We keep what lawn grass we have long to reduce water demands. We minimize our driving whenever possible and when we do drive, we use a hybrid. We manage our energy use very closely. We try to buy less, and when we do buy, we buy locally. Despite our efforts, our personal GHG emissions are still non-sustainable in the long run.

How can people make an everyday difference with regards to sustainability? Do you have an simple tip that can easily help people live more sustainably?
The two biggest factors in greenhouse gas emissions are electricity use and transportation. Keep your home heated or cooled at a reasonable level; put on a sweater if it’s cold. Try to walk, bike, or take public transport to work at least once a week.

TRT in Green Lodging News: Restoring financial and environmental balance

2010-01-22T17:21:00.003-05:00

2009 was a challenging year for many businesses. TRT’s founder and CEO, Mario Insenga, shared his reflections on the year in an article he wrote for Green Lodging News which was published this week.

In the article, Mario talks about how by choosing refinishing over buying new furniture, hotels can balance their budgets while being environmentally conscious and staying up-to-date on modern consumer demands. Take a look at the article here and feel free to let us know your thoughts on other ways the hospitality industry can work to make 2010 a year of growth and progress.

Sustainability around the world: Abu Dhabi

2010-01-19T11:16:00.002-05:00

Yesterday’s conclusion of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi brought global attention to the United Arab Emirates as one of the epicenters of innovation in sustainable building. Just 18 miles outside the city of Abu Dhabi lies the future home of Masdar City, which aims to be the world’s first carbon-neutral and zero-waste city.

Masdar City’s construction, projected for completion in 2016, will use a number of innovative new building materials. BASF, a chemical company that works to produce more environmentally friendly chemical products, will provide insulation materials, pigments for reducing surface heat, and low-emission concretes that will all be used to make Masdar City a model for sustainable building.

Although the BASF’s new special concrete, which will be used throughout construction, reduces carbon dioxide emissions during production by 60 percent, low emissions will not come at the expense of quality. New plasticizers preserve concrete quality during transports, make processing easier, and yield strong, durable finished products.

As a key presenter at the summit, BASF has taken a leading role in showcasing not only its own green technologies, but the development of Masdar City as well. Dr. Tilman Krauch, head of BASF’s Construction Chemicals division stated, “We provide our customers in the construction industry with highly efficient concepts, economically and ecologically.”

In Masdar City, they’re doing just that: creating more than construction materials, they are building an entire sustainable metropolis.

TRT launches television recycling program

2010-01-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

At The Refinishing Touch we modify thousands of armoires each year as our hospitality clients replace CRT televisions with new flat screen LCD and plasma alternatives.

This presents an interesting challenge - what happens to old TVs? Well, in many cases they could become part of the 3 million tons of electronic waste generated by the US each year.

Yes, 3 million tons – the hurdle here is that older TVs and computers are difficult to recycle because they contain toxic materials and often require special pickups or arrangements. Currently only 13.6 percent of televisions are recycled properly, while the remaining 86.4 percent occupy landfills.

As a company committed to using environmentally sound practices, The Refinishing Touch has launched a television recycling program to combat this growing e-waste problem. The new program recycles e-waste in compliance with OSHA and EPA industry standards, along with all local, state, and federal laws and regulations.

Our project is already delivering significant returns: a global hotel chain enlisted TRT to recycle TVs at two of its locations, Alexandria and Williamsburg, Virginia. At these we’ve modified over 330 armoires to accommodate new televisions, and recycled all the existing TVs that had been phased out.

With such a large stake in environmentally refinishing the furniture that holds televisions, it’s only natural for TRT to take an interest in the safe recycling of televisions as well. If we can lead the way with environmentally safe and sustainable practices in armoire modifications, we can and should do the same with the accompanying TVs.

For more information about our new television recycling program, visit http://www.armoireconversion.com/tv_recycling.html.

Going green in 2010: Why travelers don’t need to reinvent the vacation wheel

2010-01-12T11:28:00.002-05:00

It often seems that going green requires significant innovation and reimagination. For example commercials would have us believe that the car is being reinvented to improve fuel efficiency, not power. However, the ways that the average person becomes more environmentally friendly are often much more subtle. We can build our homes with sustainable materials, recycle newspapers, plastics and soda cans, and turn off the lights when we leave rooms. Similarly, the way we travel needs no drastic overhaul. A few simple tweaks are all it takes to make 2010 a more environmentally friendly year than the last.

Some eco-friendly moves occur in the methods we travel: walking through cities is an easy way for travelers to stay immersed in their surroundings and keeps fuel emissions low; taking public transportation instead of renting a car is usually cheap and intuitive; and flying non-stop isn’t just easier, but it also saves fuel.

Other improvements require some changes to daily routines. At hotels, we are accustomed to freshly laundered sheets daily (sometimes with the added luxury of candy on the pillow), but choosing to reuse sheets saves time and energy while sacrificing little in comfort, and many hotels often provide a linen-reuse program. Using reusable water bottles can make a difference in preventing plastic bottles from ending up in landfills. Lastly, eating in local restaurants with local ingredients saves travel and energy, and can also improve your experience as you get a taste of the region without falling victim to sham authenticity and familiar chains.

Travelers don’t need to reinvent the vacation wheel. How we move through and experience the world doesn’t require any radical changes in order to become greener. We as travelers simply need to be proactive in making sure our travels are green and realize that even our smallest changes can yield considerable returns.

Sustainable innovation is black and white

2010-01-08T11:44:00.002-05:00

As more businesses and organizations work to become eco-friendly, a new technology promises to help buildings manage energy consumption and costs. Thermeleon roof tiles, developed by a group of students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), are designed to offset high heating and cooling expenses by changing colors like a chameleon. On cold days, such as in the winter when the sun is at its lowest impact, the tiles turn black to absorb what heat it can. On hot days, like in the summertime when the sun's heat is at its most intense, the tiles turn white to reflect heat.

The Thermeleon team, which won the third annual MIT Making and Designing Materials Engineering Contest (MADMEC), hope to further develop this technology in order to lower heating and cooling costs of buildings everywhere. The tiles are constructed with a polymer gel that reacts to changing temperatures in the form of changing color, and they also use common materials such as glass and plastic to keep costs low.

While still in its early stages, Thermeleon tiles show great potential to help individual homeowners as well as businesses to save money and help the environment by reducing the usage of heating and cooling systems. Hopefully, innovative ideas like this will continue to grow and develop in order to drive environmental sustainability towards the future.

Follow the green-brick road

2010-01-05T09:00:00.001-05:00

For many organizations and hotels, the uncertainty of 2009 means that 2010 needs to start with a definite direction. But where to head?

In 1900 L. Frank Baum published The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, also known as the ‘Great American fairytale’. The story resonated with readers across the globe, with engaging characters, narcoleptic fields of poppies, winged monkeys and the notion that ‘there’s no place like home’. When a tornado lands her in Oz (on the Wicked Witch of the East) Dorothy finds herself wondering where to head after being told to see the wizard in Emerald City for help in getting back home. She’s in an unknown land and doesn’t know quite what to do.

Many hotels, recovering from the tornado of the 2009 economy, find themselves in a similar bewildered state. They’re in an unknown land – one full of low occupancy rates, harsh business conditions, increased competition – with no given directions. Where do they head now?

There may not be a yellow brick road to follow, but a greener path continues to present itself for industry leaders to follow as a means to achieve more sustainable business practices in whatever way possible.

Refurnishing and refinishing are two ways that businesses can help themselves as they continue on their way in 2010. From hotels in need of updating accommodations to provide modern and pleasing décor for guests at reduced costs, to colleges that need to update dorm rooms with slashed budgets, reviewing alternatives to ‘rip and replace’ are not only environmentally-friendly, they’re green – good for the planet, the business, and its reputation.

Businesses are more prepared now than ever for the challenges that might present themselves along the way. Similar to America’s beloved fairytale, the business challenge of 2010 will demand a brain, a heart and courage to push us along. In terms of direction, we know that the green-brick road is a solid start and look forward to the adventures we are bound to meet along the way.

Farewell 2009 – Hello innovation, recovery, and 2010

2009-12-31T12:17:00.003-05:00

Well, it’s our final post of 2009. It’s been a bumpy year for the economy, and by relation, many businesses and organizations. Though on a brighter note, the beat of the “green drum” has increased throughout the year as global eyes, ears and tongues turned to sustainability. In 2010 this beat will continue.

A recurring theme that we’ve written and talked about in 2009 has been the application of innovation and technology to support and drive sustainability – not just our own innovations, but others across an array of goods and services that impact businesses and consumers. So, we thought we’d finish 2009 with the Cleantech Group’s 2010 green technology predictions.

As reported by Reuters, the group’s predictions for 2010 include:

- Clean economies become the new space race. There will be changes in which countries and cities are driving global momentum, but greater protectionism surrounding the industry will be a drawback.

- Electric cars take the back seat to smart mobility. The trend will influence city designs, shipping ports and governments’ tax incentives and budgets.

- Resource constraints beyond carbon rise to the fore. As the global economy picks up, there could be price spikes that impact clean technology sectors, pushing companies to use resources more efficiently in order to maintain or boost their profitability.

- Commodity trade-off debates intensify, in particular in the areas of water and energy; land and energy; land and water and carbon and water. The group predicts that more environmentalists will object to wind and solar projects because of how they use up swaths of land and other reasons, slowing down projects’ progress.

- Energy efficiency eclipses solar. Information and communication technology, along with more policy support, will help create a boom in energy efficiency. The sector could outshine solar, so far a clean tech darling of investors.

- Marketing suddenly matters. The group predicts that companies will have to distinguish themselves and employ branding as clean technology goes mainstream. Marketing campaigns are likely to target more consumers instead of just businesses.

- Buffett leads the super rich into cleantech. The group points out how U.S. billionaire investor Warren Buffett has made plays in clean tech-related companies, including GE, Goldman Sachs and Chinese electric car battery maker BYD Co Ltd. The group argues that energy efficiency factors partly influenced Buffett’s acquisition of the nation’s largest rail company Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.

- Acquisitions and consolidations accelerate. The group predicts that many Chinese wind and solar companies will be gone by the end of 2010. That will happen, the group argues, even as China’s market for renewable energy grows and despite the government’s investments in high profile companies like solarpanel makers Suntech and Yingli.

- The rise of waste-to-energy, geothermal and aquaculture, as part of a shift to more sustainable agriculture and food production.

When it comes to sustainability and green practices, we can each play our part. As the drive for more sustainable practices continues to build momentum, we’ve seen innovators in core industries set themselves apart with their commitments and capabilities.

We’ll raise our glasses to the innovators that set the bar for sustainable practices and show the world the direction to the green-bricked road. We simply can’t wait to see all that 2010 promises to be and more. We have a number of interesting announcements we’ll be making ourselves to benefit our customers and the communities we serve - it’s going to be an exciting year.

Happy New Year from all of here at The Refinishing Touch!

Looking to 2010: A decade’s lessons learned

2009-12-30T09:24:00.003-05:00

As December comes to a close, we say goodbye to the holiday season and a decade that has ushered in (and out) events that have changed the lives of millions for better and worse.

The second half of 2008 brought a sequence of events that would set the tone for challenges that would carry through 2009 and ripple throughout the country and world for the foreseeable future. The riches of the earlier part of the decade were wiped away almost instantly. But, even in the bleakest of times, Americans found ways to live and do business while coping with tighter budgets and limited resources. As a nation and a member of the global society, we hope that each of us has learned invaluable lessons in the need for resourcefulness, conservancy, efficiency and restraint.

Recently, 4Hoteliers posted the top global consumer trends expected for 2010, according to Mintel, an international market research firm, which seems to agree that 2010 will see global citizens making decisions armed with the experience gained throughout the course of the past decade’s events.

Along with resilience as a means to recover from the changes that effected so many people’s lives, consumers are anticipated to re-evaluate and review their decision-making. When they do make a decision to purchase, they will expect a greater level of accountability from companies as a means of rebuilding consumer trust.

According to Mintel, consumers in the new year will have a tendency to lean towards escapism in contrast to the value culture seen in 2008 and 2009 as a way to tap in to new experiences, while consumers will continue to embrace the “media evolution” of social networking and interactive media as a part of everyday lives. The research firm also believes that we can expect to see a return to focusing on ethical responsibility and stability. “If a business is to rebuild its brands with ethical efforts,” they say, “they’ll need to connect with consumers by giving them an emotional reason to buy.” And finally, consumers are expected to make a return to stable decision-making by seeking balance, readjusting and making conservative decisions when it comes to spending.

We look forward to 2010 and a new decade that will surely bring a whole new set of lessons to be learned and a wealth of opportunities for advancement. On behalf of each of us here at The Refinishing Touch, we look forward to continued successes with our friends, new and old, and wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.

Season's Greetings!

2009-12-25T09:00:00.000-05:00

From all of us here at The Refinishing Touch, we wish you peace and happiness during this holiday season.

Progress in Copenhagen: A foundation for the future

2009-12-21T14:56:00.002-05:00

For the past two weeks, it feels as if the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen took over the world. The summit will take its place in history as the largest international environmental meeting to ever take place as some of the world’s most powerful leaders convened in Denmark’s capital to tackle the issue of global climate change.

While the conference wasn’t without its controversy and disagreements–at one point the conference reached a stalemate as delegates from developing nations walked out of the talks due to a dispute over how to fairly regulate how richer and poorer countries approach cutting emissions–in the end, it seems that the leaders and delegates of the world’s nations were able to find some common ground and signed an interim deal called the Copenhagen Accord.

The deal in many respects is not perfect as it does not require the world’s largest polluters to further cut their emissions and has yet to be signed into a legally binding treaty. In spite of all this, the interim deal is a strong foundation for a promising new treaty to be signed into law in the near future. It calls on countries to prevent global temperatures from rising more than 3.6 degrees above preindustrial levels by reducing emissions and providing billions of dollars in aid to poorer nations.

The most important aspect of this deal is that it brought together some of the world’s biggest polluters, who after two weeks of often times heated and strained discussions found a way to begin working together to prevent any further damage to the environment. With any luck, they will take this deal and the momentum it has created and reach a strong and binding agreement that will have far-reaching and positive effects on the environment throughout the world.

Keeping it real: The Christmas tree debate continues

2009-12-18T09:53:00.002-05:00

For years, Christmas tree lovers have been divided over which is better: real or artificial Christmas trees?

While there are several arguments in favor of artificial over real, it may surprise you to know that the environment isn’t one of them. In fact, although they last for years, artificial trees are much more harmful to the environment due to the high levels of carbon emissions caused by their production and the fact that the plastic trees take years to break down in landfills.

Unfortunately, despite their negative impact on the environment, fake trees are seeing an increase in popularity as consumers try to save money by purchasing reusable trees.

Still, the benefits of buying a real tree far outweigh those of buying an artificial one. For example, the carbon emissions created from artificial tree production is equal to driving 120 miles, while those created from the use of real trees is about the same as driving only 10 miles. Also, real trees are often recycled by thousands of private and governmental programs that take holiday trees and grind them into mulch or landscaping chips for use in other industries.

While all the environmental benefits of real trees are the right reasons to keep it real during the holidays, we here at TRT also know that it just wouldn’t be Christmas without that evergreen smell.

Climate discussions heat up in Copenhagen

2009-12-16T09:00:00.000-05:00

As the UN’s Climate Change Conference went into its second week, talks were halted when developing nations and developed nations reached an impasse that caused African countries to pull out of the conference in protest. Their protest was supported by the major developing nations such as China and India. Luckily both groups were able to come to a resolution through informal talks that brought the conference back on track.

The cause of the dispute was whether to extend the agreement made under the Kyoto Protocols in which rich nations would be subject to penalties for not complying with strict emissions limits while poorer nations were free from any such penalties. One of the major concerns coming from the talks is how countries with vastly different resources will be able to conform to the same rules, and this brief boycott is proof that negotiations don’t always go smoothly.

Some solutions that have been proposed include programs that allow international partners to provide funds to developing nations for clean energy technology such as solar power alternatives and cleaner appliances.

Although the conference has seen its fair share of ups and downs, there is still promising evidence that all participating countries are willing to sit down and negotiate. All eyes stay on Copenhagen and the leaders gathered there must come together now to find a solution for the future.