November 29th, 2011 by TRT Blog

As winter is fast approaching, some of our lucky crew members are jet setting to tropical climates. Not only will they escape the frigid temperatures, they will also represent The Refinishing Touch family of clients in sunny Kihei, located on the Hawaiian island of Maui. While the majority of early inhabitants were fisherman and the area remained isolated until the 1930’s when the government placed eleven beach lots up for sale, Kihei is now home to over 60 condominiums, rentals, timeshares and hotels.

Located just 20 minutes from the airport, WorldMark Kihei is one of WorldMark’s Five-Star luxury resorts. While our crews don’t have too much down time in between the ongoing upholstery and refinishing operations, there is still plenty to do for any vacationer. Water lovers can snorkel, scuba dive, surf, wind surf, paddle board and even whale watch (if you’re there during the right months). If you prefer dry land, Kihei also offers activities such as golfing, hiking, zip lining, horseback riding and shopping.  Kihei even offers historical tours of the local pineapple plantation.

Such as most trips to Hawaii, make sure you plan well in advance! To stay at the popular WorldMark Kihei Resort, the hotel recommends booking reservations at least 13 months before your scheduled trip.  As always, whether you are traveling for work or pleasure, the WorldMark Kihei is a destination that should be added to your upcoming travel list.

Hawaii, Kihei, Maui, refinishing, refurbishing, The Refinishing Touch, vacation, WorldMark Kihei Resort

November 18th, 2011 by TRT Blog

We all know the saying: ‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure’. Well, for Oregon-based start-up, Agilyx, America’s plastic is a barrel full of crude oil.

For the past 18 months, the West coast start-up has been developing a prototype that converts discarded plastic into crude oil. The system, made up of pipes, vessels and heat, cooks the plastic down to a vaporous gas, condenses the vapor, and then converts it into different types of oil.

via NYTimes Green blog

Two trillion tons of plastic currently sit in America’s landfills, and 243 million tons of solid waste accumulate on top of that each year— a 36% increase since 1960.

According to Agilyx, around 10 pounds of plastic will produce one barrel of oil, and each individual system can process up to 40,000 pounds of plastic per day. Based on current oil costs, it’s been suggested that producing oil from plastic will reduce barrel costs by around $40.

Although the commercial version won’t be on sale until mid-2012, ‘resource recovery’ systems such as this have the potential to influence the way Americans and others around the world view waste management and recycling. Why diminish raw materials when we can reuse instead?

Agilyx, crude oil, NY Times Green blog, plastic, prototype

November 15th, 2011 by TRT Blog

In the recently released 2011 Standard & Poor’s 500 report, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), an independent non-profit organization with the world’s largest corporate climate change and water information database, found that for the first time over 50 percent of S&P 500 companies integrate climate change policy into their core business decisions and strategy. The number of companies adopting such policies has risen 30 percent in one year, from 35% in 2010 to 65%.

Within the report, companies announced such green projects as: increasing energy efficient facilities; improving business processes and transportation networks; encouraging sustainable behavior from employees; and providing financial incentives for embracing and managing climate change issues.

The report even set out to debunk a few energy efficiency myths. In the past, companies have sighted lengthy investment return rates as excuses for not increasing green practices, but 60 percent of the reported projects have now seen payback in three years or less. These quick investment returns, along with investor pressure, shaky fuel prices, and new revenue opportunities, are the driving forces behind this year’s increased statistics.

Despite recent difficulties getting the general population to fully back energy efficient projects, this report reflects restored confidence in the importance of sustainability efforts led by the world’s largest companies—proving that carbon emissions aren’t just hurtful to the environment, they can be hurtful to investment portfolios as well.

500 report, Carbon Disclosure Project, CDP, climate change, companies, policy, Standard & Poor's

November 8th, 2011 by TRT Blog

Flying is never fun—cramped seats, long lines, bad food—but even with all of the downsides, the future of flying is starting to look a little less dull. Boeing recently rolled out its long-awaited 787 Dreamliner aircraft, which reportedly uses 20 percent less fuel than similar-sized airplanes.

via CNet News

And for the environment, it’s better late than never. After taking three years longer in manufacturing than originally predicted, Boeing delivered its first Dreamliner to Japanese airline, All Nippon Airways, in late September. The $200 million jet boasts new high-tech GE and Rolls-Royce engines, which represent a two generation jump in engine technology—the main factor for its top notch fuel efficiency.

Half of the plane’s primary structure, including the fuselage and wings, are made up of composite materials. With its more efficient fuel use and lightweight structural composition, the mid-sized plane is capable of longer-range, non-stop flights.

Although flight time is a main contributor to an individual’s carbon footprint, the new Boeing Dreamliner allows travelers to be more cognizant of their environmental impact and further the push for more sustainable travel options.

Since the Boeing Dreamliner program was launched in 2004, customers across six continents have placed 821 airplane orders. Here’s hoping we’ll all be flying on one soon.

787 Dreamliner, Boeing, composite materials, environmental impact, fuel efficient

November 3rd, 2011 by TRT Blog

As you’ve seen on our blog, we’ve recently announced our new customer communications program, aimed at joining our cross-industry clients together to maximize their refinishing experience. It’s been met with excitement from our team and our clients. That excitement and positivity has also spread to the press.

Our friend, Glenn Hasek, at Green Lodging News heard about the new program and did a nice write up of the service on the site’s ‘News’ section. Glenn highlighted the major points and key ideas of the announcement, which included the various methods of communication (traditional and nontraditional) we’re using to share our clients’ stories. You can check out the entire article here.

Our communications program, Green Connect, is available to all our existing clients. If you have any questions about the program, contact us at greenconnect@therefinshingtouch.com.

customer communications, Glenn Hasek, green connect, green lodging news, industry, program

October 26th, 2011 by TRT Blog

As most of us know, the recovery from the recession hasn’t been easy. Individuals and consumer industries alike are still struggling. Our customers, particularly in the hospitality industry, are debating whether it’s the right time to make necessary improvements or if they should wait until the economy improves.

This notion sparked our curiosity. Based on a recent hotel interactive survey, focused on the increase of renovations being done in hotels after the recession, we pushed out our own survey to find whether or not this is true. We wanted to see if there was a consensus among hotel owners and managers whether renovations in the current economy are beneficial to the bottom line.

Our goal is to gather current information on hotels’ upcoming renovations, or Product Improvement Plans (PIP), as well as uncover any corporate, economic or customer pressures that may have influenced these plans.

Although our research is ongoing, the results we’ve already begun to gather are both interesting and telling. For example, we asked, “Are renovations being pushed back up the agenda now that a ‘recovery’ is underway?”

This is what we’ve found so far: 57.7 percent of participants said no, while 42.3 percent said yes.

In a continuing blog campaign, we will be revealing all of the survey questions and findings over the next few weeks. Check back for updates.

If you would like to be part of our survey, go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/piphotelsurvey. In order to avoid any conflict of interest, the surveys are completely anonymous. Participation requires no personal or professional information.

We look forward to hearing your opinion!

Hotel Interactive, Product Improvement Plans, renovations, sruvey, The Refinishing Touch

October 21st, 2011 by TRT Blog

It’s no secret that we take great pride in the work that we do. Through our visual blog post we were able to show the before and after images of the work we’ve done, which we hope gives a much better representation the dramatic changes that take place when we’re able to preserve a piece of furniture. It’s with the same dedication that we’re pleased to announce our newest initiative to better share the work we’re doing around the country, The Refinishing Touch’s Green Connect customer communication program.

Our new program aims to connect our clients across education, government and hospitality with peers across all industries and cross-industries. We’ll be utilizing aspects of social media such as onsite photos and videos of the projects, along with more traditional methods to highlight our clients’ experiences while working with The Refinishing Touch, such as case studies.

While the traditional press release serves a particular purpose, we knew there are more powerful ways to relay a message and display the cost savings and asset management of our services. It’ll be exciting to take advantage of this blog, our Twitter and other mediums to let our clients speak for themselves.

One of the more exciting aspects of this program will be our visual case study. Much like our visual blog post, our reformatted case studies will take a decidedly visual look at the work we do, since pictures more adequately express the renovations we do then words.. You could read about an armoire conversion, but would it be the same as actually seeing it? We don’t think so, which is why we’re thrilled to start this program.

Be sure to keep following our blog and checking our website for more information on the program. If you’d like to view the full press release announcing the program, click here.

clients, customer communications program, customers, green connect

October 14th, 2011 by TRT Blog

We love the work that we do, but there is something about interacting in-person with peers and potential customers that makes our job complete. That’s why going to industry events is so important to us. Discussing business, new trends and future plans helps us to improve our every day services and deliver the best overall experience we can to our clients.

We are excited that over the next couple of weeks The Refinishing Touch will be attending two hotel industry events. The first is BITAC Purchasing & Design West 2011, from October 16 to October 18 in La Quinta, California. Focused on bring hotel buyers and designers together with top industry suppliers, its goal is to increase productivity while fostering long-term relationships. We’ll be meeting directly with buyers, at private meeting tables, to discuss the cost saving, environmentally sustainable benefits to refinishing.

Less than a week after BITAC West, we’ll travel north east to Las Vegas, Nevada for the IHG Americas Investors & Leadership Conference, from October 23 to October 27. Held at The Venetian / Palazzo InterContinental, the conference encourages interaction between hotel owners, managers, corporate personnel, buyers and industry vendors, creating one of the largest tradeshows in hospitality.

Don’t forget to check back at the beginning of November for a complete update of everything that happened at the two events. We can’t wait to share it all with you!

BITAC West, hospitality, hotels industry, IHG Conference, La Quinta California, Las Vegas Nevada

October 6th, 2011 by TRT Blog

The second installment of our quarterly newsletter was released last week and we’re excited to continue to bring you updates straight from The Refinishing Touch about current projects, events, and industry news. The newsletter included stories on our work at Eastern Mennonite University, Mario’s thoughts on the financial crisis, our charity efforts at the Salvation Army, and more. To get all of these stories and more, sign up for our quarterly newsletter by filling out a subscription form at the bottom of our home page.

intouch, newsletter

September 20th, 2011 by TRT Blog

By Glenn Hasek of Green Lodging News

I had an opportunity yesterday to take a tour of Moen’s headquarters facility in North Olmsted, Ohio. Most of you are probably familiar with Moen. They manufacture items for the kitchen and bathroom such as faucets, sinks and shower heads. A 2010 EPA WaterSense Partner of the Year, the company is helping its customers save millions of gallons of water every year. After my half-day at Moen, I don’t believe I will ever look at a faucet or shower head the same way again. While I did not get a chance to see products manufactured (production plants are outside of Ohio), I did have an opportunity to learn what takes place leading up to the point of manufacture. I was amazed at how much time is spent doing market research, brainstorming new product ideas, designing new products, creating test models, and then actually testing the products.

In the basement of the headquarters building there is actually a shower where, you guessed it, employees test new shower heads. During my visit, an engineer was photographing the water flow from a shower head. Yes, Moen is even concerned about the visual appearance of the water that flows from its products. Moen uses a lot of water in its testing process but I was told about 70 percent of that water is recycled. I was shown new prototypes that I will keep a secret here but let’s just say the shower experience of the future will have much more technology behind it.

Moen is constantly working on new ways to advance its sensor technology–good news for those interested in saving water using sensor-activated faucets, toilets and urinals. The good news for designers is that Moen, like its competitors, is making water conservation look good. Fixtures are available in many styles and finishes. Interestingly, Moen has copied nature to produce water flow spiral-shaped patterns in its shower heads. In the design world, this is called biomimicry.

I was joined yesterday on my tour with two other journalists. Moen is not an advertiser of mine; I am not trying to plug Moen. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Moen headquarters, or the research and development facility of any other vendor with whom you do business, I highly recommend it. You will walk away with a much greater appreciation of the product that is going to help you save money while minimizing your environmental impact.

This blog entry first appeared at http://www.greenlodgingnews.com/Blog/. To subscribe to the weekly Green Lodging News e-newsletter, go to www.greenlodgingnews.com.

Glenn Hasek, green lodging news, hardware, Moen, Sustainability