Hello, April 24, What's New

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1 Like 0 Tweet 0 Share Hello, Welcome to the twelfth issue of InTouch, The Refinishing Touch's quarterly newsletter. We hope that wherever you are, spring is in full swing. As we look back on the winter months of Q1, we are excited to report a variety of great accomplishments. Below, you'll read more about our recently completed zero wood waste project at The Michelangelo hotel and the in-depth white paper we've submitted to the GSA highlighting furniture asset management as a best practice for the government sector. We have also completed a large-scale project at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, and the accompanying infographic, 'Schooled in sustainability', sheds light on the environmental benefits the higher education sector has seen with help from The Refinishing Touch over the years. April 24, 2014 What's New On-site Insight Dollars & Sense Innovation Renovation Blog Beats TRT Events REfinishing We hope you enjoy this edition of InTouch and that the coming months are full of success. Please do keep InTouch with us in Q2 you can find us on Twitter or Facebook. Until next time, Mario Insenga President & Founder, The Refinishing Touch sales@therefinishingtouch.com Zero wood waste: The Michelangelo hotel, New York City In conjunction with the announcement of our recent project at The University of Wisconsin- Stout, we created an infographic Schooled in sustainability to highlight the far-reaching effects that sustainable actions could have if employed throughout the higher education sector. To take a look at this, please

2 As our avid readers have heard us say time and time again, the hospitality industry is one that has tremendous influence to the greener good. With its high energy outputs, numerous products and processes and global stage for increasing awareness, it's important for hoteliers to incorporate sustainability into all aspects of the business. When The Michelangelo hotel a historic, luxury establishment located in the heart of New York City evaluated guest rooms, they employed The Refinishing Touch to help them become a leader in green renovation. In addition to saving more than 81% in cost, this project produced zero wood waste. click here. We love to use our blog to connect with the broader sustainable community as often as possible and recently, we got the chance to connect with Ryan Colker of the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS). To learn more about how NIBS works to bridge the public and private sector gap, please follow this link. Owner Orientation Vendor Fair In only five weeks, The Michelangelo's guest rooms were renovated through the processes of refinishing, conservation and re-modification. 184 units in total were revamped, including armoires, built-in units, desks and island wall units. To achieve zero wood waste, all remnants from the armoire re-modifications were transformed into brand new refrigerator cabinets. Due to the reuse of furniture, our on-site services, low-voc lacquers and eco-friendly products, each project completed by our crew is sustainable. However, the entire team at The Refinishing Touch is particularly proud of this zero wood waste accomplishment. We hope to complete many more in the future, so do reach out if you'd like to add this to your property's list of green accomplishments. The Refinishing Touch crew is looking forward to attending the Owner Orientation Vendor Fair On April 29 th at the Memphis Botanic Gardens alongside new owners of Hampton Inn and Hilton Garden Inn brands. We'll join hospitality professionals either new to ownership or embarking on entirely new build projects for an evening of learning and relationship building. The Homewood Suites Leadership Meeting On June 3 rd, more than 900 general managers, directors of sales and

3 key brand leadership will gather in New Orleans, LA for the 2014 Homewood Suites Leadership Meeting. This invitation-only tradeshow will celebrate 25 years of business, and those of us at The Refinishing Touch are looking forward to participating. In the meantime, check out our in-depth case study for more details of The Michelangelo project. On the record: TRT asks its readers As part of our ongoing effort to keep a pulse on the government, hospitality and higher education sectors our weekly blog polls ask readers to give their thoughts on a range of issues. From sustainability to aesthetics, readers weigh in each week on multiple factors and trends affecting hotels, colleges and public institutions. With Earth Day just around the corner on April 22 nd, we wanted to provide a summary of results from this quarter with a focus on sustainability. Our readers know well that furniture asset management has significant environmental impacts, including the reduction of landfill waste, carbon emissions, and the protection of trees, clean air and water. We're proud to bring these to our customers but what do our readers feel about the industries themselves? Here is what some of you had to say: When asked 'Do you feel that hotels need to increase the number of sustainable establishments available to guests?', we got varied responses half of you felt as though hoteliers' are doing enough as is, while the other half would like to see more initiative being taken. Intrigued, we asked the same question for the higher education sector. This time, one-third of respondents felt that the sector is doing its fair share while the remaining two-thirds felt that housing and facility staff needs to be more proactive. The ACUHO-I Annual Conference The Association of College and University Housing Officers International Annual Conference & Exposition is an exciting opportunity for us to reconnect each year with campus housing professionals from more than 950 colleges and universities. From June 28 July 1, 2014 The Refinishing Touch crews will be on the exhibit hall floor at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C. Will you be attending any tradeshows in the coming months? We'd love to connect with you. Send us an or Tweet To get a sense of attitudes in the government sector, we asked: 'Would a more sustainable local government persuade you to behave in a more

4 eco-friendly manner?' About one-third of readers said yes, one-third said no, and the remaining third were unsure. Is there a question you'd like to see answered in our weekly blog polls? Let us know by getting in touch on Facebook or Twitter today. Furniture asset management best practices In a white paper submitted to the General Services Administration's (GSA) request for information, The Refinishing Touch outlined furniture asset management best practices and cost savings relating to Building Maintenance and Operations (BMO). As a certified GSA contract holder (contract number: GS-29F- 0002M) we wanted to make the case for how furniture asset management can reduce budget spend, support sustainability goals and be the foundation for a strategic sourcing solution in the government sector. USC Title 40 makes specific reference to furniture assets, stating: "A department or agency of the federal government may not use amounts provided by law to purchase furniture if the Administrator of General Services determines that requirements can reasonably be met by transferring excess furniture, including rehabilitated furniture, from other departments or agencies pursuant to this subtitle." The process of managing furniture assets across federal government bodies is not simple the US federal government arguably owns the largest inventory of furniture assets in the world. However, by refurbishing instead of replacing, government organizations can consistently save up to 80% of their current expenditure on furniture. Refinishing, remanufacturing and reupholstery processes offer a tremendous opportunity to cut back on government spending as much as $5 million per year. The white paper estimates this potential impact by identifying three assumptions: 1) that most furniture assets are replaced every 10 years; 2) each government employee utilizes furniture assets worth at least $1,500 that qualify for refinishing; and 3) refinishing most furniture assets can be performed at one-third the cost of replacement. With a refinishing cost of only $214m instead of a $714m replacement cost, this represents a threefold reduction in expenditure on furniture assets. For full case study examples and more information, read the white paper here.

5 Why furniture asset management works - regardless of sector This month The Refinishing Touch was invited to submit an educational article to the Best Western Supply Advisor Newsletter, and we chose to write about what we know best furniture asset management. Furniture accrues wear and tear every day, and for hoteliers to improve accommodations for guests, the condition of furniture such as seating and case pieces should be at the forefront of their minds. We highlighted three questions hoteliers should consider when managing furniture assets: 1. First things first: How do I take care of my furniture? Avoid cleaners containing butane, isopropyl alcohol or oils, as well as glass or silicone-based products. We recommend products like Murphy Oil Soap, or those supplied by The Refinishing Touch, but a warm cloth will also do the trick. 2.When it's just too late: How do I decide what to keep and what to throw away? Hoteliers stand to save up to 80% of allocated funds by shifting the focus to what they can keep, rather than what they can replace, which can result in more left over budget to complete the look with soft goods or to reallocate to other initiatives. 3. So, I need to refinish: How do I select a vendor? Whichever vendor you choose, be sure the company takes special care to avoid damage, leaves the room in 100% usable condition and uses only eco-friendly products. Finally, don t hire any service provider that isn t confident in completing all procedures on-site, ensuring lower carbon emissions and eliminating hotel downtime. As the first official quarter of the year comes to a close, we're proud to have completed many great refinishing, remanufacturing and reupholstery projects. With customers across sectors continuing to seek out The Refinishing Touch's furniture asset management services, we feel optimistic that we're building a better, more sustainable future.

6 From our refinishing project at the University of Wisconsin-Stout to The Michelangelo hotel customers in the hospitality, higher education and government sectors have seen value in our environmentally-friendly and on-site refinishing processes. With spring upon us, we're excited to reveal details about new projects we have in the works. As always, those of us at The Refinishing Touch extend our gratitude to you, our loyal readers, for your support and encouragement. Be sure to stay InTouch with us throughout the year by following us on Twitter or sending an to: Mario Insenga, President & Founder, The Refinishing Touch The Refinishing Touch, 9350 Industrial Trace, Alpharetta, GA 30004, Tel. (800) Copyright The Refinishing Touch All rights reserved. Click to view this in a browser If you no longer wish to receive these s, please reply to this message with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line or simply click on the following link: Unsubscribe The Refinishing Touch 9350 Industrial Trace Alpharetta, Georgia, US US Read the VerticalResponse marketing policy.