This new partnership with Complexions Spa will specifically assist MatterofTrust.org in making oil spill hairmats out of salon hair clippings swept off the floor and previously discarded. Because hair is a natural absorbent fiber, the clippings are used to create oil spill hairmats and help contain disastrous petroleum spills. The hair is stuffed into tubes (booms) made from recycled nylons and used for emergency oil spills around the nation. The mats are also extremely efficient for oil drip pans, machinery, pipelines, and even as booms for storm drains.

“There are more than 370,000 hair salons in the U.S. and each salon collects conservatively about one pound of hair a day. Right now, most of that goes into the waste stream. Imagine the positive environmental impact if more salons donated their hair clippings to this great effort,” said Denise Dubois, owner, Complexions Spa & Salon. “Being a LEED certified spa we are always looking for ways to protect and improve our environment. Therefore, the opportunity to team-up with MatterofTrust.org was a very natural fit for us.”

“Thanks to spas and salons like Complexions donating their hair clippings, we are encouraged and optimistic about our ecological future,” said Lisa Gautier President and Executive Director at MatterofTrust.org. We are very fond of this planet and respectfully consider her to be a Matter of Trust.”

Complexions Spa earned Gold certification in May of 2009 under the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED rating system for new construction. Complexions Spa saves more than $10,000 annually in utility bills with its energy-efficient measures. The greenhouse gas savings is estimated at 56 tons annually, the equivalent of the co2 emissions from the electricity use of nearly seven homes for one year.

Related articles

• Some Buildings Not Living Up to Green Label (nytimes.com)

Complexions Partners with Matter of Trust by donating hair clippings is a post from: Complexions, a Day Spa & Hair Salon in Albany NY

How GreenFiber Recycling Works

1. GreenFiber supplies your organization with a recycling bin.
2. The bins are serviced weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.
3. Unlike other recyclers or waste haulers, GreenFiber does not charge for our services. In fact, we contribute funds to specific community programs for the paper they recycle.
4. Your organization reduces its waste disposal costs while helping to conserve natural resources and raise funds in the process.
5. We make environmentally friendly, safe and efficient insulation from the paper you recycle. Everybody wins!

• Talking Trash: The Recycling Supply Chain (takepart.com)
• A trash plan for the long haul (timesunion.com)

Small Business Recycling – How We Make Money Being Green is a post from: Complexions, a Day Spa & Hair Salon in Albany NY

"ignore everybody." By Huge Macleod

Whether you operate a small retail store, a business office, a restaurant or spa, your customers are using social media and could be talking about you, your services and your company.  I found that out recently, during the month of May this past year, when we launched our Complexions Facebook page.  Facebook is a public profile that lets you share your business and products with the Facebook users.  Your “fans” can interact with your Facebook Page and drive awareness of your business by sharing stories with their networks.  Today we have close to 200 “fans” and it’s growing strong.  When we initially launched our page we used our email club to drive people to our Facebook page using the incentive of a contest.  We asked our clients to comment about what they liked most about Complexions.  We had more than 60 comments with in a few days.  It was incredibly exciting to read what our clients had to say about us.  We were also able to use quite a few of the comments in some recent advertising and testimonials on our website.  I think it strengthens our bond with our clients to promote and cultivate a community where we can engage with hundreds of others who share in our passion for all things spa and salon – be it organic facials or hydrotherapy massages. Our customers and potential new customers are flocking to social media where personal “referrals” or word of mouth recommendations, review and references carry more weight than paid advertising.

It’s not just for young adults and teens either…The Pew Internet & American Life Project December 2008 survey found the share of adult Internet users who have a profile on an online social network site has more than quadrupled in the past four years from 8% in 2005 to 35% in 2008.  To see who is using Facebook today, check out the chart entitled “The Road to 200 Million” published alongside Brad Stone’s article commemorating the social-networking milestone in the March 29th New York Times.

Social networking sites are ideal for reaching into and beyond your network.  It also lets you connect to customers and potential customers for little to no cost.   Additionally we use our Facebook page to let our customers know about our calendar of upcoming events, and last minute openings and opportunities at the spa.

We’ve learned the value of our Facebook page first hand.  Social marketing is a game-changing phenomenon that is here to stay.  I see less and less print forms of advertising in the very near future for us. In fact, we have already cut way back and saved thousands of advertising dollars by doing so!  Every dollar saved equals another dollar re-invested back into what we do best – help people look and feel their absolute best. What’s more, less print /direct mail also compliments our commitment to green, environmentally friendly business building practices.

So… if you’re interested in having a two-way conversation with your customers,  if you’re ready to deliver value both online and off, if you’re ready to hear first hand how well (or un-well) the experiences and products you offer performed their primary purpose… then you’re more than ready to experience the thrill (and sometimes agony) of true customer-centric business development.

Using Social Media to Enhance Customer Relationships is a post from: Complexions, a Day Spa & Hair Salon in Albany NY

Image via Wikipedia

On September 29, 2008 we hosted a ceremony at the spa to present those individuals who helped us with our “greening” efforts. The awards were presented by Mike Breslin from the City of Albany.   The people who received a certificate for their collaborative efforts with our “greening” process  included our architect Greg Sellman, Naomi Miller Lighting Design (whose knowledge of energy efficient lighting is simply remarkable), SAIC engineering firm, Chris Reher from NYSERDA, Structural Engineer  Anthony Mantello  from A. Mantello Construction Services,  and Maria Karpmen from Karpmen Consulting.  We gave tours of our facility and discussed all the measures we took to make our facility as energy efficient as we could manage.  We will continue to evaluate these efforts and continue to improve and enhance where ever we can.

The time union blog wrote a post on the award, which was nice:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency named Complexions Spa for Beauty & Wellness one of thirteen winners of the 2008 Energy Star Small Business Awards. Winners are recognized for doing their part to save energy and fight climate change through effective energy management practices and innovative efficiency solutions.

Complexions wins 2008 Energy Small Business of the Year Award! is a post from: Complexions, a Day Spa & Hair Salon in Albany NY

Reaching Gold LEED certification means more than you can imagine. When we first started out with this challenging process, we met people who thought we were crazy. We were discouraged by some who thought the task was far to difficult to accomplish for a small busines of my size and to expensive to achieve .  They told me that I didn’t have to become LEED certified just to call myself a “green spa” .  But to me it was more than calling ourselves a green spa.  LEED is a score card through the US Green Building Council which proves your authenticity.  Not many people can say they are LEED Certified.  They were right about one thing, I didn’t have a huge budget to pay for the professionals that ordinarily do all the research and work to achieve this status. But that thought is exactly what made this such a rewarding feat. In order for us to accomplish this Gold LEED certification, we had to do the work ourselves. That very thing is what makes this project so unique and so personally rewarding. My brother, my father, myself and even my two boys contributed to the success of this project. We did the research and the grunt work.  We sorted the metal studs, wire, electrical parts, ceiling tiles, and more. We were the ones who actually “got our hands dirty” and measured walls, marked out the floors, researched the materials and ran around to all the different suppliers researching what was available to us.  We had to learn the LEED process and requirements all while doing the actual work.  We were the ones who worked the hardest and achieved our personal goal.  At first we were completely overwhelmed with everything but in the end, the challenging process is what makes this so personally rewarding.  We didn’t just pay someone else to do the work, WE did the work.  So now saying we achieved Gold LEED Certification for New Construction really means WE ACHIEVED our dreams. ….-we became the FIRST LEED Gold Certified Spa in the country.

Related articles by Zemanta

• In the Downturn, Green Companies Outperform (futurelab.net)
• The State of Green Business 2009 (futurelab.net)
• Trend Of The Day: Building Material Suppliers Positioning On Green Product Attributes (treehugger.com)
• GE talks up green technology for the energy sector (financialpost.com)

Reaching Gold LEED Certifiction for New Construction Means more than you can imagine! is a post from: Complexions, a Day Spa & Hair Salon in Albany NY

Related articles by Zemanta

• Adobe Livecycle streamlines LEED certification process (greenmonk.net)
• Sustainability and Energy Online Communities (barrier-busting.com)

Gold LEED Certification for New Construction is official! is a post from: Complexions, a Day Spa & Hair Salon in Albany NY

There are different categories for which you can become certified and each category has several tiers of success. I would love to meet the other owners who went through this process. It is not an easy task for a small business. I know from my own experience, we almost didn’t go through with it because of all the detailed documentation and because of how difficult it was to retrieve the proper documentation or “proof” if you would to satisfy the requirements. It would be such a pleasure to share our stories and help the other spa owners in the country follow in our foot steps. Hopefully from our challenges, mistakes and triumphs, we can help more spas reach this goal. The wellness benefits of the services that we offer our guests, make this a natural next step for those owners who truly want to offer a total wellness experience. I had a conversation at my spa today with a guest who was there for the day having several services. Her comments to me were that “while she was having her services, she enjoyed knowing that she was also benefiting from the surroundings.” Our guests appreciate what we did and I would love to share our experience with others. So……If you are another owner who has a LEED certified spa, let’s talk! I would love to share our experiences.

Related articles

• Tour of Adobe’s triple Platinum LEED certified HQ (greenmonk.net)
• LEED certified buildings on the rise! (greenmonk.net)
• Green Buildings: One Standard to Rule Them All (treehugger.com)
• Green building: some new winners (crosscut.com)
• Green Role Model: California Academy of Sciences (sciam.com)

Follow up to our LEED certification is a post from: Complexions, a Day Spa & Hair Salon in Albany NY

I recieved an email a few days ago letting us know the status of our LEED certification.  Some of the points we applied for we did recieve and some needed additional clarification.  We had to send it over to the electrical engineer who is working on the project. Many of the points in question pertained to the energy savings.  This I feel is one of our strongest areas.  We should be in good shape.  After she reviews the items in question we can resubmit our application.  It has taken several months and they have been a bit behind.  There are now 4 spas in the country who are certified.  I’m not sure if any of them are New Construction LEED Certified.  We still may be the first.  I need to confirm that with the US Green Building Council.  It shouldn’t be much longer before we get our answer.

Related articles by

• LEED certified buildings on the rise! (greenmonk.net)
• “Getting Green From The Stimulus” Presentation Materials Online (barrier-busting.com)
• LEED Goes to School: Considering Green Design in the Architecture Classroom (greenbuildingsNYC.com)
• Gavin Newsom: Greening Buildings to Create Jobs (huffingtonpost.com)
• $168 Billion Could be Saved by Federal Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (treehugger.com)

Awaiting the results of our LEED Certification. is a post from: Complexions, a Day Spa & Hair Salon in Albany NY

Image via Wikipedia

We have been in our new Complexions Spa location at 221 Wolf Road for eleven months now.  Earlier this week, I decided to take a quick look at the actual energy savings – if any – we’ve enjoyed thus far.  Here is the quick, back-of-the-napkin rundown:

In our previous location we had 4200 sf.  In our new location we have 8450sf. Thus far, monthly electric bills at 221 Wolf Rd average about $2200.00 which is equal to approximately $.26 per square foot.   After approximating our cost per square foot at the previous 4200 sf. location over several years, I’m happy to announce that total energy costs are down by approximately 34% .  Not too shabby!

This isn’t to say that the recent drop in global commodity prices (energy in particular) hasn’t been noticed. It has – but not because of any short-term monetary gains. On the contrary, the energy twists & turns  have reminded me of how it used to be at our old location where we spent countless hours coming up with superficial ways to reduce our monthly energy bills.  Rather distracting to say the least!  What’s more, at the end of the day, it really didn’t matter what I did because when if oil prices spiked up – so did the bills – regardless of any and all energy saving actions. Which brings me to one of the best parts about having designed and engineered the new Complexions to regulate nearly every power-sucking machine, room and/or appliances in as efficient a manner as possible. Looking back over the last several months, I find it difficult to pinpoint any amount of time spent worrying about such matters. In others words, the new Complexions facility essentially manages itself. And therein lies the magic behind good green construction – it frees you from the growing distractions of uncontrollable energy prices, leaky faucets, left-on light bulbs, inefficient air-circulation systems, etc etc.  So for Complexions, building GREEN definitely cost a bit more upfront – no doubt about that – however ….in the long term ….I believe our investments will more than pay for itself (which is what all good investments do!).

So in summary, the last several months worth of energy savings have exceeded my expectations.  Going GREEN has thus far proved to be a very sound – very pro-growth decision for our company.  Despite doubling both the size and scope of Complexions  via 2x the number of treatment rooms and and nearly 3x the amount of retail square footage we’ve (somehow) managed to keep month-to-month expenses flat (if not down).  Best of all, we’re coming in well below my ‘expected expenses’ long term budget plans- plotted long ago when gas was nearing $4 . Amazing how fast things change.

Related articles

• Getting your hands on some green…stimulus (money.cnn.com)
• Ontario’s bold new plan for a green economy (newswire.ca)
• Microsoft Looks to Cut Carbon Footprint 30% by 2012 (cleantechnica.com)
• Green energy our best shot (thestar.com)
• Gas bills could be cut by another $3, SaskEnergy says (cbc.ca)

Monthly Energy Bill Comparison: Before vs After Going Green is a post from: Complexions, a Day Spa & Hair Salon in Albany NY

First and foremost, we had to have asbestos specially removed by an independent company.  They had to have special air filtration throughout this process.  While they were doing their part, my father and I sought out salvage companies that would take some of the construction waste, diverting it from the land fills.  They provided the dumpsters and we sorted the waste.  We separated electrical wire, electrical parts, lighting fixtures, and steel studs.  After it was all sorted, it was weighed and sold.    We were able to sell ceiling tiles and the old plumbing fixtures too.   For one of our LEED points, we had to measure the square footage of the original walls that we took down.  This helped with the point that determined how much of the original building was being re-used.  We actually salvaged the entire, original exterior shell of the building and diverted 75% of our construction waste.

The next step was to chop up  much of the flooring to lay down the necessary plumbing.  The layout of the plumbing was very difficult.  We had to mark out all the rooms and walls with spray paint on the concrete slab to determine the proper location of all the pipes.  It was like guessing where the pieces of the puzzle would eventually end up.  This was especially difficult because of the circular design of our reception area walls and salon.  The plumbing had to be layed out very carefully and perfectly.  We did have to chop them up a few times to get it exactly correct before we could close the floor and begin to construct the walls.  After some re-search, my father located a company where we could purchase  the steel studs made from recycled steel.  With the walls going up it was very exciting to see the Spa start to take shape.  Once the walls were up, the plumbing in the walls was finished, and we could then proceed with the duct work for the heating and cooling and the air filtration system.  When all of this was completed, the ceiling went up using ceiling tiles made from recycled material,  the walls were sheet rocked, and we moved on to the next design phase.

Related articles

• LEED Goes to School: Considering Green Design in the Architecture Classroom

How to build an energy efficient small business: Part 1 is a post from: Complexions, a Day Spa & Hair Salon in Albany NY

While it did cost a bit more money on the front-end to make Complexions Spa an energy efficient facility, it appears more and more likely with each passing month that our year-over-year energy savings will take care of the initial investment far sooner than originally forecast. And that’s with oil being sold at less than $50 per-barrel. I really can’t wait to reach that milestone because after that, every single dollar saved gets to go right back into where it came from – the spa!

Before breaking ground, our goal was to save approximately $10,000 in relative energy-costs in 2008.  And while our early estimates were a bit overly-conservative  in regards to future energy prices (though not as much now given that they have come down some 50% from their late summer highs), six months in (we soft-opened in June), I’m pleased to report that our new facility at 221 Wolf Road has passed its first major test with flying colors :) It certainly wasn’t easy cutting our watts-per-square-foot in half – you essentially have to put a lot of little pieces together in such a way as to generate a whole whose output is greater than the sum of its many, different parts – but doing so allowed us to double in size, without doubling in costs.  Long story short, the initial costs paid up front will be paid for in less than three years!

For anyone out there interested in the brass tacks, don’t fret – I putting together several posts for the very near future on the types of  products and construction materials used. Right now, my list  includes washer-type, reasearch on low flow water faucets, florescent and LED lighting fixtures, efficient heating & vent systems, the importance of glass, flooring, insulation, and more. So stay tuned :)

Related articles by Zemanta

• LEDs And Smart Lighting Could Save Trillions Of Dollars, Spark Global Innovation
• Stephen Cowell: Energy Efficiency is the New Oil
• LED lighting roundup
• Will energy savings jump-start the economy?
• Save energy, save the economy

Going Green Cutting Costs is a post from: Complexions, a Day Spa & Hair Salon in Albany NY

Eco-Embedded Spas: A Deeper Shade of Green: Back in 2005, SpaFinder identified the eco-spa boom, crystallizing the first industry definition, still widely used today. In our 2007 forecast..

I have to agree with Suzie regarding what it means to be a real Green Spa………I have recently completed a year long  project of building our new facility,  Complexions Spa for Beauty & Wellness.  This was a lengthy and detailed process of making our entire facility as eco-friendly as we  possibly could.  It all started with a desire to provide wellness services in an environment that supported that same philosophy to maximize the experience for our guests.  This process was far more detailed than simply using florescent light bulbs.  Everything from how we diverted 75% of our construction waste from going to the landfills to the type of glass for our windows.  We even have quality clean air control, motion sensors in work rooms, low VOC paints, adheasives, wall paper and more.   I do think the consumer will become more knowledgeable about what “Going Green” really means and they won’t be fooled by people just trying to jump on the band wagon.  We didn’t just say we were green, we are green.  ♠

http://agreenspa.wordpress.com

Eco-Trends in the Spa Industries is a post from: Complexions, a Day Spa & Hair Salon in Albany NY

We scheduled a final meeting with NYSERDA and presented them with a completed binder categorizing everything for them.   It took several weeks for them to review all the documentation and receipts.  They asked some final questions and then we waited. ….. We finally got word from them and we have been approved.  It is amazing.  They sent a check to our bank and reduced our interest rate 4% points.  This greatly reduced our monthly mortgage payment and greatly eased the strain of expenses for us.  This will save us thousands of dollars over the life of our mortgage.  The loan money comes from fines that are paid by the companines that are penalized for not following  the strict rules and regulations that protect our environment.  It then goes to help companies like Complexions,  do the right thing and to set an example for others to follow suite.  I feel strongly that opportunities like the one that NYSERDA offers are wonderful incentives for businesses to persue.

NYSERDA Loan Fund Application Process is a post from: Complexions, a Day Spa & Hair Salon in Albany NY

My brother arranged for a meeting with SAIC and our architect.  When I walked into that meeting and saw the number of people sitting around the table, interested in our project of building Complexion Spa Green, I immediately knew we were on to something very big. There were people from SAIC,  NYSERDA, Taitem Engineering, Karpman Engineering, our architect’s office, my father, my brother, and myself.  Our initial meeting consisted of them asking  many questions about how Complexions was run and operated.  We then went through a cheret where we evaluated the possibilities of the 5 different categories associated with LEED certification and what was entailed. We learned about the incentives available through NYSERDA’s Loan Fund and what we needed to do in order to achieve those incentives.  That meeting took several meetings and my brother, father, and myself left there a bit over whelmed.  Most companies who “go green” and attempt LEED certification have a team of engineers and architects who work together to accomplish this process.  We gave it much thought, and with some resistance from my father, the numbers guy knowing this would blow our budget,  we decided to move forward.

If I did not have a brother who was an engineer and a father with as much experience as he has managing construction projects and budgets, I would never have been able to complete this as a small business with a limited budget.  The added costs of consultants, engineers and architects would have been cost prohibited. For this I am eternally grateful to my brother Tony, who handled most of the documentation and research as well as my father who managed the day to day operations of the construction to be sure the contractors where holding to the strict requirements of going green.  This was very challenging because there are not many people well versed in what is required.  Trust me when I tell you every detail had to be paid attention to.  From the paint cans being used, the adhesives, the waste removal,  the air quality during construction and more.

My next blog will be about how we managed this for the next 7 months of construction.

Some Challenges with Going Green is a post from: Complexions, a Day Spa & Hair Salon in Albany NY

NYSERDA LOAN FUND is a post from: Complexions, a Day Spa & Hair Salon in Albany NY

We entered a contest sponsored by Energy Star this past June. We heard from them recently and learned we were selected as one of ten small business across the country to be recognized for their energy efficiency. We were the only small business in the spa industry to have won this award. It will be announced nationally throughout the media on September 16th. We are very excited to receive this award. Just last night my husband and I listened to Barack Obama and I felt very proud to have completed this task especially after hearing him and Mr. Gore speak about Global Warming. Going Green has been a huge undertaking for my small business. Even working with NYSERDA and the US Green Building counsil, they are not set up to help the small business. If I didn’t have two family members who graciously worked on this project with me, this would not have been possible. My father has a long history, more than 40 years in commercial construction management and my brother is a structural engineer. Together with them we formed our own design team and researched almost every item ourselves. It was not easy and there were definitely times when we almost gave up. Going forward, with my experience I would like to help other small businesses to ” Go Green” . As I said to NYSERDA, there are many,many small business and together if we all made an effort, that would equate to a very big business with a major impact.

We won a National Award for our Energy Efficiency is a post from: Complexions, a Day Spa & Hair Salon in Albany NY

Introducing Complexions Blog is a post from: Complexions, a Day Spa & Hair Salon in Albany NY