Gold LEED Certification for New Construction is official!

Yesterday we received notification from the US Green Building Council that we have been approved for Gold LEED certification for New Construction. We are so pleased. We will be receiving a beautiful plaque from USGBC which we will display in our reception area. We did do a search and found that we are the FIRST Gold LEED certified spa in the country for New Construction. This has been a really long process and I am thrilled with the outcome. Most of our points were achieved in the energy section. This has also been the area with the greatest amount of savings for our business. I would love to share my story with other small business owners. It can be done. You don’t have to be intimidated by the huge amount of documentation. I think we have learned a few things along the way that can help make this possible for other small business owners. My brother Tony is a licensed professional structural engineer and is going to become LEED certified himself. I am happy that he is going to pursue this after completing this project so successfully. He will be able to help other small businesses along the way and to accomplish their dreams of becoming LEED certified too!

Related articles by Zemanta

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

Interntional Beauty Show Jacob Javits

I just returned from the International Beauty Show at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. I have to say, I am a bit disappointed at the show this year. In the Esthetic Spa section, there were only 5 isles of vendors. There was nothing new and not much excitement. I think this may have been the smallest turn out in many years. In years past this has been huge! I walked through the entire esthetics section in less than an hour. I think it was practically a wasted trip.

I am going to attend the New York Spa Owners meeting in two weeks for the first time. I suspect that that will be a far more worthwhile endeavor.

Follow up to our LEED certification

Just checked the LEED on line web page and the status of our project looks really good. Right now we have enough points approved to reach Gold Level! We are in line to be certified for New Construction. I can’t tell you how happy I will be when this is officially awarded. As soon as it is made official, we will be the first NEW Construction Gold Level Spa in the Country! Wow! I know there are a few others that have also become LEED Certified.

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)
• Green Role Model: California Academy of Sciences (sciam.com)
• Yum Brands Opens First Green KFC-Taco Bell Restaurant (shoppingblog.com)

Celebrating Spa Week at Complexions

The 10th annual Spa Week Event will be taking place the week of April 13-19.  We will be joining  700 spas across the country offering a few of our signature services at a special price of only $50.00.  The goal of Spa Week is to introduce consumers to the benefits of a healthy lifestyle by having spa services that focus on “wellness”.

As the full impact of the economic downturn becomes painfully apparent, millions of Americans are experiencing the financial challenges of an uncertain future.  So, it goes without saying that stress has become an everyday companion for many of us.  This is unfortunately the start of a cycle where the average consumer cuts back  on many of life’s necessities.  Never before has Spa Week’s message been more relevant  than in these trying times.  The spa lifestyle is not only essential to maintaining one’s health and well-being, but it’s now available this week at an affordable price for everyone.

We will be featuring our Body Oil Ceremony Massage, Eclat Cacoon Hot Stone Facial Treatment, Rene Furterer Scalp Treatment and Haircut, and our Sukapao Foot Beauty Ritual.  These services all typically range in price from $77.00-$119.00 and will all be offered at $50.00.

We will also be featured on Channel 13 noon news on Tuesday April 14th, to discuss spring hair and makeup as well as the kick off of Spa Week.

Related articles

• Spa Week is Back! (beautygirlmusings.blogspot.com)
• Saving money by heading to the spa (nationalpost.com)

Awaiting the results of our LEED Certification.

Image by Wade Roush via Flickr

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)