Empire Beauty School Opens New Green Campus In Paramus NJ

Pottsville, PA, September 2nd, 2010 – Empire Beauty Schools is pleased to announce the opening of its newest school in Paramus, New Jersey. More than just a cosmetology school, the new location is the fourth installment of Empire’s green school initiative and boasts numerous environmentally friendly elements throughout its design.

“The beauty industry is moving toward a lean, clean and green future and we are proud to be in the company of good corporate citizens who are committed to improving the way we approach our business,” says Franklin K. Schoeneman, Empire’s CEO and chairman. “We are happy to be part of this movement and offer our students the opportunity to learn and thrive in a sustainable and efficient atmosphere, without the slightest sacrifice to the educational quality Empire is known for.”

The school, which opened its doors in May, will celebrate its official grand opening on September 2nd. With each new school location opening, Empire is setting itself on a greener path, incorporating sustainable and efficient design elements that help to conserve significant resources. Currently, the three additional fully-operating eco-conscious Empire schools include Pineville, NC and Lauderhill and West Palm Beach, FL locations.

The following eco-friendly elements at the new Paramus campus include:

• Utilizing water-saving technology, Empire has substantially reduced its overall water consumption, including a 50% reduction for shampoo sinks, an additional 50% for hand washing faucets and 60% for front load washing machines.
• The increased percent of water savings significantly reduces drying time for salon hand towels and other linens.
• With the installation of a more efficient water heater model, the school also boasts a 40% reduction in natural gas consumption.
• Energy usage is also significantly cut – about 60-70% due to the installment of low voltage halogen lighting.
• Thanks to motion sensing light controls, energy is also reduced as lights turn-off automatically when rooms are left unoccupied.
• Foregoing traditional neon signs, LED lighted exterior signs are used throughout the building, utilizing less energy and maintenance.
• The building and salon floors are made from 100% post consumer and post industrial material.
• All of the regenerated flooring complies with indoor air quality and emission requirements adapted in California, the nation’s standard-setter when it comes to green initiatives.
• Each and every wall throughout the school has been painted with non-toxic paint.
• Heat is 80% regenerated by an energy efficient ventilation system that helps to maintain indoor air quality without the loss of tempered air by transferring indoor temperature to incoming fresh air.
• Conveniently located custom built recycling centers encourage students to recycle paper, plastic and glass.

Empire is also outfitting the student salon with Regis Designline PURE Results – an eco-friendly line through and through. The shampoos and conditioners are certified organic, coconut-derived, vegetable, rapeseed or babassu-derived, gluten, paraben and sulfate free, wild collected and are not tested on animals. In addition, students will also have full access to Jane Carter Solutions-Nourish line in the student salon.

With the successful launch, execution and operation of these four environmentally friendly concept schools, Empire has committed to following this “green-print” in for the design and development of all of its subsequent new school locations, fine-tuning and identifying new areas that can be improved as new technology and advancements continue to break. And, as the Empire family of schools continues to grow, conservation efforts remain a top priority at the company’s corporate headquarters in Pottsville, PA. Through Empire’s company-wide recycling challenge – a significant amount office supplies and paper goods have been recycled, while Empire has substantially reduced its overall energy usage.

“As one of the largest providers of cosmetology education in the country, we are committed to educating our students in an environmentally responsible way,” says Schoeneman. “And we look forward to translating this vision to a larger scale. Our goal is to eventually implement this approach in all of our existing schools throughout the country – a much bigger job than starting from scratch, but working hard to make your dream a reality is what Empire is all about.”