Ballast Solar Roof System and Money in a Mattress Equals Big ROI - How Day & Night Solar Helped Boyd Specialty Sleep save Money and Go Green

Money in a Mattress

When it comes to investors, there are the risk takers and those who want security. In the past, security meant stuffing hard-earned money into or under a mattress. President and CEO Dennis Boyd put his money into mattresses in 1977 when he founded Boyd Specialty Sleep. For him, it wasn’t a gamble because he knew he had something valuable to offer customers – all of the benefits from a good night’s sleep.

Seeing Green and Creating Green Products

The investment paid off. Boyd is a major mattress innovator and manufacturer in the specialty sleep industry. As the company saw green in the form of profits, Dennis Boyd also wanted his company to be greener in the form of sustainability and in its product lines. Mattresses take up a lot of landfill space since they are bulky, not easily reused, and difficult to recycle.  Environmentally unfriendly chemicals have also been used in producing traditional mattresses, adding to the disposal problem. A big focus was put on using greener materials such as bamboo and less man made materials to directly combat this issue, while at the same time adding to the customer's sleep experience.

Owning a Solar System – Does it Make Financial Sense?

Since Boyd owns its own buildings, they had two choices: 1) to purchase their own solar system or 2) allow a company to install a system and lease the power generated to other companies. Solar needed to make financial sense in addition to helping achieve the company's green initiatives. CFO Bryan Vonderahe began doing the research necessary to make this decision.

“One solar company stood out from all of the rest – Day & Night Solar. I felt as though they were committed to making sure I was educated both in solar products as well as the entire process cycle to implement such a project,” says Vonderahe.

Managing Partner Bob Eaton went to great lengths to answer all of his solar questions and alleviate any of his concerns. Having just completed installation of new roofing systems at their properties, there were concerns about the potential damage caused by thousands of perforations being proposed by other solar companies to secure their solar panels.

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Day & Night Solar eliminated this concern by proposing a ballast mounting system which would equally distribute the weight of the panels and eliminate multiple invasive perforations. Sales representative Patrick Murphy also exerted great effort to show the financial benefits of installing solar. Presenting multiple scenarios, each documented the return on Boyd’s investment. “As someone who regularly works with financial models  to evaluate current and future company performance, Day & Night Solar's ability to produce in-depth, viable ROI models was impressive to say the least,” said Vonderahe. With this knowledge, Boyd chose option 1.

Sustainability for Boyd and its Tenants

“As real estate owners, enhancing our buildings and holding energy rates constant adds tremendous value. For our tenants, it’s a huge benefit to be able to keep energy rates constant as the industry continues to predict long-term and constant rate increases,” added Vonderahe.

Solar was a Safe Investment and Helped Boyd Specialty Sleep to Truly Go Green

“We went with the best in class of solar panels for a greater return on our investment,” said Vonderahe. “The product really stood out in terms of long-term durability and efficiency. We liked the fact that Day & Night’s solar panels and mounting structures are made in America. There was an excellent warranty with a proven manufacturer.  This was very important, because, during the timeframe that we were seeking our own solution,  we watched other solar panel manufacturers go out of business, or be named in property damage lawsuits for fires caused by faulty panels. Plus, no one else, again, offered a ballast system to protect our new roofs.

Getting approvals, filing for designs, tax credits, etc., was all done through Day & Night Solar as part of their service. They made sure every “i” was dotted and “t” was crossed. They took charge and educated us on the entire solar project and process.

The cash outlay was very low and the payback will happen in a period of five years. That doesn’t include the long-term savings with holding down our energy costs.

Thanks to Day & Night Solar’s help, Boyd Specialty Sleep can say “that we have made tremendous strides at becoming a truly green company.” 

2.1 Billion Overweight People Worldwide

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-28/obese-or-overweight-people-top-2-1-billion-worldwide.html

Obese or Overweight People Top 2.1 Billion Worldwide ….That's 30%..Not exactly a niche market.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-28/obese-or-overweight-people-top-2-1-billion-worldwide.html

by Dale Read

United States population as of this morning at 9 AM was 318,135,100 people, and 30% of that number is 95,440,530 people.  That's 30%..not exactly a niche market!! Who would not want 95 million built-in customers?

So I represent a client who  manufactures and markets heavy-duty mattress/ bedding support systems that can support up to 4,000 lbs. depending upon the model selected.  My client wondered if they marketed a PLUS-size bed support, foundation, platform bed concept if this was  too narrow a niche market?  To address this, at the last Las Vegas market we handed out  research statistics from the CDC that showed:

Basically what both the CDC report last year and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation research showed this year is that approximately one in every three Americans now has a Body Mass Index of 25% to 30% or more, and they meet the definitions of overweight or obese. 

That means one in every three mattress/ bedding customers coming into the retail store has a body that lends itself to a PLUS-Size Solution in terms of support, alignment, comfort, performance and longevity of product. So far only a few mattress manufacturers have taken this issue seriously and developed mattresses AND SUPPORT SYSTEMS FROM THE FOUNDATION UP that will address both the short term and long term needs of bigger, larger and heavier customers. Even if the mattress happens to hold up over a few years, the traditional frame, cheaper foundation solution fails larger customers. Our client has interviewed obese consumers, who have reported to them failure of frame and foundation within a year or so. 

The point is we are making here is that this is NOT a small niche. Retailers have more customers coming through the doors that are overweight or obese than they have suffering from menopause, sports injuries, physical disability, even the very serious problems related to allergies or any of the other myriad of issues the mattress industry has addressed with foams, latex, special innersprings, gels,  natural materials, protection systems etc. 

Sinusitis

  • Roughly 13% of people 18 and over in the U.S. have sinusitis.4

Allergic Rhinitis

Our point is really quite simple:  The PLUS-SLEEPER issue is NOT a niche market problem.  It is a huge mainstream market issue affecting 30% of all customers, and that mattress/bedding manufacturers should be addressing through R &D and product development.  That the solution is NOT just a tough, engineered, high performance mattress, but also a system that works from the floor up…from the support system to the top-of-bed.

As president of the Specialty Sleep Association, I believe that if specialty bed categories wish to grow, they should lead the charge to create and market longer term, superior technology products that will perform, will last at least 8 years, and will address the basic support, alignment, comfort and performance needs of the growing 30% of the market that is overweight or obese!  One in three American shoppers needs this totally integrated approach to mattress and bedding.

PS…By the way with ta BMI of 27% yours truly slips into that overweight category…by about 20 to 25 lbs.  It is a real issue for many of us!

To Marketers of "Natural" or "Organic" mattresses

To Marketers of "Natural" or "Organic" mattresses, bedding and top-of-bed products in the United States.

By Dale Read

We (the SSA and its industry partners) have spent four-plus years now defining the terminology, certifications, standards and government regulations regarding "green" marketing claims within the mattress and bedding field in the United States.  We have met with and/or worked with government agencies including: USDA-NOP, USDA-Bio-Preferred, CPSC, the Federal Trade Commission ( "Green Guides”) , and non-government agencies such as Organic Trade Association (OTA) , Sustainable Furnishings Council  (SFC), American Sustainable Business Council ( ASBC), Global Organic Textile Standard, (GOTS), Oregon Tilthe, Control Union, Global Organic Latex Standard ( GOLS).  We have reached out to Green Guard, Oeke-Tex® 100 Standard, CertiPUR®-US as well as ISPA to create a TRANSPARENCY  "truth in 'green' marketing" third-party mattress-industry contents label.

If you are going to market "eco-friendly", "natural", "all-natural" and especially "organic" mattresses and bedding products in the United States, there are very clear guidelines offered by either the FTC "Green Guides"  (on substantiation ofgeneric claims) , USDA-NOP on "organic" agric-crops and food, and also from established third-party certifying bodies such as GOTS and GOLS.

We (the SSA) are here to help any member of the SSA who wishes to make "green” claims correctly in the marketplace using a third-party, accepted consumer disclosure /contents label.

FTC Warns 78 Retailers: Stop Labeling and Advertising Rayon Textile Products as "Bamboo"

FTC Warns 78 Retailers, Including Wal-Mart, Target, and Kmart, to Stop Labeling and Advertising Rayon Textile Products as "Bamboo"

February 3, 2010

Seventy-eight companies nationwide have received Federal Trade Commission letters warning that they may be breaking the law by selling clothing and other textile products that are labeled and advertised as “bamboo,” but actually are made of manufactured rayon fiber. The letters, which the agency’s staff sent last week, make the retailers aware of the FTC’s concerns about possible mislabeling of rayon products as “bamboo,” so the companies can take corrective steps to avoid Commission action.

“We need to make sure companies use proper labeling and advertising in their efforts to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers,” said David C. Vladeck, Director of the agency’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Rayon is rayon, even if bamboo has been used somewhere along the line in the manufacturing process.”

The FTC sued several companies last year for allegedly selling products labeled or advertised as “bamboo” that in reality were made of rayon. Rayon is a man-made fiber created from the cellulose found in plants and trees and processed with harsh chemicals that release hazardous air pollution. Any plant or tree – including bamboo – could be used as the cellulose source, but the fiber that is created is rayon.

“While we have seen action by some retailers to correct mislabeled clothing and textile products, our hope is that these warning letters will serve as a wake-up call to all companies, regardless of their size,” Vladeck said.

The FTC staff letter outlines the requirements for proper labeling and advertising of textile products derived from bamboo. The letter states, “Rayon, even if manufactured using cellulose from bamboo, must be described using an appropriate term recognized under the FTC’s Textile Rules. . . . Failing to properly label and advertise textiles misleads consumers and runs afoul of both the Textile Rules and the FTC Act.”

In the letter, the FTC tells the companies they should review the labeling and advertising for the textile products they are selling and remove or correct any misleading bamboo references.

Along with the warning letters, the agency sent each company a synopsis of FTC decisions finding that the failure to use proper fiber names in textile labeling and advertising was deceptive and violated the FTC Act. Under the Act, the FTC can seek civil penalties of up to $16,000 per violation against any company that receives this information but fails to correct its advertising and labeling.

A complete list of the companies sent warning letters can be found on the FTC’s Web site and as a link to this press release. They include small and large retailers, with both online and brick-and-mortar stores, and firms selling textile products labeled or advertised as “bamboo” that may be made of rayon. The more commonly known retailers include:

Amazon.com, Barney’s New York, Bed Bath & Beyond, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Bloomingdale’s, Costco Wholesale, Garnet Hill, Gold Toe, Hanes, Isotoner, JC Penney, Jockey,

Kmart, Kohl’s, Land’s End, Macy’s, Maidenform, Nordstrom, Overstock.com, QVC, REI, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sears, Shop NBC, Spiegel, Sports Authority, Target, The Gap, The Great Indoors, Tommy Bahama, Toys R’ Us, Wal-Mart, and Zappos.com.

Recent Enforcement Actions. Today’s announcement comes on the heels of four FTC enforcement actions brought against companies selling rayon products that were misleadingly labeled and advertised. According to the Commission’s complaints, filed in August 2009, the companies falsely claimed that their rayon clothing and other textile products were “bamboo fiber,” marketing them using names such as “ecoKashmere,” “Pure Bamboo,” “Bamboo Comfort,” and “BambooBaby.” The complaints also challenged a number of other deceptive “green” claims, including that the products retained the bamboo plant’s antimicrobial properties, were made using environmentally friendly manufacturing processes, and are biodegradable.

The four companies have settled the FTC’s charges and agreed to modify their labels to ensure their claims are not misleading or deceptive. (One of the cases still needs final FTC approval.) Press releases announcing the complaints and related settlements can be found at: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/12/dynabamboo.shtm and http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/bamboosa.shtm, respectively.

Business and Consumer Information. The FTC has a publication designed to help businesses that sell clothing and textile products that are labeled as bamboo to market their products in ways that are truthful, non-deceptive, and in compliance with the law. “Avoid Bamboo-zling Your Customers” can be found at http://www.ftc.gov/bamboo. The FTC also has an alert entitled “Have You Been Bamboozled by Bamboo Fabrics?” that provides useful information for consumers shopping for bamboo-based fabrics. It also can be found at http://www.ftc.gov/bamboo.

The Commission vote to publicly disclose the warning letters was 4-0. Copies of the letters and a complete list of companies that received them can be found on the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov/bamboo and as a link to this press release.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, click: http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/complaint.shtm or call 1-877-382-4357. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,700 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. For free information on a variety of consumer topics, click http://ftc.gov/bcp/consumer.shtm.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Mitchell J. Katz
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2161 

STAFF CONTACT:
James A. Kohm
Bureau of Consumer Protection
202-326-2640