The laundry room revolution: Environmentally friendly and tech savvy comm'l. laundry solutions

Energy Star Partner, brings you the latest in energy efficiency with front load washers from LG and Speed Queen. These products use much less water per cycle while providing better care for your residents' clothing. Saving water is great for the environment, but what about the bottom line? Most communities overlook the utility savings that can be achieved by using front load washers. The fact is that the numbers are significant. According to the NY DEP, the cost for water will rise 14.5% this year alone. Over the last three years, the cost for water has increased more than 30%. That water also gets heated by gas or electric and then goes down the drain with a sewerage cost as well. Also, let's not forget the gas or electric used by the dryers. Using Coinmach's new LG or Speed Queen front load machines means less dry time as the clothes are spun out at more than 1000 RPMs. Typically, the dry cycle time is the same as the wash cycle, about 35 minutes. So, the bottom line is this; Switching to a LG or Speed Queen front-load washing machine from Coinmach will save an average 100 unit building thousands of dollars in energy costs and reduce water consumption by over 160,000 gallons of water, per year, based on average laundry usage and current energy and water rates nationwide. Along with energy efficiency, Coinmach brings your community the latest in smart card technology. No more coins, no more coin hassles. Your residents can conveniently add value to their Coinmach Card with cash, credit and debit cards, and even add value on-line and through an automated phone system! We now can offer your residents more convenience and value with family plan discounts, and other pre-paid monthly laundry plans. All of our systems are user friendly and auditable for complete accountability. Coinmach also introduces our new website - CheckMyWash.com. No more lugging piles of laundry to the laundry room only to find all of the machines are in use. With CheckMyWash.com, exclusively from Coinmach, your residents can quickly and easily go on line to see the status of their laundry room. In the event the machines are in use, they can simply request a machine and then have an email or text message sent to their cell phone letting them know their machine is now ready. This ultimate time saving tool can even send you a message when your laundry is complete! With our 24 hour service guarantee, you can rely on our factory trained field engineers seven days a week. Yes, even on a Sunday. Service requests can be made by phone and, for your convenience, on our website, www.coinmach.com, 24 hours a day! With additional regularly scheduled laundry room inspections and routine maintenance, Coinmach keeps your machines running and your residents smiling. Let Coinmach show you how you can increase resident satisfaction, increase your bottom line, and set the bar for energy efficiency and laundry room convenience in your community today. Steve Gallagher is the area vice president for Coinmach Service Corp., Syosset, N.Y.