Page 47 - BWM March 2013

March 2013 | Business World Magazine | 47
They are equally efficient in the conserva-
tion of energy. Dryers, for examples, benefit
from having air heated by the recaptured
exhaust heat. Since the air coming-in to the
dryer doesn’t have to be heated, it takes less
time and less cost to dry the goods. The laun-
dry also utilizes thermal irons, which use
self-contained oil as opposed to steam for
heating, which again cuts down on utility
costs. Blaufuss explains that communities in
which he operates have seen significant cost
increases for power and water, yet this hasn’t
impacted his operations since conservation
has been so drastically built-in to his system.
In reducing the company’s carbon footprint,
Blaufuss has also reduced the costs typically
associated with commercial laundry services,
and these savings ultimately pass to his cus-
tomers in health care.
Health care standards dictate that mate-
rials must be cleaned to standards measured
to the micron. Industry regulations fix that
number to .002 microns, yet Lake Superior
Laundry achieves rates well beyond, clean-
ing to .00046 microns. Without going in
to all the science, it basically means, they’re
really superior at their work. The laundry
meets the highest healthcare standards set
by the Joint Commission ( JCAH), and is
accredited by the Healthcare Laundry Ac-
creditation Council (HLAC), who confers
the industry’s most prestigious standard that
any healthcare laundry can achieve. Lake Su-
perior Laundry shines among a composite of