EAST LONGMEADOW, MASS.—Excel Dryer, Inc. announced that it has released the findings of a peer reviewed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for its high-speed energy efficient hand dryer, XLERATOR. The LCA study, conducted by Quantis, an international life cycle assessment research firm, determined that when compared to traditional electric hand dryers and paper towels (virgin and 100 percent recycled content), XLERATOR reduces the Climate Changing Score (carbon footprint) of hand drying by 50 percent to 75 percent. Each hand drying system was evaluated on 10 years of service, or drying 260,000 pairs of hands. The LCA measured the entire environmental impact of XLERATOR from beginning to end-of-life.
The results of the study indicate that XLERATOR provides significant environmental benefits when compared to the other hand drying options considered in the assessment. The major advantage it provides, when compared to conventional electric hand dryers, is the nearly four-fold reduction of electricity consumption during the use of the dryer. When compared to paper towels, the combined environmental impact of producing the paper towels and associated materials and handling far exceeds the impact of using XLERATOR. Even “high-intensity” users of XLERATOR (15 seconds of hand drying time per use) still remained at a lower level of environmental impact than “low intensity” users of traditional hand dryers (20 seconds of hand drying time per use) or one-to-two paper towels per use.
“The LCA study provides industry professionals, architects and others with a scientific assessment of how various hand drying options impact the environment,” said William Gagnon, director of marketing, Excel Dryer, Inc. “It confirms that XLERATOR contributes to reducing a facility’s carbon footprint when compared to traditional hand dryers or paper towels.”
According to the LCA study, a wide variety of environmental impact categories were evaluated and the XLERATOR provided an environmental advantage in each category. In addition to reducing climate change impacts (carbon footprint), XLERATOR also reduces the use of non-renewable energy, impacts on ecosystems and emissions that damage human health.
“The results of this independent study exceeded our expectations,” said Denis Gagnon, president, Excel Dryer, Inc.
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