NEW PRODUCT FLASH: Dyson Airblade™ Hand Dryer from Dyson

A life cycle assessment conducted by a Massachusetts-based university found the Dyson Airblade™ hand dryer to be the most sustainable way to dry hands.

The Dyson Airblade™ hand dryer is engineered to be fast, hygienic, and better for the environment. Warm air hand dryers use 60 year old technology and rely on evaporation with warm air to dry hands. This is slow and uses large amounts of electricity.

The Dyson Airblade™ hand dryer uses high speed sheets of unheated air to dry your hands quickly and as hygienically as paper towels while creating 70% less carbon emissions. It also removes the potential for other hazards such as overflowing bins and clogged toilets. A HEPA filter captures 99.97% of bacteria from the air before it’s used to dry hands; this is technology that only the Dyson Airblade™ hand dryer has. It also costs significantly less to run annually.

A leading Massachusetts-based research university used a scientific method known as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to measure the overall environmental impact of seven hand drying systems including cotton towels, virgin and recycled paper towels, and hand dryers (both conventional warm air and high speed dryers). Researchers considered all life cycle stages from manufacturing to end of life and calculated findings based on the system’s impact on C02 emissions, ecosystem quality, land and water use, human health, and resource intensity.

The study found that the Dyson Airblade™ hand dryer is the most sustainable way to completely dry hands. Paper towels and warm air hand dryers have the highest environmental toll, generating 70% or more carbon emissions than the Dyson Airblade™ hand dryer. Rather than warm air, the Dyson machine uses sheets of unheated air to scrape water from hands in 12 seconds.

The report—a major step forward for Life Cycle Assessment—could be applied to other industries to help quash inaccurate “green” claims by making it simpler to compare the environmental impact of day-to-day products, helping to answer such questions as paper or plastic. An increasing number of companies including Apple, Walmart, and Google have also performed life cycle assessments.

The LCA is one of the most robust reports to date and looks beyond all current international standards by considering current and hypothetical scenarios that could impact the environment. It’s a first step in developing a gold standard for comparing the environmental impact of products—helping consumers interpret the growing number of environmental claims.

The study was done in accordance with ISO standards 14040 and 14044 and relied upon all available data from current and relevant LCA research by paper towel, hand dryer, and roller towel manufacturers to ensure the impartiality and accuracy of the peer-reviewed research.

People perceive recycled paper towels to always be better for the environment. The report’s researchers found that the environmental impact of recycled towels equals that of virgin paper towels in a number of environmental measures, including CO2 emissions and water consumption. Recycled and virgin towels both generate over three times more carbon emissions than the Dyson Airblade™ hand dryer—creating waste, consuming more energy and using more water.

Energy Management & Lighting, Environment, Facilities Management, FacilityBlog, New Product Flash

Dyson, life-cycle-assessment, Research, Restrooms, Sustainability

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