Home Environmentally Friendly References & Reviews Why Xlerator ? Our Excel Dryer Range Contact
How the XLERATOR® can help you go green - and save
Considering whether your organization should make the switch from paper towels? Here's what multiple environmental organizations and government agencies, including the EPA, want you to know about the environmental impacts of paper production:
  • 17 trees are consumed to make one ton of paper
  • Producing one ton of paper pollutes 75000 litres of water and consumes precious oil.
  •  one ton of paper consumes three cubic yards of landfill
  • The environmental costs of paper fabrication include: deforestation, pollution and contaminated sediments in nearby sources of water, air pollution from pulp and paper mills (including carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides, sulphur dioxides, carbon monoxides, and particulates), and solid waste production
Cutting back on paper waste is imperative for any organization hoping to become more environmentally sound. The XLERATOR is an effective source reduction alternative.
 
A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) investigates a products total environmental impact from time of manufacture (Beginning of life) to time of disposal (End of life).  When compared to standard hand dryers and paper towels (both standard and 100% recycled content) XLERATOR®'s carbon footprint is significantly smaller, emitting up to one quarter the greenhouse gas of its competitors.
 
The results are clear: electric hand dryers are a better choice than paper just on the basis of energy use alone, without even considering the many other environmental impacts of the manufacture and disposal of paper.
 
Of course, to save energy you need a hand dryer that works quickly and effectively. Not only does the XLERATOR® dry hands in one third of the time required by conventional hand dryers, but our system is designed to run on 15-amp service (making it great for older buildings). As a result, the XLERATOR uses 80% less energy than conventional hand dryers.  
                   Energy efficiency stats
   Paper Towels                       743 kilojoules per use
 
     XLERATOR                          76 kilojoules per use
 
That's 667 kilo joules of energy saved per hand dry
 
Saving Green
Converting from paper towels to XLERATOR® hand dryers represents a 95% cost savings! The XLERATOR is a one-time purchase: once installed, it requires considerably less attention than paper towel dispensers, saving you money on labour and maintenance.
 
LEED® (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design)
In March 2000, the U.S. Green Building Council formally released the LEED Green Building Rating System. Today, hundreds of public and private building projects in the United States and abroad use LEED as the standard for green building specifications.
 
All hand dryers save trees and are a great source reduction alternative, but the XLERATOR® also saves energy! This has earned XLERATOR users qualification for LEED credits in two categories:
  • EA (Energy & Atmosphere) Prerequisite 2 - Minimum Energy Performance
  • EA Credit 1 - Optimize Energy Performance (now a mandatory credit for all LEED certified facilities)
GreenSpec®
Because XLERATOR® meets a number of GreenSpec standards (energy conservation, low maintenance requirements and waste reduction), it was the first hand dryer to be GreenSpec approved. GreenSpec is a database of green products,
 
specifications and building practices for use by architects and construction professionals. This database includes 1,750 green building products carefully screened by the editors of Environmental Building News, organized according to the 16-division CSI MasterFormat™ system. The XLERATOR is listed in Division 10 28 00.
 
Environmental Building News
EBN is the leading newsletter on environmentally responsible design and construction. It has been in print since 1992. EBN is independently published and advertising-free, its research and reporting uncompromised by corporate or industry sponsorships. EBN researchers independently tested XLERATOR® for its performance and energy efficiency and determined that XLERATOR clearly outperforms conventional electric hand dryers, both in energy savings and dry time. The editors of EBN voted XLERATOR Top Ten Product of 2002.