Excel Dryer is the first hand dryer manufacturer to publish third-party, verified EPDs
EAST LONGMEADOW, Mass. – Excel Dryer, Inc., today announced that three of their hand dryers, the original, patented, high-speed, energy-efficient XLERATOR® Hand Dryer, the XLERATOReco® Hand Dryer and the ThinAir® Hand Dryer, were evaluated, and their environmental claims, substantiated with the publication of the hand dryer industry’s first Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). An Environmental Product Declaration is a standardized way of quantifying the environmental impact of a product by studying the raw materials and energy consumption during its production, use and disposal. For buyers and specifiers, the EPDs are a disclosure tool that helps purchasers better understand a product’s sustainable qualities and environmental repercussions so they can make more informed product selections.
To create an EPD, there must first exist Product Category Rules (PCR) which create testing guidelines and reporting methods through industry consensus, thereby permitting buyers and specifiers to compare products, apples-to-apples. The corresponding EPDs provide insight on the environmental impact of products from cradle-to-grave.
Last year, UL Environment (a business division of Underwriters’ Laboratories), published the hand dryer PCR, a first for the industry and the first global standard for any industry. Excel Dryer was asked to chair the committee to create the PCR, working in collaboration with UL and other leading hand dryer manufacturers, to achieve the necessary industry consensus.
For a product to gain EPD certification, it must be studied cradle-to-grave by way of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) conducted by a credible third-party following ISO 14040 standards. Excel Dryer again called upon world-renowned Quantis International, with whom they previously worked, for their latest LCA.
Excel Dryer continually leads the industry with firsts including inventing the original patented, XLERATOR Hand Dryer that created the high-speed, energy-efficient hand dryer category and set a new standard for performance, reliability and customer satisfaction. Excel Dryer was the first hand dryer manufacturer to become a member of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and to commission an independent, third-party Life Cycle Assessment of high-speed, energy-efficient hand dryers versus conventional hand dryers and paper towels. Excel hand dryers are the first and only to achieve Made In USA® certification. The publication of EPDs continues Excel Dryer’s lists of celebrated accomplishments and ushers the hand dryer industry into a new age of transparency.
