Finding solutions to the effects of global warming, the rising tide of waste and an increasingly energy-hungry population has never been more urgent. This challenge is driving innovators all over the world to develop new technology that can slash the energy we use and the waste we produce in a sustainable and cost-effective way.
One company that has achieved this is SAVORTEX, a multi-award winning, British eco technology company that has identified the hand drying market as an opportunity for changed. It has developed technology to create smart, cost saving, low energy hand dryers that dry quickly and don’t break down.
SAVORTEX founder, Syed Ahmed, explains the energy and cost issues surrounding washrooms globally. “There are 70 million washrooms worldwide, and 20% of these are fitted with energy-hungry dryers, of 1600W-2400W. None of these conventional dryers monitors real time energy use and every one of these washrooms is inspected and maintained manually.
“But then when you factor in that a massive 80% are still using damaging and very expensive paper towels, you can see why we wanted to build something that disrupts this very inefficient market. Paper towels alone account for over 54 million trees per year, contributing to 35% of waste in land fill sites. Overall, the scenario is hugely expensive, wasteful and inefficient.
“There are also massive corporate responsibility implications here,” Syed continued. “Large corporations are increasingly called to account for the impact they have on the environment and need to demonstrate how they are minimising this long-term – and in a sustainable way. We wanted to find a better solution that would address all the issues. To find a green alternative to paper towels, and to overcome the energy-hungry and inefficient short-life expectancy of conventional brushed motor technology based hand dryers.
“Our research found that energy consumption and product longevity – supported by provable usage data – were the critical factors contributing to the overall sustainability of a hand dryer within a building,” said Syed. “Let’s also not forget expensive paper towels and all the associated environmentally unfriendly processes of ordering, storage, replenishment and disposal.”
After three years of research and development, SAVORTEX has met this considerable challenge by developing and launching its first product – the EcoCurve Smart Dryer. This new product has the lowest carbon footprint per dry of anything on the market and incorporates the world’s first data monitoring portal – SAVORTEX Data Intelligence.
Syed Ahmed said: “SAVORTEX Data Intelligence is an easy-access platform that draws realtime washroom and traffic data from the technology onsite, and gives businesses, facilities managers and building managers a smart way to accurately measure cost savings, improve carbon efficiency and manage the cleaning of washrooms based on real-time footfall data for single or multiple sites where the dryer is installed. In effect, it gives an accurate snapshot of how the washrooms within a building are performing.This information – combined with trend analysis – efficiently schedules inspections and cleaning visits, saving costs and avoiding wasting staff time. As a result, profitability goes up.”
The EcoCurve Smart dryer incorporates an innovative and patented ‘energy recovery system’ and ‘curved air delivery technique’. The product’s intelligent sensors continuously track hands and wirelessly reports to the revolutionary SAVORTEX Data Intelligence portal. In addition to the product being the most carbon efficient choice per dry for businesses wanting to take a responsible CSR approach, the hand dryer also comes with the lowest rental pricing in the market against other competitors.
The EcoCurve has had backing from some serious players. It is the first successful product to be developed, tested and brought to market as part of the RBS Innovation Gateway initiative, which was launched earlier this year. The initiative works with pioneering SMEs, innovators and investors that are working to make an impact on business waste production and reduction of water and energy consumption.
As part of the programme, RBS tested the product on its own sites, and was so impressed by the results that it is now installing the EcoCurve in 50 buildings in a first phase of a long-term process. This will save the company £30,000 and 14,000 tonnes of waste per site, per year.
John Hayes, property services, RBS, said: “In the past, Corporate Responsibility and cost management were relatively separate activities. However, in recent times these two agendas have moved much closer together to a more complimentary status. We at RBS chose to undertake a trial with SAVORTEX, as we felt that they had created a product that recognised investment in resource efficiency and was also commercially sustainable.”
Leading integrated support services company, Carillion, is also specifying the new greener washroom technology, and as a result is set to save 50% of carbon emissions for many of its high profile blue chip clients.
Euan Burns, chief engineer at Carillion, said: “With the UK built environment alone contributing 28% to the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, smart cost savings and effective washroom management based on real data intelligence is increasingly important to Carillion and our clients.
“The EcoCurve smart hand dryer supports that strategy by reporting on energy, carbon and costs using actual footfall in the washrooms. Based on the data intelligence produced by the EcoCurve, the smart dryer stands to reduce carbon emissions by 50% compared to previous solutions, and it offers the lowest carbon footprint per dry in its class.”Other companies installing the EcoCurve include Marriott, Legal & General, MacDonald’s, British Airways, and British Gas.
The new technology SAVORTEX has developed can help businesses worldwide to make real savings and reduce their impact on an already overloaded environment. And it’s a British innovation!
