An air of efficiency
June 1st 2010 Energy efficiency should start the process for any machine development says Dyson. Then the path for a low carbon footprint is already set
Environmental advance and better performance should go hand in hand. A push towards more environmentally friendly machines combined with imaginative thinking, engineering, and design is resulting in some significant advances.
Dyson has taken this approach to the washroom and has changed the way people dry their hands with the energy efficient Dyson Airblade hand dryer. It’s the first hand dryer to be awarded the Carbon Reduction Label from the Carbon Trust and it is a hand dryer that dries your hands properly. It can be installed in washrooms as a hygienic, effective and energy efficient alternative to warm air hand dryers and paper towels.
A new approach
Warm air hand dryers use 60 year old technology and rely on evaporation to dry hands. This uses large amounts of electricity and is frustratingly slow. Dyson engineers approached the problem of drying your hands from a new angle, they developed a machine that is more powerful, performs better and uses less energy and materials.
The Dyson Airblade hand dryer works by channelling air through a gap no thicker than an eyelash. Travelling at 400 miles an hour, the sheet of air acts like an invisible windscreen wiper, literally wiping moisture from hands leaving them dry, in just ten seconds.
The technology is effective but also energy efficient, using up to 80% less energy than a warm air hand dryer and compared to paper towels the Dyson Airblade has over a 70% smaller carbon footprint [1]. In addition, used paper towels, including the ones made from recycled content, can’t be recycled so they end up in landfill or have to be incinerated. This means that paper towels create over 45 times more waste than the Dyson Airblade hand dryer [2].
“The usual assumption is that materials and transport create the most carbon, but as we explored the results we realised that energy efficiency is key,” says Tom Blower, Dyson design engineer. In-use energy makes up more than 90% of the machine’s carbon footprint in the UK.
The machine is powered by Dyson’s Digital Motor which unlike conventional brushed motors doesn’t emit carbon dust. It took Dyson’s team of mechanical, electrical, electronic, aeronautical, materials and software engineers nine years to develop the motor. There are currently 350 engineers based in Malmesbury at the Dyson headquarters, and over the next year this is set to double to a total of 700. Over 50 engineers focus specifically on Dyson motor technology. It is only because of this significant focus on research and development that Dyson says it is able to create machines that perform better than others.
In addition to the energy credentials of the machine it also offers significant hygiene benefits. Traditional warm-air hand dryers heat up washroom air laden with bacteria, and blow it onto people’s shoes, clothes and freshly washed hands. The Dyson Airblade hand dryer passes washroom air through a HEPA filter to remove over 99.9% of bacteria before it’s blown onto hands.
As a result it’s the first and only hand dryer to meet the NSF certification for hygienic hand dryers (NSF P335) by NSF International. The machine is also the only hand dryer certified by the Royal Institute of Public Health (RSPH). In addition Dyson's research into skincare undertaken with The University of Leeds has been validated by the British Skin Foundation.
Over the next two years Dyson will further reduce the carbon footprint of the Dyson Airblade hand dryer. Over the coming decade environmental focus will increase and engineers and designers are will lead the change.
www.dysonairblade.co.uk
[1] Data from Madson, 2007 report [Life Cycle Assessment of Tissue Products, Prepared for Kimberly Clark. Environmental Resources Management]: A workplace with 50 employees, 3 drys per person per day, 150 drys per day, 260 days a year, 12.48 gCO2e per dry for virgin paper towels. Additional data: Transport and emissions factors for Airblade™used for the United Kingdom, 10 second dry time based on NSF protocol, calculations include standby, Airblade manufacture use AB03 primary manufacturer data and 5 year Airblade™guarantee period, 3.29gCO2e per dry.
[2] Data from Madson, 2007 report [Life Cycle Assessment of Tissue Products, Prepared for Kimberly Clark. Environmental Resources Management]: A workplace with 50 employees, 3 drys per person per day, 150 drys a day, 260 days a year, paper weight of 27g/m2, 89.8m2 per employee per year. 121.2kg of paper per year. Additional data: Dyson Airblade™AB03 boxed weight is 13kg, 5 year Airblade™guarantee period. More articles from Dyson Ltd: | 
