Features That Fit Your Facility
Look at occupancy patterns to determine the right specifications. In many cases, an infrared sensor detects a visitor’s presence correctly. Some newer products require a hand wave – if the fixture is in a narrow area, wave technology keeps it from activating when people pass by at close range.
Settings like the distance required for dispenser activation can often be changed in-house with no special tools, says Vince Rountree, Sr., marketing manager of the office building segment at Georgia-Pacific Professional.
If sustainability is your main reason for updating the washroom, look for products certified by an independent third-party organization. Besides UL, ASME, and other minimum requirements, ask about certifications like:
- WaterSense: Indicates water efficiency in irrigation and plumbing products.
- GreenSpec: Shows inclusion in a database of green products, specifications, and practices.
- Maximum Performance (MaP): Compliance with a voluntary testing protocol aimed at quantifying how effectively various water-efficient flushometer-bowl combinations evacuate waste.
Some washroom fixtures, such as Sloan’s Basys faucets, can also feed data into your building management system, allowing you to monitor faucet usage. Excel plans to equip its Excelerator dryers with the technology by the end of 2012.