Skyscraping Sustainability: MA Company’s Boston Campus Emphasizes Green Design with XLERATORsync®
A stunning, faceted glass exterior. Panoramic harbor views. 17 stories and 310,000 square feet of LEED Platinum-certified design—and Excel Dryer’s XLERATORsync played a part in it.
Every square foot of this Boston Seaport High Rise, designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects and developed in partnership with the Fallon Company, was conceived with sustainability and well-being in mind. In keeping with this approach, the building’s architects and specifiers outfitted every one of its 120 single-occupant, gender-neutral restrooms with a stylish, hygienic, all-in-one touchless sink system by D|13 Group, featuring the XLERATORsync® Hand Dryer.
A Masterpiece of Form and Function
This landmark building has made its indelible mark not only on the Boston Seaport skyline, but on the sustainable building movement at large. Fostering a connection to nature with its open-air terraces, natural light and live greenery, the facility uses 70% less natural resources than the regional office building average. The D|13 Sink System more than meets these ambitious sustainability standards while creating an aesthetically impressive, ultra hygienic restroom environment.
This integrated hand hygiene solution seamlessly situates three no-touch, high-efficiency fixtures—touchless faucet, soap dispenser and XLERATORsync—together on the sink deck, allowing users to wash and dry their hands in one place and eliminating the need for paper towels. In fact, compared to the paper option, the sleek and remarkably compact XLERATORsync provides a 95% cost savings and up to an 81% reduction in carbon footprint.
Created specifically for the D|13 Sink System, this green hand dryer features an exclusive “reverse airflow” mechanism to help keep floors (and users) dry. Its spout blows downward and away from the user, into a sink basin designed with the appropriate depth and angles to effectively contain the water. The dryer also comes with a HEPA filtration system (since upgraded to electrostatic HEPA on all new models) which removes 99.999% of viruses and 99.97% of potentially present bacteria at 0.3 microns from the airstream.*
With a patent-pending adjustable sound suppression air delivery system and adjustable speed and sound control, XLERATORsync® gets the job done without disrupting the building’s meticulously crafted atmosphere of serenity. Other key features include adjustable heat control and LED illumination, simplifying maintenance and enhancing the user experience at the company’s waterfront site. And taking up no more space than a modest-sized faucet, this powerhouse can dry hands in just 14 seconds, thanks to Excel’s advanced engineering.
With an array of options for materials, the D|13 Sink System can be custom designed to fit any restroom aesthetic. For example, for this project, the sink systems employ quartz countertops, solid surface basin sinks with integrated pivot drain covers, and architectural-grade plumbing enclosures.
A Product of Our Environment
As with every hand dryer in our high-efficiency product line, including the original XLERATOR®, XLERATOReco® and ThinAir® Hand Dryers, there is an updated Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) available for XLERATORsync. An EPD is a certified, internationally recognized document that quantifies the environmental impact of a product by studying the raw materials and energy consumed as part of its production, use and disposal. EPDs empower specifiers and buyers to make informed product selections to meet a project’s or organization’s sustainability goals, which often include earning green certifications. For the product’s manufacturer, EPD publication signals a commitment to product transparency and its own corporate environmental responsibility.
Creating an EPD requires commissioning a third-party Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which assesses environmental impacts of a commercial product, process or service from cradle to grave. Conducted by TrueNorth Collective, the most recent LCAs for our product line found:
The global warming potential of hand dryers was up to 94% less than paper towels with 100% recycled content2
Excel’s high-speed hand dryers dry faster, saving energy, and result in less than 40 grams of CO2 emissions, versus the higher than 57 grams of CO resulting from paper towel drying
Compared to paper towels, hand dryers reduce both smog creation and ozone depletion thanks to lower VOC emissions, decreased transportation emissions, reduced energy consumption and lower chemical use
Hand dryers significantly outperform paper towels in key environmental metrics affecting aquatic ecosystems, including eutrophication and acidification
Compared to paper towels, hand dryers use fewer chemicals, create less wastewater pollution and landfill waste, and create less transportation emissions
Excel Dryer holds sustainability and well-being at the very heart of our own corporate mission, as evidenced by the recent renovation and expansion of our global headquarters into the sustainable, wellness-focused office space of the future. We’re proud to have our innovative product play a part in such a high-profile green building initiative like the one in Boston Seaport.
How Can We Help?
Feeling inspired by this story of commitment to implementing sustainable design? We can help you achieve your environmental goals by providing a hygienic, cost-efficient and long-lasting restroom solution to fit your facility’s needs. Contact our partners at D|13 Group to learn more.
*Based on testing performed by LMS Technologies, 2023
