Making Your Facility’s Restrooms User-Friendly for Everyone
When it comes to accommodating occupants and visitors, the design of a facility’s public restrooms is a critical consideration. A successful restroom design will be responsive to the needs and abilities of every person who might enter it.
For any public restroom project, there are three primary sources of applicable standards and codes that are essential to keep in mind:
1. Requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
2. Building/plumbing codes
3. Environmental standards
Project designers and managers have the challenge of complying with the applicable standards in each of these three important areas while still maximizing usability, addressing space constraints and incorporating aesthetics. At the end of the day, understanding applicable codes and standards, knowing available resources and constraints associated with the project and developing a good plan will help you create a safe, usable and comfortable environment. Ensuring your project adheres to industry regulations and standards will also avoid future rework and even legal ramifications.
The ADA and Hand Dryers
Restroom hand dryers are an important consideration when it comes to standards and codes. At World Dryer we are constantly looking for ways to improve our products to enhance the user experience and make it easier for architects, commercial interior designers, facility managers and contractors to achieve their goals. Our VERDEdri™, is a surface-mounted ADA-compliant hand dryer that uses only 950 watts of power for unmatched energy efficiency. With HEPA filtration to reduce airborne contaminants and a fast 12-second dry time, VERDEdri is designed for any facility wanting one hand dryer to meet a variety of requirements, including ADA compliance.
Unlike “hands under” type dryers that are typically mounted with the bottom surface 32 to 46 inches above the floor, “hands in” type dryers are often mounted with bottom surfaces less than 27 inches above the floor, which means they are not restricted by the ADA in depth of projection from the wall. Mounted in this lower configuration, our VMax® is an ADA-compliant “hands in” style high speed hand dryer that features a HEPA filter system as well as antimicrobial technology. The dedicated water collection reservoir eliminates water from collecting on the floor resulting in reduced maintenance. And the quiet operation of VMax makes it ideal for sound sensitive areas.
At World Dryer, our ongoing mission is to lead the industry in meeting every design consideration that goes into a well-planned restroom environment, whether the setting is a school, restaurant, hospital or commercial facility. We have a hand dryer for every need.
You’ll see that we are committed to continually looking ahead, providing innovative solutions to meet the needs of an evolving market, and we are pleased that we can help facilities of every kind achieve important goals such as ADA compliance—including yours!
For more information on making your facility restroom more user-friendly, check out our white paper.
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