RIPON, Wis.— As we near the end of 2014, it’s an ideal time to reflect on this year’s achievements and set goals for the next. When it comes to your on-premises laundry, I challenge you to think about one area in particular, an area that affects nearly every aspect of your operation: What practices has your laundry implemented this year to make the operation more environmentally responsible?
Here are some ideas to help you make your OPL’s goals greener in 2015, while enhancing the bottom line and maintaining superior wash quality.
IMPLEMENT BENCHMARKING
In order to improve laundry-room efficiencies, managers must first take note of where they’re starting out. Setting specific benchmarks can help. Take a holistic look at all aspects of the laundry operation that can affect energy usage, including number of loads processed per shift, machine usage, types of cycles being programmed and soil levels.
For example, a typical hotel laundry operation processes high volumes of lightly soiled linens. As bedding and towels are not typically dirty after one-time use, they can be washed in a light soil cycle. Doing so not only takes less time, but is more efficient through the use of less water.
Knowing one’s light-soil benchmark, which is typically 80% of all loads for hotels, can help a manager save on labor and utility costs.
REPLACE EQUIPMENT
Your current equipment may not be broken, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider replacement. Old equipment could be costing you money in repair bills, machine downtime and lost efficiency—and maybe even more importantly, it wastes gas and water because it lacks new technologies that get the same job done more efficiently.
While labor, linen replacement and utility costs represent 66-87% of an OPL’s total budget, initial equipment costs represent just 8-12%. The amount of money a laundry room can save in operating costs by upgrading far outweighs the initial equipment investment.
High-capacity machines with advanced technologies have been designed to handle large volumes using less energy and water, while increasing an operation’s productivity by washing more loads in less time. Equipped with state-of-the-art features, including advanced controls, high extraction speeds and spray-rinse and over-dry prevention technologies, newer equipment enables the laundry manager to focus on what end-users care about—clean linens—while minimizing utility, linen-replacement and labor costs.
SHORTEN DRY TIMES
Energy is about 15% of an OPL’s operational cost, and tumble dryers account for 70% of that cost. Reducing drying times not only means facilities benefit from lower utility bills, but a significant amount of energy is saved, making operations friendlier to the environment.
Using a washer-extractor with a 400-G-force extraction rate is the single most effective way to reduce drying times, because it removes the maximum amount of water from a load before it even reaches the tumble dryer. Then, look for tumble dryers that balance heat, tumble action and airflow. When these qualities are optimized, hot air is forced through the linens, rather than around them, to get the job done faster.
Certain tumble dryers even contain moisture sensors that automatically shut off the machine when precise levels of dryness are reached.
PRESERVE LINENS
While shorter dry times can lead to decreased utility costs, another benefit is that linens won’t suffer from the degradation that comes with unnecessary overheating. Facilities with an OPL invest a significant amount of money in linens each year—between 13% and 25% of operation costs. The more linen you can keep on the shelf—and out of landfills—the better for your bottom line and the environment.
Tumble dryers with a “step dry” feature use high heat until the load is half dry, and then the temperature is lowered for the remainder of the cycle to save linens from unnecessary heat. Also, a tumbler with various dryness-level settings allows OPLs to define each cycle according to their specific needs.
Look to your benchmarks to help customize your dry cycles and ultimately preserve your linens.
WASHER-EXTRACTOR FEATURES
State-of-the-art washer-extractors are engineered with water savings in mind. Among other features, manually programmed cycles (up to 41 are available on certain washer-extractors) allow a manager to customize cycle time, temperature and wash formula based on the load to deliver exceptional wash quality. With a properly programmed machine using advanced controls, cycles that consume more water or hot water, such as pre-wash or bleach bath, will only be used when necessary.
Eco-friendly cycles on washer-extractors are automatically programmed to save water and reduce energy usage, while still delivering a superior wash when the appropriate cycle is selected based on soil level and linen type. Lastly, washer-extractors with a leak detection feature can detect drain or water-valve leaks, should they occur, and eliminate wasted water.
EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE
Just like a car should be inspected to ensure it is achieving optimal gas mileage, laundry equipment should be routinely checked to ensure it’s running as efficiently as possible. Equipment with advanced controls can make preventive maintenance seamless by providing a historical account of what repairs have been made and how frequently, and what maintenance should be performed in the future.
Advanced controls, along with manufacturer manuals, highlight everything from checking the door interlock daily, to verifying the drain valve is working weekly, to lubricating the bearings each month, and finally, to inspecting the bearing mounting bolts. Additionally, automatic or manually programmed leak and slow-drain detection help prevent wasting of water any time of the year.
EDUCATE END-USERS
Whether your OPL’s end-user is a hotel guest, long-term care facility resident or a customer, they’ll feel good knowing they patronize a facility that’s doing its part to lower energy usage and water consumption.
Your end-user may not be aware of what goes on behind the scenes in the laundry room, so make it clear to clientele what proactive steps the OPL has taken to lower its environmental footprint.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].