The maintenance of institutional and commercial facilities has evolved greatly in the last decade in response to pressure to minimize facilities’ impact on the environment. As the University of Pittsburgh is demonstrating, grounds management is no exception.
Leaf removal during the autumn months is a monumental but important task. It also has gotten noticeably quieter in recent years.
The university’s grounds department has been a leader in electrifying small handheld equipment, with approximately 95 percent transitioned from fossil fuels since 2015. Its latest transition to battery-powered backpack leaf blowers is just one of the many sustainability initiatives the university has undertaken in recent years.
Traditional gas-powered leaf blowers produce a considerable amount of noise, ranging from 85-100 decibels. Prolonged noise over 70 decibels can damage hearing, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
By contrast, electric-powered leaf blowers can be as low as 65 decibels — the same decibel level as a normal conversation. In addition to being louder, the two-stroke engines used in gas-powered leaf blowers release large amounts greenhouse gases and carcinogens.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
