New Global Trends in Commercial Restroom Design: A Continuing Education Guide for Design Professionals
Commercial restrooms are undergoing a global transformation, shaped by heightened expectations for cleanliness, wellness, sustainability, and long-term cost efficiency. Design professionals today face more pressure than ever to specify products and systems that meet evolving user needs while aligning with building performance standards such as LEED, WELL, and new client-driven sustainability goals.
To support this growing demand, Excel Dryer has launched a new AIA-approved continuing education course for architects, designers, and facility professionals: New Global Trends in Commercial Restroom Design: Enhancing User Experience, Health, Sustainability and Savings. This AIA-, GBCI-, and IDCEC-approved CEU draws on global survey data from MetrixLab and offers strategies to elevate occupant experience, improve hygiene outcomes, and reduce environmental impact, all while helping design professionals stay ahead of modern restroom expectations.
Register for the first presentation of this Excel Dryer CEU on GreenCE on December 9th at 12 pm EDT.
The Changing Landscape of Commercial Restroom Design
Across industries and regions, expectations for restroom design have shifted dramatically in recent years. According to the MetrixLab global survey highlighted in the New Global Trends in Commercial Restroom Design CEU, users across multiple countries identified cleanliness, hygiene, and touch-free operation as top priorities post-pandemic. Architects and interior designers echoed these findings, noting major increases in demand for cleaning protocols, touchless fixtures, and space in restrooms for social distancing.
Architects and designers in Spain, Germany, Türkiye, and the United States showed overwhelming preference for high-speed, touch-free hand dryers and other automated fixtures, reflecting a worldwide shift toward low-touch restroom environments. These insights emphasize a core takeaway: restrooms are no longer simply functional spaces; they are now essential locations for demonstrating health, safety, and operational excellence.
The New Global Trends in Commercial Restroom Design CEU provides a global perspective on these shifting expectations and equips design professionals with data-supported trends to inform product selection, spatial planning, and overall design strategy.
Prioritizing Health, Wellness, and Hygiene
Health-focused restroom design has become a defining priority across commercial sectors. As the CEU course for architects and designers details, restrooms are high-traffic, high-touch environments that require thoughtful design to reduce germ transmission and support user confidence.
Several innovations highlighted in the New Global Trends in Commercial Restroom Design course can help design professionals meet these global restroom trends:
Touchless Fixtures
Automated faucets, soap dispensers, hand dryers, flush valves, and door systems reduce shared touchpoints and align with ADA accessibility guidelines. The global survey data shows near-universal demand for touchless features among both professionals and building occupants.
Self-Cleaning Faucet Technologies
These advanced commercial bathroom innovations automatically rinse internal components to reduce bacterial buildup and enhance hygiene, especially valuable in healthcare, education, and high-traffic hospitality spaces.
Touchless Partition Systems
Sensor-based locks and automated doors reduce surface contact while improving user comfort, privacy, and flow.
All-in-One Sink Systems
Integrated faucet-soap-dryer systems, like the D|13 Group’s Integrated Sink System featuring our XLERATORsync® Hand Dyrer, minimize drip trails, reduce maintenance requirements, and support health and wellness in restroom design.
Each of these commercial bathroom innovations contributes not only to improved hygienic performance but also to enhanced user experience, a dual priority reflected throughout this CEU course for architects.
Enhancing User Experience by Designing for Sustainability
Sustainability has evolved from a value-add to an essential design requirement. The New Global Trends in Commercial Restroom Design CEU explores how material choices, energy-efficient products, and water-saving technologies can significantly influence a building’s environmental footprint.
Key insights from this CEU course for architects about how to design for sustainability and user experience include:
Minimizing Environmental Impact During the Use Phase
Building materials and restroom products contribute significantly to operational carbon emissions. High-efficiency fixtures such as our high-speed hand dryers with electrostatic HEPA (eHEPA®) filtration can deliver up to a 94% reduction in carbon footprint compared to paper towels according to a recent Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), aligning with LEED and WELL criteria while lowering long-term operating costs and increasing the health and wellness in restroom design.
Supporting Building Performance Certifications
The AIA-approved continuing education course outlines how various commercial bathroom innovations contribute to:
- LEED credits in Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Indoor Environmental Quality, and Materials & Resources
- WELL Building Standard features related to hygiene, comfort, materials, accessibility, and cleaning protocols
Maximizing User Experience Through Smart Design
User experience remains central to sustainability initiatives and global restroom trends. Products that reduce mess, minimize labor, and support intuitive navigation, such as all-in-one sinks or touchless entry systems, improve restroom satisfaction while helping facilities streamline maintenance.
Commercial Bathroom Innovations: Achieving Real-World Savings
One of the Excel Dryer CEU course’s core themes is the integration of sustainability and long-term savings. Through case studies presented in the New Global Trends in Commercial Restroom Design CEU, design professionals gain insight into measurable outcomes achieved through thoughtful product selection:
- America Free Zone, Costa Rica
– The America Free Zone campus is home to 23 companies including Dell, IBM and many more. Sustainability is of utmost importance to them as Costa Rica contains nearly 6% of the world’s biodiversity and is a leader in environmental preservation and green energy production. They aimed to design for sustainability and user experience by installing over 200 hand dryers to contribute to major energy and cost reductions. - Grand Central Terminal, New York
– With approximately 75,000 visitors daily, Grand Central Terminal must focus on cost savings and maintenance. Toilet clogs from paper towels, paper towel mess, and the on-going cost were unbearable for the facility. By replacing the paper towels with hand dryers they realized a 95% cost savings and much better health and wellness in restroom design. - Gillette Stadium
– Gilette Stadium used to spend $50,000 plus a year in paper towels. Their second problem was the time the staff was spending cleaning paper off the floor and refilling dispensers. They switched to hand dryers, installing 125 in their facilities. This freed up the staff’s time to respond more quickly to fan issues.
See how our hand dryers have helped even more facilities!
This Excel Dryer CEU Leads the Way in Architect and Design Education
As commercial restroom expectations evolve worldwide, design professionals need access to credible data, practical strategies, and emerging best practices. The New Global Trends in Commercial Restroom Design CEU provides the insights needed to design spaces that are healthier, more sustainable, and more aligned with user expectations than ever before.
Backed by global research, real-world case studies, and performance-driven solutions, the course empowers architects and designers to make informed decisions that enhance user experience, meet client goals, and support a more sustainable built environment.