Healthcare Design - January/February 2025 - 24

Best of Sustainability
Waste not, want not
Standard Textile's all-fabric AMY Privacy Curtain is designed to integrate with
existing infrastructures, reducing waste and providing a sustainable solution
How does the product meet users' needs
for both function and sustainability?
We developed a one-piece, all-fabric design
Amy Luttrell
PRIVACY CURTAINS IN healthcare environments are not only time-consuming
and diffi cult to change, but they can also be a source of waste when
parts such as hooks or grommets break, resulting in the entire curtain
needing to be thrown out.
Standard Textile's AMY Privacy Curtain addresses these issues with an
all-fabric design that simplifi es curtain management by eliminating hooks
and carriers, while providing a durable alternative to disposable curtains.
At the 2024 Healthcare Design Conference + Expo, the privacy curtain
caught the attention of jurors in the Nightingale Awards, earning a Gold
Award in the Architectural Products: Non-Clinical category and the Best of
Sustainability Award.
Healthcare Design spoke with Amy Luttrell, supervisor, CORE Textile
Innovation Labs at Standard Textile, about the concept and how it provides
an innovative and sustainable solution for healthcare settings. (She
also contributed a key element of the curtain's design, the " Y-Hook, " for
which she is recognized with her name on the fi nal product.)
Healthcare Design: What was the fi rst step in designing a new
curtain system for healthcare?
Amy Luttrell: Gathering feedback from focus groups and conversations
with clinicians, environmental services, and facilities staff on recurring
pain points, it became obvious that the entire process-from installation
to cleaning-needed to be simplifi ed. Reducing the physical strain on staff
and cutting down the time it took to change curtains were top priorities.
We also knew early on that we wanted the curtain to be fully launderable,
so we focused on removing common failure points like grommets, hooks,
snaps, and carriers. These components not only added complexity but often
caused problems during laundering, such as tearing the mesh and requiring
extra maintenance.
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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025
HCDMAGAZINE.COM
that's fully launderable. Features like the
" Y-Hook, " which slides onto the track in one
smooth motion, and the one-piece endcap for
tool-free curtain changes make the system faster
and easier to use and change out.
The result is a system that not only performs
well but also delivers meaningful sustainability
benefits by eliminating components that frequently
break, extending the life of the product
and reducing waste. Facilities also have the option
to choose eco-friendly fabrics, such as biodegradable
materials or Seaqual fabrics made
from yarns created with marine litter and recovered
ocean plastics.
As a reusable product, it also features panels
that can be replaced individually if stained,
ripped, or torn.
How is the product designed to integrate
with existing curtain systems?
Replacing an entire track system wasn't realistic
for most places-it's costly, disruptive, and
not environmentally friendly. We designed the
AMY Privacy Curtain System to work seamlessly
with most existing traditional track systems.
Using the system is simple. Facilities replace
the track's existing endcap with AMY's onepiece
plastic unit, which flips open for quick,
tool-free curtain changes.
The durable fabric " Y-Hooks " slide onto the
track in one smooth motion, eliminating the
tedious process of hooking each curtain grommet
onto a carrier. Unlike metallic hooks, the
" Y-Hook " moves quietly and smoothly, making
the experience better for both patients and
staff .-RM
PHOTO COURTESY OF STANDARD TEXTILE
http://www.HCDMAGAZINE.COM
Healthcare Design - January/February 2025

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