Convenience: For a shop owner, these entrances make life easier for customers who have purchased a number of items and are leaving laden with heavy bags, as they do not need to struggle to open the doors on their way out. Equally, when a potential customer strolls by and browses at the shop window, and the door opens automatically as he passes it, this in effect welcomes the window-shopper into the shop.

This principle applies to a number of applications. For a hospital, it is common sense to make life easier for patients and staff to enter and exit. At airports, passengers laden with luggage do not want to be battling with trolleys against stubborn doors - they should open automatically. Similar cases can be made for hotels, apartments and most building types.

Prestige: In today's world, the entrance provides the first impression of a structure. Thus, a building which offers entrance via a hassle-free door that flows with an approaching person definitely imparts a positive impression.

Comfort: The more comfortable a customer feels upon entering or exiting a building the more likely he is to return. Also consider that when a door closes automatically, the internal environment, particularly in proximity to the entrance, is controlled. This increases comfort and effectively extends the usable and useful internal floor space.

Energy savings: The world over, energy saving is becoming increasingly important. It is possible to calculate the energy savings to be achieved through the correct selection of automatic door operation. More and more money is being spent on air-conditioning to achieve the required levels of comfort and therefore it makes increasing sense to minimize the volume of air movement through the doors.

Increased earnings: Potential earnings of the business conducted within the doors of the building can automatically be increased if energy costs are saved, life is made easier for customers and building users, greater levels of comfort are achieved and the usable floor space is effectively extended.

Commercial appreciation: Then, as an overall investment, a project that has the most applicable entrance either revolving or automatic, definitely appreciates in the event of resale. Since it reflects on the overall added features to the building, it gives the structure a higher value as a real estate investment.

Selection criteria

There are numerous factors that should be taken into consideration when selecting the type of entrance for a project. These include: traffic flow, application, energy saving, local support and types of entrances.

Traffic flow: The volume of traffic is one of the main criteria in the selection process since under-specifying the type of operator could result in major breakdowns. When entrances are continuously left open, given the extremes of climatic conditions in this region such as heat, humidity and sand, this automatically has a negative impact on the air-conditioning and dust control, especially in the lobby area and in the overall building.

Application: An automatic door used for an airport is totally different from that used for a computer room or shop - one caters to heavy traffic with mega-sized luggage passing through while the other calls for controlled secured entry.

Again, a hospital has a variety of entrances: main, emergency, operating theatres and interdepartmental entrances and for each area a completely different operator should be applied with the relative actuation devices, sensors, elbow switches, foot switches, push button etc.

Energy saving: The overall energy factor of an entire building is extremely critical in calculating the cost of running it and the installation of an automatic entrance could be a very minor issue. However, if chosen poorly, it can have dramatic consequences.

An entrance that stays open for longer durations results in overworking the air-conditioning system for that specific area. The cost to maintain and service the air-conditioners is far higher than any saving achieved through choosing a low-quality entrance.

Local support: There must be a strong local agent for the door operator, who has been established for a long period of time in the field.

Occasionally, however, the local agent could abuse the fact that he is the sole contact for service and maintenance and charge exorbitant prices for spare parts and labour. Therefore, when choosing the entrance, it is recommended that an annual maintenance contract that includes all parts and labour is secured. Thus, the cost of maintaining the entrance is known and budgeted in advance.

Types: Many models of entrances are currently available which vary in price and application:

Other features

In today's hi-tech era, there are modern and interesting features available which have been developed to assist the end-user:

With the availability of directional sensors, it is possible to count people. This is calculated by receiving a signal from the sensor to indicate if the person is entering or exiting the building and then as he crosses a series of light beams placed across the entrance, a confirmation of passage is received, thus logistics of people entering or leaving a building can be drawn up. This is beneficial in overall management of facilities in terms of air-conditioning, staff, advertising, location of promotional items etc.

The actual entrance can be linked to the main service centre by means of a phone line and, in the event of a non-mechanical malfunction, this can be actually repaired without any inconvenience to the functionality of the building or a technician visiting.

Conclusion

To take advantage of the latest technologies and all the benefits to be gained from automatic doors, it is time that we all start dancing to the new steps - revolve, slide, swing.