Do You Revolve?

Just the other day I was walking back to my office from the bank and saw a sign that I’m sure I’ve seen a million times before, but this time, it caught my attention.  It was a sign that said:

Help Conserve Energy Please Use Revolving Door
No kidding!  Why did I just now see this sign?  Maybe because I’ve been seeing them pop up all over the Richmond area. 

What’s the deal?  Why are the standard doors getting passed up?  And even more important, how does a gentleman hold open a revolving door for a lady?!

While doing some reading on Wikipedia, I found some information on revolving doors.  The article says that “revolving doors are becoming favored because they can be used as an airlock to minimize a buildings heating and air losses.” 

Even MIT did a study on these doors, they found that if everyone switched to using the revolving doors in one building, they would save nearly $7,500 in natural gas a year.  That’s something to take notice.  Looks like I’ll be using revolving doors wherever possible.

And for the men who believe chivalry isn’t dead and want to ‘hold the door open,’ I found the opinion of “Ask LaMont” of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

His response is clean and simple, I like it: “If the revolving door is moving, let her go first and enter the section after her, pushing enough to keep the door moving so that she doesn't have to. But if you're at a revolving door that isn't moving, enter first and push, taking care not too push so fast that you cause her difficulty.”

Be on the lookout for revolving doors to help conserve energy.