Elevators can save energy, carbon and time. Just ask Adam Daly of KONE.
The world of elevators is a sensitive one. These small vertical transportation devices can be alarming to anyone who’s claustrophobic – or worse, has been trapped in one. And then there’s a story of one new elevator system in Sydney (not a Kone lift) that was so fast it made people ill and had to be slowed.
In general, the people who build and operate these systems are happy for their products to do their job well and to keep a low, safe profile.
That could now be changing.
According to Adam Daly, director of modernisation Australia and New Zealand for KONE, a company that’s been in Australia since the 80s, elevators are being called upon to do much more than they have in the past.
They can now be a part of the energy and sustainability transition, and they can also help run the building efficiently, whether it’s an office or residential tower.
And they can also help keep existing buildings viable, Daly says.
Around 80 per cent of the world’s buildings that will exist in 2050 are already built, he notes.
“It’s very expensive to build a new building today, so we’re kind of left with an aging fleet. We feel as though there’s a big opportunity to contribute heavily to cutting carbon and cutting emissions pretty significantly with a lot of this older equipment.”
An elevator is a big investment both financially and carbon-wise.
With energy consumption of between 2 and 10 per cent of a building’s energy they can have an impact on a NABERS Energy rating, and the savings in carbon can also be added as a positive contribution, which improves the attractiveness for both tenants and investors.
Daly says the housing shortage is another factor adding to the drive to keep and refurbish older buildings, with elevators part of the deal, saving time and money.
“With a full lift replacement, you’re removing the entire existing system and bringing in multiple new packages for a completely new installation. In contrast, an upgrade focuses only on the key electronic and mechanical components rather than the structural steel, meaning far fewer materials are required—typically around 30 per cent of what a full replacement would involve. This approach can extend the equipment lifecycle and be approximately 30-50 per cent cost effective compared to a full lift replacement.”
The savings in embodied carbon are up to 78 per cent, he claims.
The speed of work also comes into it. “With our most basic control system upgrade, we can now complete that upgrade within a week”
The constant march of technology doesn’t stop there, though.
Predictive maintenance using artificial intelligence is a big advantage.
“It’s a lot smarter than what it has been previously, and we’ve got much better visibility on how the equipment is operating.”
It can also be very useful in an emergency.
“If people are stuck in a lift, we could be releasing them within 60 seconds, as opposed to the old way of doing things [when we would] send a technician and by the time they get through Sydney traffic…it could be 30 minutes, it could be 60 minutes by the time those people are released.”
Another technological advantage is UltraRope, a lightweight carbon fibre rope that saves a lot of energy, doesn’t break and goes up to a kilometre in length, without needing to be replaced in any foreseeable timeframe.
Part of the deal for the company though is to develop the kind of relationship with the client that can make best use of the technology.
Predictive maintenance is well worth the investment he says, but the client needs to be convinced.
(And as we all know, mid tier building owners or managers are hard to convince to spend money on improving their asset.)
A regenerative drive, for instance, which is very common, doesn’t come with a huge premium
Another part of the tech is the role that elevators play in a high rise building with the ability to smooth traffic management. Facial recognition, for instance, can give lifts the ability to organise availability according to where people need to go.
“You could enter the building, it will detect who you are, and it will basically call an elevator for you, tell you where to go, and you walk into the lift, and it takes you up to your floor.”
If the two big societal trends are digitisation and sustainability, Daly says, “it’s nice to have technology and solutions that align with those.”
