by Manish Mehan, CEO & MD, TK Elevator (India)
Elevators have come a long way from a wooden box hooked by a pulley in the 300 B.C to a human-powered, counter-weighted, personal elevator build in 1743, hydraulic crane build in the year 1846, to the 1st electric elevator in the 19th century. The elevator trends have been improvising unfailingly. But what is the future and need of elevators in this regard?
The answer is “Green, energy efficient elevators”. Green Elevator is a trend the elevator industry is following for a few years now. But nevertheless, it is sure that the trend will be followed for a considerable upcoming span as elevator businesses around the planet are putting efforts to build and develop new technologies and designs that are sustainable and consume less energy.
Current innovation trends in the elevator industry
Digital transformation in elevators has come up with primary inventions and advancements such as the launch of:
- Smart elevators such as IoT-based elevators that can monitor performance, make real-time maintenance decisions, provide updated status, advance reporting, control, and monitor the elevator remotely. For instance,MAX technology, which is a game-changing predictive and pre-emptive maintenance solution that extends remote monitoring capabilities to dramatically increase current availability levels of existing and new elevators. Utilizing the power of Microsoft Azure Internet of Things (IoT) technology, MAX predicts maintenance issues before they occur, and empowers elevator engineers by flagging the need to replace components and systems before the end of their lifecycle.
- Machine room-less technology, the MRL elevators use a gearless traction machine located in the hoistway moving the cab through the hoistway.
- TWIN elevator system consists of two cabs that operate in the same shaft independent of each other. Both cabs operate under the same intelligent group control system and are equipped with an innovative quadruple redundancy safety system. It uses less energy while transporting more passengers than conventional elevators.
- Likewise, AGILE Destination Selection Control (DSC) improves system efficiency and passenger experience by effectively shortening wait and travel times. Compared to conventional elevator control systems, the AGILE DSC increases passenger handling capacity by up to 30%, minimizes passengers’ travel times to their destination and reduces crowding in lift lobbies. DSC also allows for much more flexibility in elevator grouping, lift core layouts and overall building design.
- Sheer speed elevators that can manage to go from ground floor to top floor within minutes be it one of the tallest buildings in the world.
- Transit management solutions for elevators that optimize travel time and make the elevator more user-friendly and sustainable.
- AI elevators that can provide real-time insights, productive maintenance, and enable communication in elevators.
- All these innovations have transformed the trends in the elevator industry. Digital innovation has enhanced technology like data, extended reality technology, algorithms, and detectors to reach efficiency and safety for the consumer.
Expectations of Green elevators in the upcoming year
The studies show that green elevators, eco-friendly designs, and machine room-less elevators have provided a broader range of possibilities in the elevator industry’s growth. Technologies like transit management solutions, that optimize travel time in buildings make them more user-friendly, flexible, and sustainable. Smart elevators that have connectivity to the user or the monitor ensure the safety and convenience of the elevator. Machine room-less technology, the MRL elevators are likely to use up to 80% less energy than hydraulic lifts without oil-filled underground cylinders’ outlay and environmental hazards. Furthermore, the regenerative elevators don’t just consume less energy but regenerate electricity and reverse it back to the building’s electrical system. Improve Control features in the green elevators, there is usually a difference between the elevator’s weight capacity and the counterweight. Green elevator technology’s primary goal is to shorten these light loads through precision traffic control, management of interior lighting, and other energy-burning factors.
Bottomline
In future as well, the elevator industry is going to be more focused on the technological and sustainable aspects of elevators. But the focus is going to be the Green Elevators and the improvements to be made in these elevators to uplift the elevator industry help provide a sustainable livelihood and reduce energy consumption. Elevators have been a consistent factor of innovation and upgrading be it in terms of technology, design, and user-friendliness. Which raises the anticipations of the users to another level with the upcoming year. And the elevator industry is working hard to provide the same.
