Material shortages are decreasing in the EU building sector, but labor scarcity remains a challenge, according to banking and financial services company ING. This is very much the same story in the U.S. Within the building industry, elevator technicians are a profession; they are the fourth highest-paid people on a construction site, topped only by safety site managers, civil engineers and construction superintendents. The population in the EU is also aging, so training young technicians/engineers quickly is important to keep up with retirees.
Renovations are growing due to sustainability work, which, in turn, makes the sector less volatile. Therefore, only a modest decline is expected in 2023. The difference between sustainable buildings and green buildings is that sustainable buildings operate with all three sustainability pillars in mind (people, planet and profit), whereas green buildings focus solely on the environment. What does that mean? Buildings will have to be energy neutral, people friendly and function flexible. The future of the world we live in may well depend on how we build in the future. Let’s face it, we are not going back to low-rise buildings that take up more land. We need the land to feed the world’s growing population. So, we are clearly going up.
The war in Ukraine may slow construction briefly in 2023, but most signs point to continued growth. The European construction market value was about US$2624.17 billion in 2022 and is predicted to grow 4.9% by 2028.
This issue contains several fascinating interviews.
“Is There Even More?” Author Undine Stricker-Berghoff speaks with Oliver Simmonds, principal engineer at Schindler, who talks about how 3-D printing will be used in the elevator industry.
Meeting Demands, Rising to Challenges. Our Kaija Wilkinson talks with Andy Bierer, Otis Market Group Lead U.K. and Nordics and MD U.K., who states, “Who wins the war for talent will be a deciding factor for the future.”
Stricker-Berghoff talks with another Otis leader in “The Next Generation Secures Our Future Life.” Udo Hoffmann, Central Europe Market Group lead and chair of Management Board of Otis Germany, talks about the service portfolio in Europe, digitalization, sustainability and how the future looks to him.
Our Focus Topic this issue, Cabs and Design, is highlighted in three articles:
Sea and Sky by Wilkinson. On Camera in the W Barcelona Hotel in Spain highlights the elevators by FAIN Ascensores, a partner with Mitsubishi.
A Mix of Old and New by Olivier Rouviére. The twin towers in La Defense, Paris, house an increasing number of bankers. Otis is handling the elevator modernization project in both fully occupied and functional office buildings.
Vertical Transportation Awareness, Inclusiveness and Design Approach Matter in the Global Frame by Magdalena Krstanoski. This paper was first presented at the International Elevator & Escalator Symposium (IEES) in Barcelona, Spain.
Features this issue include:
Tower ONE at Frankfurt Outgrows Itself by Stricker-Berghoff. Started in 2018, the ONE Tower was finished in July 2022 with 21 elevator systems from KONE, 10 powered by UltraRope.
WOW by Olga Quintanilla Marful. TK Elevators provides accessibility to a new WOW Concept Shopping Center, transforming the old Hotel Roma in Madrid, Spain.
A number of papers from the 2022 IEES are in this book:
Elevators and the Environment by Fernando Guillemi and Alea Guillemi. The authors examine how pollution by carbon dioxide and contamination by spills can be avoided.
Analytical Method for Defining Requirements for Elevator Rescue by Hilkka Hämäläinen and Jaakko Kalliomäki. Analysis was needed to access the probability and severity of various rescue scenarios.
Many other articles and news items are in this issue, including a report on Iran’s 12th International Seminar on Elevators and Escalators, where both elevator unions and universities were present.
We hope you enjoy this issue of ELEVATOR WORLD Europe. Let me know either way.
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