Lifting Up and Carrying On

So much of the world watched when, on 6 May, the coronation of King Charles III took place at Westminster Abbey. The history-making event’s patriotism, pageantry and tradition captured the attention and fascination of so many of us around the globe. There are few things in the modern world that have had such continuity and steadiness as the British monarchy. Maybe that makes this issue’s Focus on Sustainability fitting and timely for a variety of reasons. 

Generally, when we speak of sustainability in the vertical-transportation (VT) industry, it is with eyes on how we will build in the future. It is unlikely that we will go back to low-rise buildings that take up land needed to feed the world’s growing population. So, we will continue to build taller on a smaller footprint, and the need for elevators will be ever present. 

The key 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? These buildings will have to be energy neutral, people friendly and function flexible.

It seems that many in the VT industry are thinking about this subject as we have six articles that focus either on sustainability in buildings or in their company.

• Environmental Impact of Lifts: the EPD by Giuseppe Iotti. The author reviews the environmental product declaration and its geographical variations and trends.
• Using Circular Economy Business Models and Life Cycle Assessment to Improve the Sustainability of Elevators by Marco Tomatis, et al. The goal of the study was to assess the environmental impact of refurbishing an elevator drive versus installing a new drive.
• Elevators and the Environment by Fernando Guillemi and Alea Guillemi. Your authors examine how pollution by carbon dioxide and contamination by spills can be avoided. They also examine the human resources used from sales to after sales. 
• Challenges Facing Office Landlords in the Path to Net Zero submitted by City Road Communications. Half of U.K. office landlords believe the office market is falling behind on environmental policies and half call for help. 
• Lifting the Planet by Lindsay Fletcher. Apex Lifts discuss its process in achieving sustainability certification. 
• The Sustainability of Lift Modernisation submitted by ZIEHL-ABEGG. The company offers sustainable solutions, including improving energy efficiency in the elevator system. 

Also in this issue, we put a spotlight on several lift companies that have seen the benefit of carrying on tradition, knowledge sharing and innovation. 

• In All in the Family by Lindsay Fletcher, we highlight Sheridan Lifts, one of the U.K.’s largest independent lift companies. It is a third-generation family business that has been serving the industry for more than 40 years. 
• In Gaining Insight by Sean O’Sullivan, members of the Platform Lift City Operations team visit Sweden-based Motala Hissar AB as part of ongoing product training and career development.
• Our new EWUK correspondent, Madeleine Olausson, reports on SafeLine’s newest products in We Have Liftoff! The company introduced ORION and LYRA in grand fashion at London’s Peter Harrison Planetarium to about 100 guests in late March.

There is so much more in this issue, including a conversation with Otis Market Group Lead U.K. and Nordics Andy Bierer about VT market trends, and the articles of our regular columnists, Colin Craney, Mark Woods and Thomas Salter, who continue to outdo themselves. Speaking of excellent people, consider nominating an outstanding VT industry expert to our second annual U.K. People Issue, which will be featured in the next issue.