Wash Appointed Kone Vice President

Americas

KONE has appointed Larry G. Wash executive vice president responsible for the Americas. He succeeds Vance Tang, who has decided to leave KONE to pursue other interests. Wash’s latest role was as president of Global Services for the Climate Solutions sector of Ingersoll Rand, leading a US$3-billion business in 60 countries. Previously, he served as vice president of service and contracting business for Trane within North and Latin America, and in various leadership roles with Xerox and Eastman Kodak. Wash holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Wayne State University in Michigan, an MS in Electrical Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York and an MBA from Stanford University in Stanford, California.

Wash was also made a member of the company’s executive board and reports to Matti Alahuhta, KONE president and CEO. Alahuhta said of him, “[Wash] has been very successful in developing and leading demanding businesses in various geographies and different market conditions. He brings a wealth of valuable experience to KONE.”

Australia

Appointment Of Aea Executive Director

   The Australian Elevator Association (AEA) appointed Noel Smith MIAEE, MLESA as its executive director. Smith has worked in various positions throughout his career in the lift industry. He is a member of the Australian Standards ME4 and the AEA Technical committees. Smith will continue his role as director and specialist code consultant with Pitfield & Associates Pty. Ltd., a company he established with others in 2006. Smith’s immediate goals as executive director will be to explain the benefits of AEA membership to companies within the industry, increase awareness of the AEA to those outside the industry and increase the profile of the AEA throughout Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Rim.

Canada

Yaskawa Acquires Wermac Electric

In September, the Drives & Motion Division of Yaskawa America Inc. announced the acquisition of Wermac Electric Ltd. of Calgary. The companies have partnered for 25 years, with the latter having marketed variable-speed drives and electrical controls to the oil and gas industry. Wermac Electric has grown over the years by providing software and packaging solutions centered on Yaskawa drives, as well as on-site service for that industry. Yaskawa also provides its drives and power converters to the elevator and escalator market.

The new division will be known as Yaskawa Wermac and located at the former Wermac Electric facility in Calgary. Yaskawa Wermac is now a division of Yaskawa Motoman Canada, which is a subsidiary of Yaskawa America, Inc. Mark Bernicky, vice president of Drives, will be responsible for integrating Yaskawa Wermac into the Yaskawa family of companies. Mike Knapek, president and chief operating officer of Yaskawa America, Motion and Drives Division, claims, “This will allow for better service for our joint customers with greater resources located locally.” According to the company, all key personnel have been retained. Jim MacKinnon, former president of Wermac Electric and now director of Oilfield Operations for Yaskawa Wermac, stated:

“The existing management team, sales team and production team will make a noticeable contribution to Yaskawa’s growth and our line of industry solutions, while expanding Yaskawa’s current offerings in the energy industry.”

China

Thyssenkrupp Elevator To Supply Hong Kong Terminus

ThyssenKrupp Elevator has been awarded a contract to supply equipment for the West Kowloon Terminus project in Hong Kong. The order includes 73 escalators and eight moving walks. All installations will feature an energy-saving system that reduces their speed when there are no passengers. Depending on passenger volumes, this can create energy savings of up to 60%. Most of the 15-level rail terminus’ 380,000 m² is underground. The Hong Kong section of the Express Rail Link will operate at up to 200 kph and connect Hong Kong with Beijing along a 2,000-km-plus route. When completed in 2015, the facility will be capable of handling approximately 99,000 passengers per day.

LEED Building Opens In Hong Kong

Hysan Place, a 710,000-sq.-ft high rise in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay, opened in September. According to World Architecture News, it is the first building in Hong Kong to be pre-certified at Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Platinum, LEED’s highest level. It reportedly serves as the first Grade-A office building opened in Causeway Bay in 15 years. Also including 17 floors of retail space, the 36-story (plus four basement levels) building’s design by international architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates is intended to enhance occupier health and productivity via enhanced day lighting, individual occupant control of natural ventilation and public access to sky gardens. Operational CO₂ emissions are also reduced.

Savaria Equips Hainan East Railway Station

Savaria Corp. has secured a contract to supply 27 Omega wheelchair lifts throughout nine East Railway stations in Hainan Island. The stainless-steel lifts were made in Savaria’s Huizhou factory and are being installed this fall. The units feature a space-saving folding platform that travels on a guide rail attached to the stairs. According to Sebastian Bourassa, president of Savaria Huizhou, “The Hainan line was built to make the [island] accessible to thousands of tourists every day. Now, the island will be even more accessible to those with mobility challenges.”

Lerch Bates Opens New Office In Shanghai

In September, Lerch Bates (China) Ltd. opened its new office in Shanghai, marking the company’s first office in the Asia Pacific region. Located in the Jing An Central Business District, Lerch Bates (China) will provide vertical-transportation, façade- access and materials-management/handling consulting. Bart Stephan, president of Lerch Bates, said the firm has worked with Chinese and American architectural firms on a number of projects throughout the Asia Pacific region, including the CCTV Tower in Beijing. “This expansion established a strong foothold that is an important step toward the growth of our global consulting business,” Stephan said.

Thyssenkrupp Elevator Training Mission

In September, ThyssenKrupp Elevator (China) announced the debut of its new training approach, which involves traveling between its branches via trucks to train technicians. The first truck recently made its voyage to six of the company’s branches in the East and North regions of China, visiting Hefei, Zhengzhou, Shijiazhuang, Beijing, Yantai and Qingdao. More than 100 local service technicians attended theoretical and practical training courses. After a short maintenance period, the truck began its second round trip to the branches in the Northwest and Southwest regions of China.

This is among the first such training facilities to take place in China. The truck’s interior is equipped with all essential training devices on the first floor, including ThyssenKrupp Elevator’s most widely used components in the Chinese market. The retractable second level is used as a media classroom. The truck also features GPS and remote video monitoring to ensure SEED Campus Asia Pacific, the company’s training campus in Shanghai, can track its exact location and training activities at all times. This approach helps cut down staff costs and reduces lost working time by bringing the trainers, classrooms and materials to the technicians instead of engineers and technicians traveling to a training campus.

Europe

Tallest Buildings

Five of the 10 tallest skyscrapers in Europe are currently located in Moscow, including the tallest building in Europe, called Mercury City. According to Emporis, Moscow has 87 buildings that are at least 100 m tall or have more than 40 floors. The height of the London-based skyscraper The Shard (ELEVATOR WORLD, May 2012), inaugurated in July and celebrated as Europe’s tallest building with a height of 310 m, has been overshadowed by Mercury City. After its completion, Mercury City will be nearly 29 m taller than its London counterpart. Though the three tallest European buildings are all at least 300 m tall, the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper with a height of 828 m, is more than twice as tall as Mercury City.

Europe’s tallest skyscrapers

France

Otis Announces Maintenance Contract

Otis France has received a 10-year contract to maintain 105 units at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Otis has been the maintenance provider for four of the buildings that comprise the European Parliament since the main building opened in 1999. The contract includes 23 Gen2 elevators with ReGen drives, 43 Otis 2000 H elevators, 13 Otis escalators and 12 elevators designed for handicap accessibility.

Pierre Dejoux, president, Otis North Europe and Africa Area, said:

“Otis has a long history with the urban community of Strasbourg and was the original service provider for the Strasbourg Parliament in 1978. We are pleased to continue our partnership with the official seat of the European Parliament and remain dedicated to delivering [a high] standard of service and expertise.”

Germany

Thyssenkrupp Elevator Appoints Executive Board Member

The Supervisory Board of Thyssen- Krupp Elevator AG recently appointed Gabriele Sons to its executive board. Sons was CEO of the Metal Industry Employers’ Association until July 31. She also served on the management boards of ThyssenKrupp Industrial Services Holding GmbH and ThyssenKrupp Industrieservice GmbH. Having spent many years in various positions in the elevator sector, Sons is well acquainted with the elevator-technology business.

Interlift Forum Call For Papers

Interlift 2013 will be promoting its speakers’ forum for all attendees of the exhibition on October 15-18, 2013. Both exhibitors and visitors are encouraged by organizer VFA-Interlift e.V. to hold a lecture lasting approximately 20 min., with a following 10-min. discussion period at the Augsburg, Germany, event. The deadline for papers, including the speaker’s name, company/institution, contact information and an abstract in both English and German are due by April 12, 2013. For more information and a list of topics, contact Anja Gietz of VFA-Interlift at Rahlau 62, D-22045, Hamburg, Germany; phone: (49) 0-40-727301-50; fax: (49) 0-40-727301-60; e-mail: anja.gietz@vfa-interlift.de; or website: www.vfa-interlift.de.

India

Schindler Escalator Plant Near Pune

In September, Schindler announced its plans to build a new 160,000-m² facility in the Chakan Industrial Estate near Pune. The manufacturing plant will produce Schindler escalators for the Indian market, which the company currently serves through its China and European facilities. Scheduled to open in early 2014, the plant will also be home to an R&D center and an elevator factory. Schindler CEO Jürgen Tinggren said, “The new plant will enable Schindler to provide escalators at more competitive conditions for the local market.”

Plans For New Kone Factory

According to Zeenews.india.com, KONE has plans to invest in a new factory in Chennai, India, by 2014. CEO of KONE Matti Alahuhta said the company expects the rate of urbanization in India to double in the next 15 months, and the new factory would meet the growing demand of the Indian market. Alahuhta continued to explain that the existing factory there has become too small. KONE started business in India more than 25 years ago and currently has 3,175 employees in the country.

Design Tour Looks At Future

This year, United Technologies Corp. India Pvt. Ltd. hosted exclusive thought leadership forums for architects in Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata. The theme, “Values of Sustainability,” focused on the future of sustainability and its role in new buildings and developing cities to add positive thrust and impetus to the nation’s real-estate market. The Mumbai edition of the “Design Tour” featured architects from both India and abroad, including industry think tanks and real-estate developers.

As India’s economy grows and it adds an estimated 250 million people to its cities by 2030, it will need to spend US$1.2 trillion, with much of that sum going into urban housing/buildings. The Design Tour investigated ways to ensure energy and environmental sustainability without compromising this kind of economic and social progress. The tour provided a platform to discuss breakthroughs in building design, science and technology for designers, builders, operators and owners to help maximize both the economic and environmental potential of their buildings.

Architect Karan Grover, principal of Karan Grover & Associates, explained:

“To design a green and sustainable building is no longer the purview of a single architect; it is a collaborative effort of all the stakeholders – architects, consultants, manufacturers and an informed client that can bring about this absolutely pivotal and vital paradigm shift.”

Sustainable building development is on the rise in India. According to The Indian Green Building Council, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design construction had a 20,000-sq.-ft. footprint in the country in 2003, which has grown to 1.21 billion sq. ft in the past nine years. One way United Technologies is promoting green buildings is with its machine-room-less Gen2 elevator with ReGen module, which can improve energy efficiency by up to 75% compared to that of conventional elevator systems.

Middle East

Elevator Market On Rise In The GCC

The elevator market in the Gulf Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) is showing an upturn. In September, Constructionweekonline.com interviewed Syed Shamsul Haq, general manager of the elevators division at Al-Futtaim Engineering. Haq explained with the recent spike in construction activity, the elevator market is picking up. “The three main active markets are U.A.E., Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with large-scale construction projects accompanied by corresponding demand for elevators and escalators,” Haq said. Research shows Saudi Arabia is currently the largest market, with Qatar offering opportunities that are expected to grow over the next few years when projects are launched in preparation for the 2022 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup. Haq continued:

“The U.A.E. market is slowly shrugging off the effects of the global downturn and should pick up steam in mid 2013. Recent research reports indicate [several] construction contracts are likely to be awarded this year in the U.A.E. – an increase of 26.57% compared to last year.”

Philippines

Century Property Developments

Developer Century Properties is investing PHP34 billion (US$813.18 million) for the construction of four projects in Manila. According to ABS-CBNnews.com, the projects include Century City, Azure Urban Resort Residences, Acqua Private Residences and The Residences at Commonwealth.

The PHP15-billion (US$358.82-million) Century City, to be located in Makati, will have four high-rise residential buildings, of which one is scheduled to be completed by December. The PHP8-billion (US$191.57-million) Azure Urban Resort Residences will be located in Parañaque City, and three of its buildings are to be completed within the next 18 months. In Mandaluyong City, Century is building the PHP7-billion (US$ 167.42-million) Acqua Private Residences. The PHP4-billion (US$95.79-million) The Residences at Commonwealth, one of Century’s latest developments, will be located in Quezon City and feature eight mid-rise condominium buildings.

Sweden

Kone To Provide Units For Mall Of Scandinavia

KONE has received an order to deliver and install 33 elevators and 40 escalators at the Mall of Scandinavia, which is currently under construction. The mall is located in the new city district Arenastaden in Solna, and nearly three million people live within a 90-min. drive of the mall. Contractor Peab chose KONE to help the mall achieve a Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method Excellent certification and connect shoppers with the seven floors of the mall’s retail and parking area. The order includes 38 TravelMaster® escalators, two KONE TravelMaster inclined moving walks, 13 MonoSpace® elevators and 20 TranSys® service elevators to accommodate roller cages and pallets for restocking. Installation of the units will begin in 2013, and the mall’s inauguration is scheduled for 2015.

U.A.E.

Schindler To Equip Dubai International Airport

The Dubai Airport Authority has awarded Schindler UAE a contract to supply vertical-transportation equipment for Concourse 4 at the Dubai International Airport. The order calls for 45 machine-room-less elevators, 43 escalators and six moving walks. Schindler opted for energy-saving features for the escalators and special-application freight elevators. The airport is expected to be completed by fourth quarter 2014, which is when Concourse 4 is to be completed, serving foreign airlines. Wassim Aboushaar, executive managing director Middle East, congratulated Neville Lobo, managing director of Schindler UAE, and Abdul Gulam, area sales manager – Escalator Division, and the rest of the team involved in securing the project amidst strong competition.

U.K.

Cooper Awarded Cibse Silver Medal

David Cooper, managing director of Consulting Engineers LECS (UK) Ltd. and regular ELEVATOR WORLD contributor, has been awarded the Silver Medal by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE). Cooper has been a member of CIBSE since the 1980s and, over the years, held membership grades of Student, Associate Member, Member and Fellow. The award is given to individuals for their contribution to the institution over a period of at least 15 years. Cooper is a past chairman of the Lifts Group (1996) and has sat on the executive board since the early 1990s. As a supporter of young engineers, Cooper also sits on the Training & Development Committee and regularly undertakes assessments of corporate graduate schemes for the institution. In 2007, he formed the Lift Academy as part of the Lifts Group to present seminars to young engineers in the vertical-transportation industry around the U.K.

Cooper has also been a lead author and steering group member of CIBSE Guide D Transportation Systems in Buildings for the 2000, 2005 and 2010 editions. Cooper is a regular speaker at regional and national events. In 1995, he served on the council of the institution, representing associate members. The Silver Award is restricted to being presented to a maximum of three persons per annum and is one of the institution’s highest awards.

Future London Skyscrapers

London Loves Business has compiled a list of future skyscrapers in London. The projects include the 53-story Beetham Tower in Blackfriars, known as “the Boomerang,” to include apartments and a hotel; the 63-story Columbus Tower in Canary Wharf, to become the tallest building in London’s docklands and include a hotel, apartments, a rooftop bar, restaurant and health center; the 44-story 360 London tower in Elephant and Castle, to include 470 homes, cafés and an auditorium; the 42-story Stratford 150 High Street residential building, known as “Spirit of Stratford”; and Manhattan Loft Gardens, a 42-story apartment complex, also to be built in Stratford.

Northern Industrial’s Website Supports Elevator Industry

Northern Industrial Electronics Ltd., a manufacturer of automation parts and repairs of Lancashire, now offers a new website feature for the elevator industry. The feature will provide users with information they need regarding the replacement of AC inverter drives, which can be more cost efficient than buying rare or end-of-life parts. Northern launched its new website in June, and so far more than 4,000 inverters have been matched with recommended replacements. The compare feature allows users to see how two drives match up against one another.

According to David Lenehan, director of business development at Northern:

“We have matched the drives on important characteristics such as kW rating, amp rating and supply voltage, as well as phase and whether the inverter uses positive or negative logic. Users can also compare a range of other features including communication networks, the physical dimensions of the inverter drive and input/output capabilities.”