As the world works to improve buildings, owners and designers are now — and, well, forever, I guess — interested in improving their projects regarding energy use. Yes, builders have always looked for money-saving ideas, but back in the early Golden Days, style and substance seemed to take precedence over all other considerations. That may have been then, but not so much anymore. Nowadays, energy efficiency is the top consideration, and, as author Nick Pipitone posts on real estate resource propmodo, it’s more than HVAC being targeted. “If a building must eventually [achieve] net-zero emissions,” the author says, “energy efficiency will have to encompass almost every part of the property.” So, to what does this point?
Elevators.
Pipitone, in an examination of the vertical-transportation (VT) industry, finds that elevator systems account for “about 2 to 3% of a commercial building’s energy consumption.” In particular, he points to TK Elevator (TKE) Senior Sustainability Manager Monica Miller Brown. As an overseer with TKE, Miller Brown has examined how old-designed VT systems grab or gobble loads of electrical power — up to 10% — among some buildings. Pipitone says his sources find modernized “gearless elevators systems” can decrease noise levels and general energy consumption. This is, in fact, a leading topic for all major VT designers and installers and, like other cost reductions, is constantly increasing money-saving ideas within the world of real estate. Visit propmodo for more on this fascinating examination of up/down riders.
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