Schindler MetaCore: Possible Solution to Office Vacancies

The U.S. office vacancy rate hit a record high of 20.1% in the second quarter of 2024, according to ratings service Moody’s. To combat this, big cities have created incentives for office-to-residential conversions to fill the empty space, but many older buildings have elevator cores that serve only fixed floors for fixed purposes, with no easy way to change their functionality, Engineering News-Record reports. Schindler Elevator’s MetaCore is a suite of operations software and Internet of Things sensors that can react to specific people entering a building and prepare elevators as needed, with service to offices, retail, hotels or residences, optimizing the number of lifts needed. Smartphones, chip cards or temporary access codes can be used to identify users and their likely destinations. MetaCore technology supports a “vertical village” concept that not only allows one core to serve multiple uses, but even opens up individual floors to have both offices and residential sections. The system can also reconfigure the elevator car to custom applications, with different lighting and music playing.