Winning “Hack The Code” Elevator Entry Prompts NYC DoB Bulletin

In 2020, CEC Elevator Cab Corp. of Bronx, New York, was one of four winners of the NYC Department of Buildings (DoB) inaugural Innovation Challenge, a competition with two categories — “Carbon Neutrality” and “Hack the Building Code” — that garnered 80 submissions. CEC’s Sterilyft elevator air purification system was honored in the latter category, prompting DoB to issue a technical bulletin, Buildings Bulletin 2021-015, in October 2021 allowing the technology to be used in the city. DoB Press Secretary Andrew Rudansky tells ELEVATOR WORLD that such bulletins don’t endorse a specific product or company, but rather set forth that a manufacturer meets certain specifications. “Pursuant to AC-113.2.2, this bulletin establishes criteria for the safe usage of self-contained air-circulating systems installed in elevator cabs as an alternative to the Code,” he says. The submission window for the 2021 “Hack the Building Code” Innovation Challenge is open through November 3, and Rudansky says, “We are certainly hoping to get more elevator-related submissions.”