When you look at the long term, KONE solutions provide lower total cost of ownership, due to their energy-efficiency. KONE Eco-efficient™ solutions can help you reduce the elevators’ and escalators’ energy consumption by as much as three-quarters. Over the lifetime of the equipment, the savings can amount to more than the cost of the equipment itself.
KONE’s product lifecycle analyses show that most of our products’ carbon footprint is created when they are operated, not when they are constructed. Therefore, improving the environmental efficiency of our solutions by reducing their need for energy and oil is a key issue for us.
Energy-saving hoisting solutions. The heart of our eco-efficient solutions, the KONE EcoDisc® hoisting machine, introduced in 1996, uses significantly less energy than conventional hydraulic or traction 2 speed drives.
Recovering energy. Our regenerative systems can recover up to 25% of the total energy used by an elevator and for example use it as one energy source for lighting the building.
Standby energy saving. Up to 80% of an elevator’s energy consumption occurs when the elevator is idle. We have developed solutions that, at a preset time after the car has been used, turn off the lights and fan and switch the signalization to standby mode. In the case of KONE escalators, a good way to save energy is to run the escalators at standby speed or in on-demand start mode when they’re not in use. Tests show this can save up to 30% of the energy used.
Preserving warm and cool air. For automatic building doors, we offer various solutions to reduce the loss of warm or cool air from the building, making the building heating or cooling more energy efficient.
Energy-efficient lighting. LED lights consume 80% less energy than halogen lights. If every elevator, escalator and automatic door light in a major city was replaced with LED lights, it would save thousands of megawatt hours a year.
Less oil and hazardous substances. In addition to saving energy, KONE Eco-efficient™ solutions use less oil than standard elevators and escalators. We also avoid using hazardous substances in our solutions.