Chicago – November 17, 2010 - KONE, one of the leaders in elevator and escalator industry, is proud to announce that it has achieved its 50% energy reduction target for new elevators at Greenbuild, the world’s largest expo devoted to green building. The ambitious target was set in 2008 and covers the clear majority of KONE elevators delivered globally.
By reducing the energy consumption of elevators, KONE seeks to reduce the impact of buildings on the environment which account for 40 percent of global energy consumption. KONE’s new range of volume elevators that are currently offered consume 50 percent less energy than the typical KONE elevator configuration from 2006.
In 2006, KONE MonoSpace® in Europe consumed 2200 – 2500 kWh per year, and KONE 3000X MiniSpace™ in Asia 6000 -7000 kWh per year in Asia while KONE EcoSpace in the U.S. consumed 3000 -3500 kWh per year. Today, the consumption is 900 – 1100 kWh/year in Europe, 3000 – 3500 kWh/year in Asia and 1900 – 2200 kWh/year in the US.
Since its commercial launch, the KONE Machine Room-Less elevator family has cumulatively saved the electricity production equivalent of a typical power plant. This figure represents avoiding the consumption of 2,000,000 barrels of oil, or the emissions of 100,000 cars driving the earth's circumference (40,074 km).
The reduction has been achieved by new technologies developed by KONE and its suppliers, such as more efficient motors, the use of regenerative technologies that recover the energy from ascending and descending elevators as well as more efficient lighting and standby solutions.
For example, the KONE EcoDisc hoisting machine consumes 50–70 percent less energy than conventional elevator motors. A vector-controlled regenerative drive is a new technology KONE has introduced that recovers braking energy and supplies it to the building’s power network. Regenerative drives can recover up to 35 percent of an elevator’s total energy consumption. Additionally, most of KONE’s new elevators have LED lights that use up to 80 percent less energy than conventional halogen lighting solutions.
“I am proud that we have set ourselves a challenging target and focused our efforts into achieving it. We truly feel that our energy-efficient elevators are a significant improvement for our customers,” says Vance Tang, KONE EVP and Area Director for the Americas.
KONE’s measurement process follows the VDI 4707 guidelines published by the German Association of Engineers (VDI), who aim at classifying elevators based on building type and energy consumption. The energy consumption of an elevator depends on a building type, number of starts, speed and load.
Previous press releases concerning KONE’s corporate responsibility are available at www.kone.com including:
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July 28, 2010, KONE becomes first company to reach highest energy efficiency rating for its elevators
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June 21, 2010, KONE joins the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
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December 15, 2008, KONE’s new elevators to use 50% less energy by 2010
For further information, please contact:
Kellie Lindquist
Marketing Manager
Phone: 630-955-4202
About KONE
KONE is one of the global leaders in the elevator and escalator industry. The company has been committed to understanding the needs of its customers for the past century, providing industry-leading elevators, escalators and automatic building doors as well as innovative solutions for modernization and maintenance. The company's objective is to offer the best People Flow experience by developing and delivering solutions that enable people to move smoothly, safely, comfortably and without waiting in buildings in an increasingly urbanizing environment. In 2009, KONE had annual net sales of EUR 4.7 billion and approximately 34,000 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd in Finland. Founded in 1910, KONE celebrates its centennial anniversary in 2010.
www.kone.com