KONE announces 50% energy reduction in its volume elevators

Press Release Published 18/11/2010

KONE, one of the leaders in elevator and escalator industry, is proud to announce that it has achieved its 50 percent energy reduction target for new elevators. The ambitious global 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 environmental impact of buildings 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. Today, KONE’s European volume elevators consume 60 percent less energy, Asian volume elevators consume 50 percent less and US volume elevators consume 40 percent less energy.

Since its commercial launch, the KONE MonoSpace elevator family has cumulatively saved the electricity production equivalent of a typical power plant. This figure represents avoiding the consumption of two million barrels of oil, or the emissions of 100,000 cars driving around the world.

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 Heikki Leppänen, EVP, New Equipment Business, KONE.

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:

- July 28, 2010, KONE becomes first company to reach highest energy efficiency rating for its elevators

- June 21, 2010, KONE joins the World Business Council for Sustainable Development

- December 15, 2008, KONE’s new elevators to use 50% less energy by 2010

For further information, please contact:

Anne Korkiakoski, Executive Vice President, Marketing & Communications, KONE.
tel. +358 204 75 4787
email: corporate.communications@kone.com

2010-11-18 KONE announces 50% energy reduction in its volume elevators

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