In this episode of the Sustainability Solved Podcast, we are looking into the environmental impact of something we may not usually give a second thought to – elevators.  

Half of the world’s population lives in cities and that number is expected to increase to 70% in 2050. As pressure on city space continues to rise, we are increasingly building upwards for our office spaces and homes, meaning we need efficient vertical transportation that doesn’t cost the earth.  

We are joined by Dr Paula Casares, Global Head of ESG at TK Elevator, and Mark Bashford, director of The Lift Consultancy, who explain the improvements made in the development of elevators to reduce their energy usage and environmental impact. 

Highlights 

• Mark estimates that approximately 70% of the lifts in the UK market are using older technology and are therefore not energy efficient.  
• Elevators transport over 1 million people every day and can account for up to 10% of the energy consumption of a building. 
• Paula’s company launched a project to become the first ever organisation to retrofit an existing elevator to achieve net-zero energy.  
• Mark tells us about destination dispatch, a system where everyone going to the same floor gets in the same lift to decrease the number of stops the elevator must make, therefore reducing energy usage.  
• The elevator industry has responded to the growing need for sustainable solutions by developing elevator models that consume less energy. Additionally, new elevators are using less materials to make its construction lighter. 
• Paula explains how sustainability and digitalisation are no longer separate entities, and how TK Elevator views digitalisation as one level further in its reduction of its carbon footprint. 

Resources  

TK Elevator 

The Lift Consultancy 

EOX: TK Elevator’s new eco-efficient and digitally native elevator platform 

The World’s Cities in 2016 

Mentioned in this episode:

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