Product category:
Lifts and Stairlifts
News Release from: Pickerings Lifts Europe | Subject: Lift provision: going 'green'
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 24 January 2008
Lift provision: going 'green'
Pickerings Lifts looks at what are the issues to be considered in operating lifts in a socially responsible manner.
The pressure is on today, as never before, for organisations to show their green credentials Customers, partners and shareholders alike all want to be associated with a business that is seen to be playing its part in protecting the environment
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 1 Feb 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
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So what are the issues to be considered in operating lifts in a socially responsible manner?.
With lifts, as with any product in common use in a commercial or domestic environment, the potential environmental impact is likely to have implications on both the manufacturer and the operator.
Equally, consideration must be given to each stage of the lift's life, from initial design and manufacture, through maintenance to eventual disposal.
Further reading
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Compliance.
The volume and range of legislation impacting directly or indirectly on lift operation increases every year.
In the case of Statutory Instrument 2005 No.
894 The Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005, for example, these regulations defined and increase the controls that must be put in place to dispose of "Hazardous Waste Materials", including registration of the producers site(s) with the Environment Agency, and the referencing of all materials as contained within the European Waste Catalogue or the Environment Agencies guidance document WM2.
This impacts on all areas from the manufacture of the lift until its eventual disposal, and as a result forces manufacturers and service providers alike, to consider more carefully the materials that are being incorporated into the product, as ultimately they will need to dispose of them.
One way of controlling this, so ensuring effective compliance, is via an ISO14001:2004 Environmental Management System which covers all aspects of lift manufacture and service which impact on the environment.
It relates to a producer's environmental policies, planning, systems and procedures, checking and review: in this way it formalises the way in which a company meets its legal obligations regarding environmental compliance.
ISO14001's overall approach is about continuous improvement rather than one-off activities.
It requires manufacturers to continually identify opportunities and put in place programmes for improvement in the constant drive for improvement in areas such as greater energy efficiency or waste reduction.
Another EU regulation which impacts indirectly on lift performance relates to the energy efficiency of new buildings, setting stiff targets for carbon reduction.
The Government has also increased energy efficiency standards for new buildings through an amendment to the Building Regulations which came into effect on 6 April 2006, with the broader goal of improving overall standards by around 40 per cent.
Ultimately, all buildings will require Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), using whole energy consumption - including lifts - as the basis for compliance.
Product design.
All of these issues are key to ensuring that proper emphasis is given to the effective operation and usage of a lift installation throughout its lifetime, if an organisation is to meet all its social and regulatory responsibilities.
Yet, important though these are, the most obvious considerations will inevitably centre on the product itself, its manufacture, installation and maintenance.
There is no doubt that manufacturers have recognised this and are playing their full part in addressing environmental concerns.
As a result, today's passenger and goods lifts are far more energy efficient than their counterparts a decade ago.
The evolution of machine room-less lift technology offers a particularly striking example here.
By incorporating the lifting machine and control system within the lift envelope, the need for a separate machine room is removed, so dramatically reducing the amount of space required.
And in the latest designs this is achieved without compromising the level of robustness or ride quality needed in hard-working commercial environments.
Further, compact gearless machinery helps reduce noise levels for example and, as a result of broader improvements in lift equipment design, maintenance requirements have been significantly reduced.
Little surprise therefore that in the UK there has been a significant take-up in machine-room less lift options, in particular in costly town and city-centre locations.
Ease of maintenance.
Once in use, a lift must be maintained properly if it is to continue to operate in the most efficient way throughout its lifetime.
Issues such as rapid response times and flexible service levels from a truly regional or national network of maintenance engineers, backed up by a rapid parts and replacement delivery service, are normally considered principally in terms of customer service quality.
It is true that ensuring disruption is kept to a minimum is important to ensure business continuity, yet service quality also has wider implications.
For example, one advantage of using locally-based engineers is that the length of each journey to and from the customer will be minimised, so reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
Similarly, it is important for such service support to be able to manage the controlled disposal and recycling of waste materials such as used hydraulic oils.
At first sight, lift provision may not seem the most obvious target for a business looking to improve its environmental credentials.
Yet scratch below the surface and it is clear that, for the lift operator and service provider alike, there is much that can be done to ensure lifts operate at optimum efficiency - so providing maximum benefit to the user, at the same time limiting the negative impact on the environment.
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