WP6-Brochure-E4 brochure - ELA European Lift Association.

3 Emerging lift and escalator technologies
As already mentioned, technologic development in the lift industry has been mainly driven by
factors other than energy efficiency. Safety, travel speed, acoustic noise, ride comfort and
occupied space are, traditionally, the main concerns in lift design.
However, the demand for energy efficient products and greener buildings has grown, in the
last few years, and the lift industry responded accordingly, presenting its customers with
solutions that meet these growing demands.
Rising electricity prices have also been a major contribution to the demand for more energy
efficient solutions. In some applications, electricity costs amount to many times the initial cost
of the equipment and, therefore, investing in an energy efficient lift is often cost‐effective in
high traffic applications.
Energy efficient technological developments take different approaches that tackle different
causes for inefficiencies in vertical transportation systems. These causes can be divided into
two major groups: direct and indirect. Direct causes are the ones that can be directly related to
the equipment. The most common direct losses are:
• Friction losses;
• Transmission losses;
• Motor losses;
• Brake losses
• Lighting losses
• Controller losses
Indirect causes are related to the operation of the equipment and are associated with user
behaviour or traffic management options.
In this section, a brief description of energy efficient technologies applied to lifts is made.
3.1 Premium Efficiency Induction Motors
In the past, brushed DC motors were the technology of choice for lifts because they are easy to
control, providing the best ride quality and an accurate levelling.
Due to increasing stringent regulations worldwide, induction motors have been subject to
major efficiency improvements in the last decades.
Induction motors have a lower cost, are more robust and require much less maintenance than
DC motors.
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