Issue 4/2010
07/02/10
Elevator symposium and trade fair in Izmir
Izmir – Turkey’s third-largest city – and the Aegean Region make a major contribution to the country’s economic output , generating more than fifteen percent of gross domestic product. About 312,000 industrial companies are headquartered in the region and they employ a total of 1.5 million. The Izmir metropolitan area is the region’s economic center. Important production sectors include refined oil products, foods, textiles, iron and steel, electrical equipment, chemical products, tobacco and marble. Foreign investors will find many options for activity. Some examples are renewable energy, traffic and transportation, tourism and healthcare.
Category: Issue 4/2010
Posted by: Editor
In the fall of 2008, however, Turkey felt the effects of the world economic crisis. For the first time after twenty-seven quarters of growth, economic output declined (by 6.2 percent) in the last quarter of 2008. For 2008 as a whole, economic growth in real terms came to 0.9 percent and thus fell far short of the target of four percent forecast published by the government at the start of the year. In the first nine months of 2009 the Turkish economy shrank by 8.5 percent; estimates of GDP for 2009 as a whole had been at -6 percent. As early as in the second half of 2009, however, a slight upturn in business activity was registered, evidenced particularly in the utilization of industrial capacity and the volume of foreign trading. The government is expecting growth – by 3.5 percent – once again in 2010.
The Kültürpark and Izmir International Fairgrounds in Izmir were the site of the INELEX 2010 elevator and technology trade fair, which took place in conjunction with the elevator symposium. The fair was organized by the EFOR Trade Fair Corporation while the symposium was under the aegis of the TMMOB – the federation of the architects’ and engineers’ guilds in Turkey.
About one hundred exhibitors appeared at the fair, most of them from the host country. But foreign firms also took part; among them were Step Sigriner, Safe- Line, Strack, Swiss Traction and Sicor. A few international companies such as Draka and Sematic maintain branch offices in Turkey, too.
Some one thousand persons took part in the elevator symposium, of whom 603 were registered delegates.
The symposium was supported by fourteen institutions and organizations. The agenda included 27 speeches and, in addition, a discussion forum, three workshops, five courses and a training seminar entitled “Safe use of elevators and escalators”, intended to promote safety consciousness among children of primary school age.
The lectures held during the symposium, picking up on the overall topic of “Energy Efficiency in Elevators”, created a setting for obtaining first-hand information and sharing experiences in regard to legislation, training and applications – as well as about academic studies on scientific, technical and R&D topics in the elevator field.
The discussion forum took place in the framework of the symposium and was entitled “Suggestions for energy efficiency applications and for the passage of legislation in the field of elevators”. Here - with the participation of representatives of the Tubitak Marmara Research Center, the Association of Electrical Engineers and the Turkish Lift Platform – the topic was discussed in detail and suggestions were explored.
Three topics – “Upgrading existing elevators and their safety”, “Boosting real property values with elevators” and “Elevator technology” – were discussed in detail with all the interested parties involved. Projects and applications that had been realized were discussed with and among the participants and new opinions and suggestions were expanded in the three workshops for this symposium.
Even though certain innovations in the design and operation of buildings were introduced in the wake of the Energy Efficiency Act and by the directives on energy use in buildings, the legal regulations on this topic have by no means reached an end. The Association of Electrical Engineers and the Association of Mechanical Engineers have been involved in all the work from the very outset, in their particular specialities, aimed at creating a legal framework. The energy efficiency directive for buildings will soon require the introduction of an “energy passport” for buildings. What is missing here, however, is a regulation in regard to the energy consumption of elevators. Such an innovation would make it possible for the installer to determine the energy class for the various applications.
Even though initial investments for the technology and equipment needed to achieve energy efficiency in elevators are quite high, these costs pale when compared with the energy savings that can be realized over the course of an elevator’s life. Because, however, it is the developer and his backers – and not the ultimate operator – that make the decisions in regard to the building, a decision in favor of more efficient, and more expensive , elevators will not be easy to achieve. It is for this reason that it is recommended to introduce legal penalties in order to promote high-efficiency elevators and to displace those of lesser efficiency.
Even though the number may vary, depending on a building’s properties, the elevator is normally responsible for 1.5 percent of a building’s overall energy consumption, on average. It was emphasized that a considerable improvement in energy efficiency is achieved by the elevators developed and manufactured in line with the state of the art. It is possible to further improve efficiency by selecting lifts suitable for the traffic patterns in the building.
Other lectures dealt with energy efficiency but also with rope systems and their use in Turkey, elevator accidents, preventive measures and inspections, gearless drive technologies and their applications, synchronized telescopic cylinders in hydraulic lifts, and intelligent system technologies for hydraulic lifts.
The elevator industry in Turkey has become a rapidly growing manufacturing sector with a significant export share. The intention is to devote greater attention to research and development in the future, in order to be able to compete on international markets. Supporting and promoting this development ought to be a function of the state.
Those attending the symposium also visited the exhibition for lifts and elevator technology, which was scheduled simultaneous to the symposium, and thus took advantage of the opportunity to view new products and new technologies.
It was, all in all, a very interesting event once again and we are looking forward to seeing what is planned for 2012.
4/2010
