Lift Report

With his selection of speakers and topics Dr. Gerhard Schiffner  in whose hands the concept and management of the event were placed once again – once more proved his fortune. Not only some current developments in the field of regulations and standards, energy efficiency issues and lift engineering trends but also examples of current technical developments and fully developed solutions were presented.

Traditionally the manager of the Technical Academy Heilbronn, Prof. Dr. Georg Clauss, welcomed the participants. One of the main goals of this institution is to make public the expert knowledge of lift industry individuals to the overall business. He therefore thanks everybody for the keen interest in this congress and wishes all participants a successful event.

Greetings from the Heilbronn College on the premises of which the congress took place were conveyed by its director, Prof. Dr. Schröder. As for the previous congresses the college gladly puts its rooms at the disposal of the event and in doing so wants to demonstrate that it not only conveys knowledge to the students but is also looking for and fostering contacts with the industry, users and other parties involved. He then wished all participants a lively exchange of experience and some interesting memories attached to the city of Heilbronn.

As the representative of the organizations which offer their nonmaterial support to the European Lift Congress Heilbronn, the General Secretary of the European Lift Association (ELA), Luc Rivet, expressed his thanks for the friendly welcome and for the organizational efforts made to make this event possible. He pointed out that the economical development in the last two years has left its mark on the lift industry. Sustainability, especially in the field of energy consumption, is one of the motivating forces which can lead the lift industry out of the recession.

Dr. Gerhard Schiffner then welcomed the participants and thanked the speakers for their effort. Those participants who arrived by car surely noticed some of the regional wine growers picking the grapes or had to overtake their vehicles transporting the grapes to the winepresses. A good harvest is expected in the region and he is hoping that this will apply to this event, too. A good blend of topics and the authority of the speakers surely are a good omen. One should also not forget that the congress provides an excellent opportunity to meet the top players of the legislative authorities, industry, standards and associations. The appropriate contacts can be established on the occasion of the evening event taking place in the “Experimenta” exhibition to which he invited all participants.

Beata Pich with her paper on the “Lift Directive” led off as the first speaker. She is responsible fort he lift directive within the European Commission. After some general information she reported on the measures adopted by the European Commission to review the lift directive. One of the main reasons is the adaptation to the new common legislative framework (New Legislative Framework, NLF). Other incentives are:

She unfortunately left out a number of details and especially the regulations which are still controversially discussed. A final Commission proposal will be presented until the end of 2010. This will be followed by negotiations in the Council and in the European Parliament and it is not yet foreseeable how long these will take. Since this review will not yield substantial changes, the speaker believes that the time factor is not really decisive.

The next speaker, Prof. Dr. Anibal de Almeida, embarked on the subject “energy effi ciency of lifts and escalators”. Prof. Dr. de Almeida lectures in the electrical engineering faculty of the ISR University of Coimbra in Portugal. He focussed on the results of the IEE study E 4 dealing with the energy saving potentials in hotels, hospitals, schools, shopping malls and office buildings (tertiary sector) as well as residential buildings. He has made a major contribution to the study. Some 64 % of the lift systems in the European Union are installed in residential buildings. Administration buildings with some 14 % are second. For different reasons it is expected that the number of lift systems will continue to rise. The current annual growth rate amounts to some 15,000 systems. Even if the operation of lifts and escalators only accounts for a minor part of the total energy consumption of a building, a closer look reveals that there are numerous ways in which energy can be saved such as the selection of the correct type of drive unit, control systems reacting to passenger flows or operating speeds adapted to the traffic needs. Research has shown that there is a distinct consumption of energy when the lift system is on standby. The car lighting system plays a major role, especially in lift systems operating in residential buildings which feature long standby periods spread throughout the day. The study concludes that if all systems were built according to the latest technical standards two thirds of the amount of energy consumed by lift systems operating in residential buildings and in the tertiary sector could be saved.

Esfandiar Gharibaan, the chairman of the Standardization Committee CEN/TC 10 “Lifts and escalators”, spoke about the current situation on the lift market. The awareness that the energy consumption has to be reduced is only slowly gaining ground. This is evident if one takes a look at the relatively small number of lift systems that is being modernized each year. At this rate it will take nearly 50 years to have all systems meet state-of-the-art engineering standards. This is mainly due to the lack of awareness of the different lift industry partners about the existing technical solutions available to improve the energy consumption, of the different incentives of the individual partners to save energy and of legal and normative stipulations on how this goal can be achieved. According to the speaker any barriers put up by patent laws cannot be made out.

 

 

With his paper on the “Adjustable compensation of the car load” Dr. Christian Studer from Schindler, Switzerland, presented a development allowing energy to be saved by using the energy contained in the counterweight. This idea can be implemented in different ways with an efficiency and technical expenditure which vary considerably. The system presented utilizes the energy contained in the counterweight which is moved at different speeds conform to the car load conditions. Two pulleys are needed which are connected by means of continuous variable transmission (CVT) like a chain between variable conical disks. He uses this configuration to prove that a considerable amount of energy can be saved. But the marginal conditions required to use such a system are such that this is only of advantage to a small part of the lift systems.

Marc Binder of PE-International Deutschland presented a paper on the “Ecological balance conform to ISO 14 044, ecological assessment of lift systems”. The ecological balance or life cycle assessment (LCA) is a systematic analysis of the impacts which products have on the environment during their entire life cycle. This includes all eco-relevant extractions which are needed to fabricate the product (e.g. ores, crude oil, timber, water) as well as the accompanying emissions (e. g. waste, noise, gas or dust). Also included are all environmental impacts during production, during the period in which the product is used and the disposal of the product as well as any relevant preceding and subsequent processes (e. g. production of raw and auxiliary materials, working stocks, energy consumption , losses). Although the ISO 14 040 standard restricts the term life cycle assessment to product-related ecological balances, it defines the term “product ” as “any goods or services” and expressly includes things like transports, repairs or making available information within the framework of a transfer of knowledge. As such, the methodology of a life cycle assessment can also be applied to (ecological) investigations of processes and is also used for this purpose. The application of this analysis to lift systems offers the benefit that the environmental achievements can be constantly improved, that it is better understood what impacts the lift product has on the environment from fabrication until scrapping, that answers are given to the increasing amount of questions on eco-relevant subjects put by the circles involved and that different types of lift system can be compared. The analysis requires a profound knowledge of the systematics, the procurement of the required information, the assessment of results and the possible alternatives to achieve a certain goal. PE International is gladly prepared to act as a partner to the industry.

The paper titled “Safe ventilation of shafts and machine rooms in low-energy buildings” presented by Guy Stamet, President of the competence centre “Haus vun der Energie G.I.E.” in Luxemburg, enlightened the problems stemming from incompatibilities between lift regulations and the energy efficiency standards of buildings. Older buildings usually warrant the exchange of air in the shaft and thus in the car so that passengers trapped in the car or service staff inside the shaft are not put at risk. In low-energy or passive-energy buildings such an exchange or air is no longer guaranteed. The paper presents possible measures that can be taken to offset this deficiency. These do not only cover a safe evacuation of smoke in case of fire. It is also tried to prevent any risks for passengers and service staff caused by dust, too high or too low temperatures, mould, microorganisms or dangerous gas concentrations. Guy Stamet also referred to the obligations of lift manufacturers, building owners and inspection bodies who in compliance with the lift directive have to take into account the risks in connection with an insufficient exchange of air when lift systems are put into operation.

Dr. Paula Bello of KONE R&D, Finland, with her paper “To a higher level – Industrial developments – The impetus for innovations ” spoke about the significance of design concepts in lift system developments. Starting out from a definition of the term design as “a creative activity substantiating the varied characteristics of objects, processes, services and their systematics in the course of the entire life cycle in order to discover and assess structural, organizational, functional, economic and expressive relationships”, she illustrated the boundaries between creative work and engineering design. The first thing that should be considered when designing lift systems is the passenger who comes into contact with the product. Architects, workers, men and women as passengers, people in wheelchairs, patients etc. all have specific needs when they are waiting in front of a lift system. Other important features are the aesthetics of the entrances, the car and the shaft, the ease with which the system can be serviced, the association to environmental issues, the appealing coloration, etc. The parties concerned have different views on the necessity to warrant a safe vertical transport. The way in which the lift moves (with jerks or smoothly), the noises, do passengers feel comfortable inside the car, the information which is provided, the passengers with which one is travelling; all these factors have a different effect on every individual. In addition lift systems as part of their environment (building, district or city) play an important role in the passenger’s assessment of comfort. In the past few years KONE has attached much importance to these aspects in the product development and has found solutions which earned a lot of praise worldwide.

With his paper on “Progressive technologies in lift control systems” Dipl.-Ing. Gerhard Thumm of ThyssenKrupp Elevator (CENE), Germany, picked up a lift industry subject which in the last decades was subject to the most prominent changes. The old mechanical switching elements were replaced by electronic components. Today, software solutions increasingly gain in importance. This development is driven by new drive technologies requiring decentralized control systems. This led to solutions with a computer-based system tailored to the specific features of a lift system which only allows adaptations to other requirements in a small scale. These restrictions can be overcome by installing an operating system that is customary in current computers and which is able to process different programs (such as Windows, Linux and others). He disclosed the requirements and standards (safety, costs, sustainability, guarantee, attacks by hackers, real-time aptitude, component field-expansion capabilities) which such systems must meet. The software, too, has to meet a number of requirements such as a programming language which is easy to learn and understand and which contains process elements warranting verifications/tests and qualify cations to be carried out. When selecting the required hardware one should not go through the effort of developing your own hardware but fall back on computers that are available on the market. It is usually only necessary to adapt the motherboard to the specific lift system operating features. It should be noted that lift systems are a long-lived asset where a life cycle of over 40 years is not unusual. The selected solutions must therefore allow the equipment to be adapted to new developments. Prospects allowing causes for malfunctions to be called up, component conditions and limits to be recorded and preventive service intervals to be determined put the finishing touch to the paper.

This time the evening social gathering took place in the new experimental museum “Experimenta”. Under the motto “DISCOVER, EXPERIENCE, UNDERSTAND” children and adults learn through playing material facts about subjects such as ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT, ENGINEERING & INNOVATION, MANKIND & COMMUNICATION and MANKIND & LEISURE. During the guided tours especially organized for the ELCH participants, the laboratories or so-called talent pools in which children and young people from nursery school to sixth form can put to test their abilities in experiments met with a great deal of interest. Thanks to the support by the industry of Heilbronn and Baden-Württemberg the laboratories are equipped with most modern equipment that is made available to the teams under the guidance and direction of experienced and competent laboratory staff. Following the guided tours and some experiments carried out with the numerous exhibits, participants were invited to a rich and varied buffet and to savour some excellent wines from the Württemberg region. The welcome bid by the Lord Mayor of Heilbronn, Helmut Himmelsbach, and a paper presented by the head of the municipal archives, Prof. Dr. Schrenk, gave participants an insight into the historical and present standing of the city.

The second day of the congress began with the paper presented by Karl Sturmlechner, Wittur, Austria, on the subject of new safety devices against unintentional car movements away from an open door at a landing. After CEN/TC 10 with amendment 3 of EN 81-1 and -2 (as a supplement to the two standards covering the general demands of the lift directive) provided the technical backdrop for solutions aiming at the prevention of lift car movements, it became necessary to develop designs which meet these standards. It was soon realized that it would be difficult to prevent an uncontrolled car movement away from an open landing door with the means on hand. Wittur has therefore developed an electronic speed limiter which – together with the safety gear acting in both directions – is a forward- looking solution. Karl Sturmlechner explained the working principle and the technical safety concept of the system.

With is paper titled “Fundamental review of standard EN 81-1/2” Ian Jones, presently heading task force 1 of CEN/TC 10, reported on the progress made with the work on hand. He first of all referred to the reasons why a revised version is required and then continued to explain the way in which task force 1 is handling such issues. A number of task forces were set up to work on the different subjects. In the meantime these task forces have presented their results to task force 1 and have submitted numerous proposals which now have to be dealt with by task force 1 and by CEN/TC 10 so that a revised version can be presented to the public at the beginning of 2011. Provided all further steps can be taken within the specified period of time, the revised version could come into force by the end of 2012. The future basic standard for passenger and goods lifts will be titled EN 81-20 and contain all technical standards and requirements including the different types of drive unit. This standard will be supplemented by EN 81-50 in which the tests and calculations will be summarized. The acceptance which the European standards EN 81-1/2 has experienced worldwide and the decision by the ISO TC 178 to start working out a lift standard that is applicable all over the world immediately following the publication of the revised versions EN 81-20/50 requires a more stringent formulation of requirements. Ian Jones explained different proposals for modifications, e.g. for doors, calculations, hydraulic and electrical requirements, documentation and tests which among experts already met with general approval. But he also clearly pointed out several times that these are still general proposals which have not been published yet and therefore are unbinding.

Luciano Faletto from S.A.L.A. Consulting, Italy , gave some thought to the question “lift or machine?” brought about by the revised version of the machinery directive (2006/42/EG) and the corresponding modifications of the lift directive (95/16/EG). Based on the risks to be taken into consideration in connection with low-speed and high-speed lift systems and the requirements to be met by lifts in compliance with the machinery directive, his “reflections on the safety of lift systems according to the lift and/or machinery directive” resulted in the realization that lift systems with operating speeds of up to 0.15 m/s are also subject to the principles applicable to high-speed lifts. He presented several examples to back up this opinion. This was linked with some criticism on standard EN 81-41 “Vertical platform elevators for persons with restricted mobility” which does not live up to all of the required safety requirements.

In a lecture which from the linguistic comprehensibility point of view proved to be a hard nut to crack, Takaharu Ueda of Mitsubishi Electric, The Netherlands, tried to explain to the audience the efficient and safe emergency stop using a new brake system for roped elevators. The brake technology developed by Mitsubishi (Brake Control System, BCS) meets the standards of EN 81-1 A1 and is to achieve a tolerable deceleration for the passengers inside the car for every car load condition in case of an emergency stop (i.e. after an electrical safety device is tripped). The usual technology adopted until recently abruptly interrupts the power supply to the machine and brake and produces high decelerations on highspeed lift systems and as a rule also a slippage of the ropes on the traction sheave. The BCS prevents this so that a shorter stopping distance is achieved.

In his paper Dipl.-Ing. Holger Zerelles of ThyssenKrupp Aufzüge discussed the question “how safe are refuges?” Based on the lift directive 95/16/EG which in annex 1 item 2.2 provides the possibility to replace the hitherto undisputed permanent refuges at the end of the car track by temporary ones, he set the benefits against the disadvantages of both possibilities. Even if the minimum sizes specified in the respective standards do not allow all risks to be excluded, the permanent refuges offer the advantage that they cannot be affected by human error. Such a disadvantage of temporary refuges can be counteracted by automated mechanisms. Apart from the fact that one can do without a machine room, temporary refuges make a decisive contribution to a reduction of the space occupied by a lift system in a building. The speaker concluded that temporary refuges are acceptable provided the required protective measures are determined on the grounds of a careful risk analysis and are translated into a manageable technology. The activation of the technical protective gear (restricting the car movements and/or counterweight) can be effected manually provided the system automatically detects that a person is entering the dangerous shaft area and that this blocks all powered movements of the car. Then and after the mechanical safety equipment is put in place it may only be possible to carry out movements by means of the inspection controls and at the inspection travelling speed. A return to normal operation may only be possible by means of a switch located in a protected area outside the shaft with all landing doors closed, all mechanical movement restrictions of the car/counterweight reset, the inspection controls switched off and the electrical safety equipment admitting a normal operation.

The next paper was presented by Lars Odlen of Safeline, Belgium, and covered the challenges encountered with emergency call systems from the point of view of regulations and technologies. The old bell or horn have had their days as lift emergency call systems a long time ago. Since the year 2003 the standard EN 81-28 describes the requirements to be met by modern remote emergency call systems. But this only applies to new lift systems. The standards with respect to a modernization of old lift systems in compliance with EN 81-80 are not uniformly adopted in Europe. A remote emergency call system complying with EN 81-28 is based on a customary telephone network in operation at the time the standard was drawn up (2000 to 2003). But progresses achieved on the telephone sector have been so rapid that the new technologies are partially incompatible with the old ones which no longer allows a proper operation of an existing emergency call system to be warranted. The ELA therefore has started an initiative called OC4L (Open Communication for Lifts) taking into account such changes. Lift manufacturers, suppliers of emergency call systems and operators are therefore required to take care of the emergency call systems for lift systems.

The university lecturer and architect Dipl.-Ing. Monika A. Klenovec from Austria presented the last paper of the congress and reported on a “Barrier-free Europe for all – reality in 2010?”. Based on articles 13, 23 and 24 of the UN Human Rights Convention which also addresses the needs of people with disabilities as well as other e. g. European rules the speaker concentrated on the new UN Human Rights Convention of the year 2008 for people with disabilities and the International Plan of Action of the United Nations of 2002/2007 on ageing. Both documents represent a change of paradigm in the perception of people with disabilities, the term disability covering the full range of the varied impairments standing in the way of an unrestricted participation in the normal life of human beings either because of physical weaknesses, required aids, age, carrying along large objects and other restrictions. The idea behind the documents is to structure the environment in which one lives to have existing impairments affect as modestly as possible the realization of personal needs. In planning public institutions, residential buildings, apartments, furnishings, transport systems etc. this makes the continuous consideration of impairments part of a sustainable development. There are numerous regulations, standards, mandates, organizations, task forces, lectures and seminars as well as prizes offered as a reward aiming at turning these ideas into common property. By giving numerous and partly prize-winning examples from the tourism, housing, public infrastructure and other sectors in Austria, the speaker examined the different implementation possibilities. But there is still a long way to go before a “barrier-free Europe for all” will generally be achieved.

In his closing speech Dr. Schiffner thanked the speakers for the informative papers and the audience for their interest. He believes that this congress has again been able to present to the participants a wealth of information which will prove to be of practical use in our daily work and is convinced that it will be very productive. He invited the participants to the next Heilbronn congress in two years and asked everyone to make good use of the possibility to submit suggestions (prepared form). He finally wished all participants a pleasant journey back home and closed the event.

                                                                                                                                                                                                       Claus Gareis