Schindler makes sustainability and efficiency the focal points of high-rise mobility lifecycle
– Mobility solutions are the lifeblood of high-rise developments and attention on them is increasing as more people spend some or all their daily lives using them
– At this year’s CTBUH 2022 International Conference in Chicago, Schindler will discuss this rise in attention towards vertical transportation and offer its insights into the future of the industry.
– The Schindler PORT platform provides seamless and secure mobility in buildings for people, parcels and robots.
The focus is set on optimal efficiency and sustainability over the building lifecycle, enabling new levels of flexibility for all involved
The concept of the 15-minute-city
Even with the disruption of COVID-19, the World Bank is still predicting that urbanization will continue, with almost 70% of us expected to live in cities by 2050. One of the inevitable consequences of this will be the growth of high-rise developments, along with the expected increase in mixed-use developments. The future of vertical transportation in this changing urban landscape will form the basis of Schindler’s participation at this year’s International Conference run by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).
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Many believe the ‘15 minute city’ concept – where citizens achieve most of their daily tasks and leisure pursuits within a handful, or even just one, building – will become an increasingly common philosophy for urban neighbourhoods. Against this backdrop, and the fact that more of the global population are using, and relying on, elevators, Schindler takes a ‘whole-life’ approach. Given the increasing importance of mobility solutions to a building’s purpose, this means covering every stage of the lifecycle, from design and construction to a safe, convenient passenger experience, all the while optimizing sustainability and efficiency. A building’s purpose must be able to evolve to build structures that are meant to last. Schindler’s General Purpose Elevator System allows one group of elevators to perform the work of a number of “virtual” groups, each exclusively servicing a different area in the building. So, for example, an office and a residential area may be served via different lobbies in a way that a passenger only perceives their own environment. Changes of use become mere programming tasks instead of major reconstruction to re-position elevator groups. Schindler’s traffic simulation software ensures that the developer selects an elevator configuration that supports both first and projected evolutionary cases, granting an unparalleled assurance of future flexibility.
“Our future is undeniably high rise but in totally new forms. High rise buildings will become interconnected and constantly evolving micro-cities, where we live, work and spend our leisure time all in one tall interconnected mega-structure,” predicts Florian Trösch, Head Transit Management & Digital Eco-Systems at Schindler. “At the same time. energy-efficient and timely movement of people is paramount. State-of-the-art vertical transport systems are the beating heart – or even the brain – of new future ready structures, so Schindler aims to ensure that buildings are adaptable to whatever their future holds.”
Because each project is unique, Schindler starts working with the developer as early as possible to fully understand their vision. The company also offers some of the most advanced technology solutions in the world designed to automate, manage and deliver sustainable operation to the way we move around buildings.
Setting the foundations
At the construction stage, Schindler’s industry-leadership in innovation is immediately apparent. The company’s unique robotic technology Schindler R.I.S.E (Robotic Installation System for Elevators) is a world-first system to improve the quality, speed and safety of construction within the elevator shaft.
Receiving data directly from the digital building model, this platform-mounted industrial robot can autonomously drill and set the anchor bolts for landing doors, divider beams and wall brackets much faster than conventional installation. It can also operate around the clock, preparing up to 130 m of working height in one stage. Schindler R.I.S.E has been successfully utilized in many projects, including the 340 m Uptown Tower in Dubai and Warsaw’s Varso Tower, the tallest building in the EU at 310 m.
Once the elevator shaft is completed, the rest of the building work can continue at a faster pace thanks to the Schindler CLIMB Lift. The self-climbing internal vertical transportation system offers various benefits over traditional external hoist systems, including lifting speeds of up to 5 m/s and space for twice as many workers. Estimates suggest Schindler CLIMB Lift can help reduce overall building costs by as much as 5%.
Also, because it incorporates permanent elevator components into its design, Schindler CLIMB Lift enables the permanent machine room and elevator cars to be operational in considerably less time, increasing productivity and site progress, and allowing the building to open much sooner.
Bringing the building to life
Once installed, the intelligent Schindler PORT (Personal Occupant Requirement Terminal) technology can drive the elevator’s efficiency and sustainability.
“Schindler PORT optimizes the transit of people through the building, guiding and transporting them quickly and safely to their destinations,” says Florian Trösch. “But just as importantly, it helps drive sustainability. With a Schindler PORT upgrade, we increase handling capacity of a given set of elevators by up to 25% which is a major contribution to increase the value of a building with a powerful more-for-same approach. Furthermore, by activating the Schindler PORT ECO mode, energy consumption of the elevators can be reduced by up to 40%. Finally, Schindler PORT terminals deploy a motion sensor to only wake from its default energy-saving state when needed.”
This state-of-the-art approach to people movement in buildings means passengers simply select the destination floor on the Schindler PORT terminals in the lobby to get allocated to an elevator, which is heading to the requested floor(s). This reduces the number of intermediate stops and allows the elevator to return more quickly to collect others.
Schindler PORT also enhances building security by ensuring a passenger has proper credentials before boarding. It can immediately assign an elevator with an approved destination based on someone’s personal access card or smartphone. This also allows for highly personalized service, whether it’s a special VIP trip or catering for passengers with special needs by providing more approach time, longer door opening time, additional space or enhanced audible/visual cues. It can even facilitate a passenger’s entire journey through a building without them ever touching an elevator or even a door.
Limitless possibilities
Schindler CoLab, based on a holistic approach and vision, offers open interfaces connecting the Schindler PORT product ecosystem with external partners. Through this an exciting, custom-built range of possibilities become viable on top of Schindler PORT. With its partner Robotise, for example, Schindler has extended the potential of delivery robots, transforming hotel services, the dispatching of blood samples in hospitals and mail drop-off in office buildings. making an exciting, custom-built range of possibilities available.
Seamlessly integrating Schindler PORT with building management solutions, access systems, mobile apps, face recognition, robotics, digital entertainment and more can drive further innovation in the new era for building use. By harnessing data around equipment performance or the movement of people and goods continuous improvement and refinement can be achieved.
Schindler also enables more efficient elevator servicing and higher uptime, with the Schindler Ahead remote monitoring and predictive maintenance solution, connecting service technicians and property stakeholders with the equipment. Providing clear insights into the health of the machinery, it also displays all important statistics, activities and performance data on a simple, intuitive user display.
“Tomorrow’s high-rise buildings are full of exciting possibilities and the vertical mobility within them will play a vital role in providing a seamless passenger experience and driving more sustainable use of the entire building,” concludes Florian Trösch. “Our technology, such as the Schindler PORT ECO mode and the General Purpose Elevator System, help reduce energy consumption significantly and this is just the beginning.”
To learn more about the CTBUH 2022 International Conference click here.
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