THE GREEN OFFICE
HOW ‘GREEN’ IS YOUR LIFT?
he pressure is on today, as never
Mark Thompson, Pickerings Lifts
T
before, for organisations to show
their green credentials. BUILDING PERFORMANCE Little surprise therefore that in the UK
Customers, partners and Another EU regulation which impacts there has been a significant take-up in
shareholders alike all want to be indirectly on lift performance relates to the machine-room less lift options, in
associated with a business that is seen to energy efficiency of new buildings, setting particular in costly town and city-centre
be playing its part in protecting the stiff targets for carbon reduction. locations.
environment. So what issues need to be The Government has also increased The imperative to ‘go green’ goes
considered in operating lifts in a socially energy efficiency standards for new beyond new lift provision however. It is
responsible manner? buildings through an amendment to the equally important to ensure that existing
With lifts, as with any product in Building Regulations which came into effect lifts contribute to the overall energy
common use in a commercial or domestic on 6 April 2006, with the broader goal of performance improvement of the building
environment, the potential environmental improving overall standards by around 40 as a whole. And here, new motors,
impact is likely to have implications on per cent. Ultimately, all buildings will controllers and operating systems in
both the manufacturer and the operator. require Energy Performance Certificates particular can all deliver substantial
Equally, consideration must be given to (EPCs), using whole energy consumption – reductions in energy usage.
each stage of the lift’s life, from initial including lifts – as the basis for New technologies also impact
design and manufacture, through compliance. positively on the manufacturing process.
maintenance to eventual disposal. As a result, pressure for change is For example, the latest modular lift and
increasing from the end-user community, machine room-less lift designs incorporate
REGULATORY DEMANDS who face parallel regulatory pressures to far fewer components, so improving
The volume and range of legislation improve their energy performance. For, production efficiencies as well as
impacting directly or indirectly on lift critically, not only does this reduce any substantially cutting installation times.
operation increases every year. For harmful impact on the environment but
example, Statutory Instrument 2005 No. also delivers cost benefits to both the user EASE OF MAINTENANCE
894 The Hazardous Waste (England and and manufacturer communities. Once in use, a lift must be maintained
Wales) Regulations 2005. properly if it is to continue to operate in the
These regulations defined and increase PRODUCT DESIGN most efficient way throughout its lifetime.
the controls that must be put in place to All of these issues are key to in Issues such as rapid response times
dispose of “Hazardous Waste Materials”, ensuring that proper emphasis is given to and flexible service levels from a truly
including registration of the producers site(s) the effective operation and usage of a lift regional or national network of
with the Environment Agency, and the installation throughout its lifetime, if an maintenance engineers, backed up by a
referencing of all materials as contained organisation is to meet all its social and rapid parts and replacement delivery
within the European Waste Catalogue or the regulatory responsibilities. Yet, important service, are normally considered principally
Environment Agencies guidance document though these are, the most obvious in terms of customer service quality.
WM2. This impacts on all areas from the considerations will inevitably centre on the It is true that ensuring disruption is
manufacture of the lift until its eventual product itself, its manufacture, installation kept to a minimum is important to ensure
disposal, and as a result forces and maintenance. business continuity, yet service quality also
manufacturers and service providers alike, There is no doubt that manufacturers has wider implications. For example, one
to consider more carefully the materials that have recognised this and are playing their advantage of using locally-based
are being incorporated into the product, as full part in addressing environmental engineers is that the length of each journey
ultimately they will need to dispose of them. concerns. As a result, today’s passenger to and from the customer will be
One way of controlling this, so ensuring and goods lifts are far more energy minimised, so reducing fuel consumption
effective compliance, is via an efficient than their counterparts a decade and CO
2
emissions. Similarly, it is
ISO14001:2004 Environmental ago. important for such service support to be
Management System which covers all The evolution of machine room-less lift able to manage the controlled disposal
aspects of lift manufacture and service technology offers a particularly striking and recycling of waste materials such as
which impact on the environment. It relates example here. By incorporating the lifting used hydraulic oils.
to a producer’s environmental policies, machine and control system within the lift At first sight, lift provision may not
planning, systems and procedures, checking envelope, the need for a separate machine seem the most obvious target for a
and review: in this way it formalises the way room is removed, so dramatically reducing business looking to improve its
in which a company meets its legal the amount of space required. environmental credentials. Yet scratch
obligations regarding environmental And in the latest designs this is below the surface and it is clear that, for
compliance. achieved without compromising the level of the lift provider and facilities manager
ISO14001’s overall approach is about robustness or ride quality needed in hard- alike, there is much that can be done to
continuous improvement rather than one-off working commercial environments. ensure lifts operate at optimum efficiency -
activities. It requires manufacturers to Further, compact gearless machinery helps so providing maximum benefit to the user,
continually identify opportunities and put in reduce noise levels for example and, as a at the same time limiting the negative
place programmes for improvement in the result of broader improvements in lift impact on the environment.
constant drive for improvement in areas equipment design, maintenance www.pickerings.co.uk
such as greater energy efficiency or waste requirements have been significantly
reduction. reduced.
SUSTAINABLE FM | APRIL 2008
|25
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44