Energy and Buildings 47 (2012) 151–158

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Energy and Buildings

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Energy-efficient elevators and escalators in Europe: An analysis of energy

efficiency potentials and policy measures
Aníbal De Almeida a , Simon Hirzel b , Carlos Patrão a , João Fong a,∗ , Elisabeth Dütschke b
a
ISR – University of Coimbra, Dep. Electrical Engineering, Polo II, 3030 Coimbra, Portugal
b
Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, Breslauer Strasse 48, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Elevators and escalators have received little attention from an energy efficiency perspective in the past.
Received 17 December 2010 To close this gap, this paper analyses energy efficiency potentials and suggests policy measures for the
Received in revised form 5 May 2011 European elevator and escalator market. As a precondition, the electrical energy demand of elevators
Accepted 26 November 2011
and escalators in the European market is analyzed, based on expert estimations and the results of a mon-
itoring campaign. The estimated current demand is compared to scenarios where the implementation
Keywords:
of best available technology for the relevant equipment is assumed and the savings potentials thereof
Lifts
are calculated. The results indicate that considerable technical efficiency potentials exist for elevators
Elevators
Escalators
(more than 60%) and escalators (around 30%). However, various specific barriers impede the diffusion
Energy efficiency of these energy-efficient technologies. They include issues like a lack of awareness and relevant infor-
Stand-by consumption mation as well as split-incentive problems. The technological analysis is therefore complemented by an
Barriers investigation of how to overcome these barriers, leading to a set of recommendations on how to improve
Policies for energy efficiency energy efficiency in the elevator and escalator market. Suitable measures could be implementing stan-
Policy recommendations dardized methods for electricity measurement, introducing a labeling system and including elevators
Elevator drives and escalators in the legislative framework.
© 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction focuses on the United States. Nipkow [3] conducted a more detailed
study, including a monitoring campaign of 33 elevators, and pro-
Elevators and escalators are the crucial elements that make it vided an estimation of energy efficiency potentials of elevators for
practical and comfortable to live, work and shop several floors Switzerland, but he does not provide an in-depth analysis of barri-
above and below ground. Elevators typically account for about 3 ers and policy recommendations. Other studies subsume elevators
to 8% of the overall electricity consumption of a building [1,2]. Fur- and escalators as one energy service among others and focus on
ther urbanization in developing countries, growing awareness of specific building types, not providing the coverage of this study:
accessibility issues, an ageing population in many western coun- Clausnitzer and Hoffmann [4] discuss, for example, the electricity
tries as well as a rising demand for convenience will lead to the demand of elevators in the context of general electricity demand,
installation of additional equipment. By improving the energy effi- focusing on multi-family residential buildings. Another example is
ciency in existing and new equipment, elevators and escalators can Beier [5], who analyses the electricity demand of elevators as part
contribute to current energy and climate targets in Europe. For of an analysis of energy consumption in hospital buildings. Other
this purpose, a thorough analysis of the efficiency potentials and approaches focus on modeling aspects concerned with the energy
suitable policy measures are required. consumption of escalators, as for example found in Ma et al. [6] and
Until now little research has been carried out on the electricity Al-Sharif [7].
demand of elevators and escalators, especially with a focus on the For these reasons, knowledge about the impact of elevators
European market. Most prior studies have a limited focus, e.g. the and escalators on energy consumption in Europe is limited, little
analyses remain at an aggregate level or are limited to a national is known about specific saving potentials, and no policy recom-
context: Sachs [2], for example, provides estimates and reflections mendations can be provided. This paper aims to fill this gap and
on the energy consumption of elevators by discussing opportuni- is structured as follows (Fig. 1): in Section 2, the current stock of
ties for efficiency improvements of elevators, however, his study installations in Europe is estimated, based on an expert survey, also
including a short overview of the relevant drive technologies in
the elevator market. This data is then combined with the results
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +351 239 796 325; fax: +351 239 406 672. of a monitoring campaign which includes 81 installations in differ-
E-mail address: joaofong@isr.uc.pt (J. Fong). ent countries. The current energy consumption of elevators and

0378-7788/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2011.11.053
152 A. De Almeida et al. / Energy and Buildings 47 (2012) 151–158

Fig. 1. Methodological overview.

Table 1
Elevators by economic sector and drive technology in the EU-27.

Hydraulic Geared traction Gearless traction Total Share

Residential 743,979 2,254,112 100,330 3,098,421 64%

Tertiary 333,248 946,208 270,344 1,549,801 32%
Industry 49,312 126,397 227 175,936 4%

Total 1,126,539 3,326,718 370,901 4,824,157 100%

Share 23% 69% 8% 100%

escalators is estimated on this basis. Based on this data on the installed and operated in the European Union. Every year about
current situation, an analysis of technical efficiency potentials is 115,000 new elevators are put into service.1
carried out, by looking at currently best available technology (BAT) Elevators can be differentiated in two types, according to the
and best not-yet available technology (BNAT) that will be available motor system. Traction elevators are used in many different appli-
in the near future. While this analysis indicates considerable effi- cations without many limitations regarding travel distance, speed
ciency potentials, experience from other technologies has shown or load. In these systems the elevator car is suspended by ropes that
that, even if efficient technology is available at a reasonable price, are moved via an electrically driven sheave. The opposite end of the
it is still often not implemented. Section 3 therefore provides an ropes is connected to a counterweight. Depending on whether the
analysis of possible barriers to energy efficiency in the elevator sheave is driven directly by the electric motor or whether a gearbox
and escalator market and proposes policy measures to overcome is used, these elevators are further differentiated into geared and
those barriers. The concluding Section 4 summarizes the results gearless traction systems. According to the survey results, geared
and provides directions to further improve and extend the analy- traction elevators are the most commonly used elevator type in
sis. Methodological details for each step will be described in the Europe, constituting more than two thirds of the European eleva-
corresponding sections. tor stock. Gearless traction elevators are a comparatively young
technology and only constitute about 8% of the total elevator stock,
2. Technological analysis but they have a comparatively high share in tertiary sector build-
ings. The remaining elevators operate on hydraulics. This type of
2.1. Data collection elevator is often used in low-rise applications and is widely used
in some European countries due to low initial costs. It relies on a
2.1.1. European elevator and escalator market hydraulic piston to move the car. Energy is usually provided to the
In order to derive valid estimations of energy consumption hydraulic fluid by an electrically driven hydraulic pump. These ele-
and energy efficiency potentials, knowledge about the currently vators typically do not use a counterweight to compensate for the
installed stock of installations is required. For this purpose, data weight of the car.
was collected in cooperation with the European Lift Association With regard to the location of these installations, elevators in
(ELA) who approached their technical experts in the national mem- residential buildings represent by far the largest group with 3.1
ber associations to provide nationwide estimates of the number million elevators in use. In the tertiary sector, there are about
of existing installations, classified by building type and including 1.5 million installed units. The industry sector only plays a minor
a characterization of basic technological aspects such as motor role, only about 175,000 units can be found there, according to the
size, number of trips, average car size, etc. In order to standard- results.
ize data collection, an identical questionnaire was sent out to The number of installed escalators is considerably smaller than
experts in national ELA member associations. Detailed answers the stock of elevators. According to the survey results, ELA statistics
were received from 16 out of 19 surveyed members associations, and ELA expert input, there are approximately 75,000 escala-
including feedback from the most relevant countries such as Spain, tors and moving walkway units installed in the EU-27, of which
Italy, Germany, France, Greece and the United Kingdom. These 60,000 units (80%) are located in commercial buildings and the
questionnaires were further analyzed in expert discussions, also remaining units in public transportation facilities (train stations,
to provide estimates for the stock in the remaining countries in
the EU-27. Table 1 shows the summarized distribution of elevators
in these countries by economic sector and drive technology. The
results indicate that there are currently over 4.8 million elevators 1
Extrapolation of ELA elevator market statistics 2005 [8].
 A. De Almeida et al. / Energy and Buildings 47 (2012) 151–158 153

numerous factors, such as the consumption of the control system,

frequency converter, ancillary equipment and parameters such as
acceleration and deceleration or speed. Especially the length of
the hoist way renders a direct comparison of absolute running
consumption values for a reference cycle difficult, and thus this
information provides few insights for technological comparisons.
Thus, the specific energy consumption values according to the spec-
ifications of VDI 4707-1 [10] for the running mode were calculated
(Fig. 3), relating absolute energy consumption to rated load and
travel distance [mWh/(kg m)].
The results show that the specific running consumption of
hydraulic elevators is significantly higher than that of traction
elevators, mainly due to the fact that they do not possess a coun-
terweight and thus the entire cab plus the load has to be lifted.
Fig. 2. Monitored installations by building type and technology. Comparison of the geared and gearless traction elevators of the
sample shows that gearless elevators tend to have lower consump-
tion values than geared elevators.
airports, etc.). Every year, about 3500 new escalators are put into The measured stand-by power varied widely as well. Stand-by
service. consumption is caused by various components, such as the control
systems, lighting, floor displays, frequency converters and oper-
2.1.2. Monitoring campaign ating consoles in each floor and inside the elevator cabin. In the
In order to obtain an empirical basis for the energy consumption analyzed elevators, the stand-by power consumption ranges from
data of elevators and escalators, a monitoring campaign was carried below 50 W to more than 700 W (Fig. 4).
out. Its aim was to provide the basis for an estimate of the electric In order to gain on the share of stand-by in the total energy
energy used by installations throughout Europe. In total, 74 eleva- demand, running and stand-by consumption have to be comple-
tors and 7 escalators, i.e. a total of 81 installations, were analyzed in mented by information on actual usage, i.e. the number of trips per
Germany, Italy, Poland and Portugal. In general, elevators are often year. For the analysis, either the number of trips was collected from
individually engineered systems instead of off-the-shelf products. trip counters or documentation or otherwise typical trip numbers
Therefore elevators with different characteristics and from differ- by building type were assumed, based on expert input. Using these
ent buildings types were selected to obtain information about the numbers, the share of elevator stand-by consumption shows a large
energy demand of a wide range of different elevator configura- variance, ranging from 5% to 95% across the different installations.
tions. Fig. 2 illustrates the segmentation of the monitored sample These large differences originate especially from different usage
by building type and drive technology. patterns (the higher the number of trips, the higher the running
To ensure the comparability of the measurements, a common consumption tends to be), on the one hand, and from the differ-
methodology was developed and used in all countries [9]. The ent consumption values during running and stand-by, on the other
methodology considers power measurements relating to the nor- hand. Annual energy demand thus also reveals a large diversity,
mal operation of the elevator or escalator. Particularly, a distinction ranging roughly between values of 500 and 20,000 kWh per year
was made between running and stand-by consumption of the equip- and unit.
ment analyzed. For escalators, the power consumption was determined in dif-
To assess running consumption, the energy consumption of a ref- ferent states of operation. The running consumption is determined
erence cycle was measured, using power meters. This cycle includes by conducting measurements over a period of 5 min when the
a complete round-trip from the bottom landing of the elevator to escalator is running at nominal speed. Concerning stand-by, two
the top landing and back to the original position again, including different modes were distinguished: a stop mode (when the escala-
three complete door cycles, two at the bottom landing (beginning, tor is actually not running, however, prepared to start if passengers
end) and one at the top landing. The overall energy consump- enter it) and a low-speed mode. Low-speed modes are available on
tion in the running mode for this reference cycle is influenced by escalators with variable speed drives: in this mode of operation, the

Fig. 3. Specific energy consumption (running mode) of tertiary and residential sector elevators for a reference cycle.
154 A. De Almeida et al. / Energy and Buildings 47 (2012) 151–158

Fig. 4. Stand-by power of tertiary and residential sector elevators.

speed and thus the energy consumption of the escalator is reduced the results of the monitoring campaign. These values were then
while waiting for the next passengers to board. Therefore it is also combined with information from the survey on elevator stocks.
considered to be a stand-by mode. Concerning escalators, the average value for the electricity con-
According to the developed methodology, the stand-by con- sumed during running and stand-by modes were combined with
sumption is considered to be the sum of the low-speed mode the average operating and stand-by hours per year, as detailed in
consumption, if available, and the stop mode consumption. Mea- [11].
surements were carried out for empty escalators only. To take The results indicate that elevators in the EU-27 consume about
passenger load into account as found in real systems, annual 18.4 TWh of electrical energy per year, of which 6.7 TWh originate
consumption values were calculated by multiplying running- from installations in the residential sector, 10.9 TWh from the ter-
consumption with a typical load factor. tiary sector and only 0.8 TWh from the industrial sector (Fig. 5).
The results of the monitoring action on 7 escalators show that, in Although the number of installed elevators in the tertiary sector is
this low-speed mode, the energy consumption is more or less half of smaller than in the residential sector, their consumption is consid-
the consumption of the normal operation mode. Estimations of the erably larger, due to their more intensive use. Stand-by electricity
annual electricity consumption of the analyzed escalators indicate consumption represents a very significant share of the overall
energy demand values of roughly 4000–10,000 kWh per year and electricity consumption. Accounting for 68% (4.5 TWh) of overall
installation, depending on the respective configuration and usage. consumption in this sector, elevators installed in the residential
sector have a very high share in stand-by consumption. For the
2.2. Energy demand and efficiency potentials tertiary sector, stand-by accounts for another 4.6 TWh. Escalators
(including moving walkways) are estimated to consume around
2.2.1. Energy demand of elevators and escalators 0.9 TWh of electricity each year and thus represent only a fraction
Combining stock estimates with the data from the monitor- of the yearly energy consumption of elevators.
ing campaign, the annual electrical energy demand of elevator
and escalator installations in the EU-27 is estimated. For elevators, 2.2.2. Estimation of savings potentials
average consumption values both for stand-by and running mode For the calculation of savings potentials, it is assumed that
were calculated for each drive technology and sub-sector, using currently used equipment (CT) is replaced by best-available

Fig. 5. Estimation of total electricity savings in the different scenarios for elevators [11].
 A. De Almeida et al. / Energy and Buildings 47 (2012) 151–158 155

Table 2 Table 4
Scenario for elevators. Categories of stakeholders identified and number of interview participants.

Current Running Stand-by Stakeholder categories Number of

technologies interviews
(CT)
Manufacturers, installers, service & maintenance 11
Based on market data and
Architects, construction engineers, elevator consultants 8
monitoring results
Construction companies 1
BAT Components with high Reduced stand-by: Building administrators and operators 1
efficiency: • Led Lighting (varies from Notified bodies 2
• Motor efficiency: 15% 12 W for elevator with load
lower losses than IE3 in 320 kg to 18 W for 1000 kg
IEC60034-30 (Super load elevator).
Premium or Permanent • Electronic controllers
Magnet Synchronous
mode. Furthermore, it is assumed that when stopped, the controller
(25 W).
Motors) [13]. • Inverter (20 W). and inverter only consume 1 W each. These assumptions lead to
• Efficiency of helical gear – • Door operators (5 W) an overall reduction in the energy consumption of escalators of
BNAT 96%. In addition: approximately 0.25 TWh (28%).
• Friction losses (5%). • Turning off all Table 3 summarizes the consumption values and efficiency
• Efficiency of VSD (95%) non-essential components
[14] which contribute to
potentials for the currently installed elevators and escalators in
stand-by energy Europe. With respect to the estimated savings, it is important to
consumption when the note that some technologies may increase stand-by consumption,
elevator is not in use. while reducing consumption during the running phase. Therefore,
• Put controller and
their application in a given installation should be carefully eval-
inverter into sleep-mode
(1 W each) uated on a case-specific basis, especially taking the usage into
account.

technological solutions. The estimation of the potential savings

for elevators is made by assuming two technological scenarios 3. Analysis of suitable policies
(Table 2):
3.1. Barriers to energy efficiency
• Best available technologies (BAT) are used,
• Best not-yet available technologies (BNAT) are used. As outlined above, significant and extensive savings of energy
would be possible for elevators and escalators without decreasing
BAT are state-of-the-art components currently being commer- comfort or accessibility, if BAT or BNAT were applied. However,
cialized while BNAT are new and existing technologies that are although BAT are currently available on the market, they are neither
not commercially available yet. The assumptions used for both regularly a part of new installations nor of major retrofits of existing
scenarios are the result of a careful evaluation of the available tech- installations. Thus this section aims to identify reasons that prevent
nological solutions [12], the results of the monitoring campaign and these technologies from spreading throughout the market as soon
the specialist advice of several manufacturers and experts (Table 2). as possible.
The results for elevators show that considerable savings are pos- Reasons hindering the diffusion of energy-efficient technologies
sible. A reduction by 11.5 TWh (62%) is achieved using BAT and are usually called barriers. Sorrell et al. [15] describe a barrier as “a
13.6 TWh (74%) can be saved when BNAT are used. Savings in the mechanism that inhibits a decision or behavior that appears to be
stand-by mode are particularly noticeable also, in both the BAT and both energy efficient and economically efficient.”
the BNAT scenarios (Fig. 5). For the BAT it is assumed that low power Various expert interviews were conducted in order to identify
equipment is used, which, however, constantly consumes energy barriers for energy efficiency in the elevator and escalator market.
all the time. In particular, the use of LED lighting plays a major role in Experts are usually defined as individuals who have special knowl-
this reduction, as it drastically reduces the energy consumption of edge or experience of a topic of interest. For the purpose of this
24/7 operated lighting in the car. If equipment is turned off and put study, a list of potential stakeholders was produced as a starting
into a sleep-mode when not in use, corresponding to the BNAT sce- point to identify relevant experts. Five categories of stakeholder
nario, a reduction in stand-by power of more than 80% is considered were identified (Table 4).
feasible. As a preliminary step for the interviews, barriers that have been
For the estimation of possible energy savings in escalators, it identified as relevant for other technologies were extracted from
is assumed that currently 30% of all escalators are equipped with the literature. On this basis, a standardized guideline was developed
a variable speed drive. To calculate the efficiency potentials, it is and used in the interviews. After the 23 interviews, the results were
assumed that all escalators could be equipped with a VSD and validated in discussions within the project team as well as relevant
would therefore be capable of operating in a “reduced speed” stakeholder groups, e.g. members of industrial associations.

Table 3
Estimated energy consumption and savings potentials for elevators and escalators [11].

Consumption Savings

Running [GWh] Stand-by [GWh] Total [GWh] Absolute [GWh] Relative [%]

Elevators
CT 8674 9706 18,380
BAT 4233 2663 6896 −11,484 −62%
BNAT 552 4785 −13,595 −74%
Escalators
CT 822 82 904
BAT 413 236 649 −255 −28%
156 A. De Almeida et al. / Energy and Buildings 47 (2012) 151–158

Table 5 further intensified by the fact that maintenance and energy costs
Barriers to energy efficiency for elevators and escalators.
are often divided among several occupants of a building which
Relevance Issue lowers the probability that these costs will provoke attention.
Major barriers • Lack of monitoring of energy consumption Other barriers known as being relevant for other technologies,
• Lack of awareness e.g. lack of time or capital, reliability of technology, or legislation,
• Lack of knowledge about energy efficient play only minor roles. However, price may be crucial, although lack
technology of capital is not a major problem: This has to be seen in relation to
• Split incentives: installation not chosen by
the split-incentive problem already addressed.
the later operator/user
Not relevant as a barrier • Lack of time Moreover, the economic efficiency of energy-efficient technol-
• Lack of capital ogy is a topic that is highly debated and which suffers from a lack of
• Reliability of technology reliable data. Few examples of technical measures were given dur-
ing the interviews and the group discussions for which economic
pay-off is not doubted. The best example of a unanimously accepted
The experts taking part in the interviews represented several measure is turning off the light when the car of the elevator is not
European countries (e.g. Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal and in use and equipping the car with energy-efficient lighting. As out-
Poland) and covered the different stakeholder categories. However, lined above, this measure would already significantly contribute
it is also worth noting that several individuals from building admin- toward reducing the energy consumption of elevators. However, it
istration and operation declined to take part in the interviews, is often not realized, due to the other barriers – lack of information
claiming little knowledge about the issue under study. and awareness, as well as split incentives.
The results obtained in the study on barriers indicate that major For other measures, e.g. investing in the drive system, opin-
barriers to the penetration of energy-efficient technologies are due ions on economic efficiency were diverse and heterogeneous, even
to a lack of monitoring energy consumption of installations, from among experts from manufacturing and notified bodies. For exam-
a lack of awareness as well as a lack of knowledge about energy- ple, experts stated wide ranges of prices for certain measures, e.g.
efficient technology. Split-incentive problems have also proved to regenerative drives, which, of course, lead to differing opinions
be very relevant (Table 5). regarding economic efficiency. In general, some experts empha-
In general, it is not common for operators of elevators or sized the long life-cycles of installations, pointing out that longer
escalators to regularly monitor the energy consumption of their payback periods could also be attractive. Moreover, economic effi-
equipment. In most cases, no technical devices are installed that ciency was perceived to be more easily realized for large-scale
would allow for regular monitoring of installed equipment; thus installation than for small-scale ones.
the energy consumption of elevators and escalators cannot be
separated from other equipment in the building, e.g. lighting or 3.2. Policy measures to promote energy efficiency
ventilation.
This is seen as related to the fact that individuals choosing equip- Based on these results, a set of recommendations for policy
ment, as well as operators and users, do not consider the expected measures can be developed that are likely to help in effectively
energy consumption of the equipment: Due to a low degree of promoting energy efficiency in the elevator and escalator market.
awareness, no measurement devices are installed – as there is no
data available, individuals do not become aware of potentials to 3.2.1. Standardization of measurement methodologies
increase the energy efficiency of existing installations or to think As shown in the barrier analysis, the energy consumption of a
of this issue if new installations are required. single installation is usually unknown to its owner, as well as to the
Obtaining information on energy-efficient technology is not maintenance company and the manufacturers. This is also reflected
judged difficult by the experts questioned. However, the main by the fact that it was necessary to develop a measurement method-
sources for information that are regularly used in case of new instal- ology to carry out the monitoring campaign which was part of the
lations, as well as in case of retrofitting, are the manufacturers work presented in this paper. Only recently, have some manufac-
and their sales representatives. Neutral sources for information are turers started to put time and effort into obtaining measurement
missing or hardly known. The experts emphasized that the knowl- data for their equipment and standardization processes concern-
edge provided by sales representatives is usually restricted to the ing energy efficiency. Measurements have been initiated (e.g. VDI
technology used by their respective company, and that energy- 4707-1 [11], ISO/DIS 25745-1 [16]); however, no consistent and
efficient technology is sometimes too new to be fully understood, broadly supported European or international standard exists yet.
even by company representatives. The clients themselves usually Precise and standardized data is the necessary first step in identi-
have little knowledge about this topic and are thus not able to fying potentials for energy efficiency. Otherwise it is not possible
ask for relevant data. Thus, installations and components are usu- to compare different installations or to make informed decisions
ally chosen without a (comprehensive) assessment of their energy about equipment. Thus, this gap needs to be closed as soon as
consumption and without considering life-cycle approaches. possible. Building on the first concepts of how to measure energy
In addition to this, an installation is often chosen neither by the consumption of elevators should allow for a standard to be rapidly
future operator/user of an installation, nor the person/s paying for developed.
the energy consumption – who may be, but is not always, identical
to the operator/user. Thus, a split-incentive problem occurs: Build- 3.2.2. Relevant legislative framework
ings including an elevator or escalator are often erected by a general Next, we recommend including elevators and escalators in
contractor for whom the energy consumption of the elevator or the relevant framework of regulation and legislation, in order
escalator installed does not matter at all. Thus, life-cycle costs play to speed up the process of developing measurement standards
a minor role when an installation is chosen. This may also be the as well as drawing attention to the energy efficiency of eleva-
case for retrofits of installations: Retrofits are often initiated by the tors and escalators. Up to now, elevators are neither included in
operator/administrator of an installation who does not necessarily building directives, e.g. EPBD, nor in those on electric equipment,
benefit from optimizing the energy costs of an installation. The e.g. EuP/ErP. Several countries use the EPBD as a basis for subsi-
split-incentive problem is worsened due to low levels of awareness dies. Thus including elevators and escalators would allow them
for this issue on the part of operators/administrators/users. It is to become part of these programs too. This could also contribute
 A. De Almeida et al. / Energy and Buildings 47 (2012) 151–158 157

to filling in gaps with regard to energy efficiency at the interface about energy-efficient components which may be consulted for
between the building itself and the elevator, e.g. insulation of the retrofits (e.g. [19]). It is important to keep in mind that this infor-
elevator shaft. This topic is not further detailed in this paper, but it mation has to be directed to different target groups: to general con-
was repeatedly mentioned in expert discussions during the work tractors, individuals involved in the planning process of a building,
process. as well as to operators and administrators of buildings and build-
ing owners. Thus, several channels have to be used to communicate
3.2.3. Raising awareness and diffuse the information sources once they are established.
Setting measurement standards and complementing legislation
will already contribute to raising awareness about energy efficiency
to some extent. However, as shown by the barrier analysis, higher 4. Conclusions
levels of awareness are necessary – especially for administrators,
operators and users – to ensure that the energy efficiency of eleva- To sum up, this paper provides a full analysis of the elevator and
tors is optimized. escalator market with regard to energy efficiency. As a basis for a
Main target groups for awareness-raising measures are the sound analysis, first of all, the stock of installations throughout the
stakeholders involved during the planning and construction of EU-27 was analyzed. After developing a measurement methodol-
buildings, i.e. those taking the decision on new equipment, as well ogy, 81 different installations in five different countries using all
as those stakeholders who will later use and/or operate an instal- relevant technologies were monitored. Combining this data pro-
lation, i.e. those paying for the energy consumption and taking the vided an estimation of the annual energy demand of elevator and
decisions on retrofits. escalators installations in Europe. It turns out that elevators and
One way to raise awareness in several target groups is by label- escalators consume about 19.3 TWh per year. This is equivalent
ing equipment in a comparable and comprehensive way as it has to a share of 0.7% in the electricity consumption in the EU-27 in
been done for other electrical equipment, e.g. freezers and refriger- 2008 (2.856 TWh). The impact of elevators is much higher than the
ators. For this reason, we recommend to develop a labeling system impact of escalators, due to the much lower number of escalators
on the energy efficiency of elevators and escalators. Labeling has installed.
turned out to be an effective measure to enhance energy efficiency From a sectoral point of view, elevators in the residential sector,
[17]. The main advantage of labeling is that labels convey in a con- although they form the majority of elevators installed (64% of all
densed and simplified form the most relevant information on the units), are responsible for only 36% (6.7 TWh) of the overall electric-
energy efficiency of a system. Thus, buyers do not need to collect a ity demand by elevators. This is due to their less intensive usage. On
huge amount of information and data on a subject that is very dif- the other hand, elevators installed in the tertiary sector usually have
ficult for them to understand. A major challenge for implementing a more intensive use and consume about 59% (10.9 TWh) of the total
such a system lies in the heterogeneity of elevators and escalators elevator electricity consumption, which corresponds to almost 1.4%
[18]. However, the VDI 4707-1 has provided a first example of how of the electricity consumed in that sector in 2008 (753 TWh). In
to address this problem [10]. terms of stand-by consumption, the elevators in the sample showed
As outlined in the monitoring campaign, the overall energy a large range of values, ranging from below 50 W to 700 W. In terms
demand pattern and thereby effective means to influence the of running consumption, hydraulic elevators that are usually not
energy efficiency of an elevator heavily depends on its usage pat- equipped with counterweights showed a significantly higher run-
tern: The higher the frequency of running, the more important the ning consumption than traction elevators. The overall effect on the
energy efficiency of the running mode and vice versa for stand-by. energy consumption of an installation, however, depends on the
Thus, it would make sense if two labels were assigned to each eleva- actual balance of stand-by and running consumption.
tor model, i.e. one label for running and one for stand-by. Thus, the While it is informative to know how much energy is consumed
individual usage pattern could be taken into account when invest- by elevators and escalators, it is more important to analyze whether
ing in a system. Other measures to raise awareness should yet be this consumption could be reduced without decreasing comfort and
implemented. This is important, as labeling only addresses new accessibility. This was analyzed, drawing on data about BAT and
equipment and does not include existing installations. Due to the BNAT which, however, are expected to be on the market soon. The
long life-time of elevators, it is necessary that measures for market use of BAT in all existing elevator installations could result in tech-
transformation address existing installations as well. nical savings during stand-by consumption of more than 70%. In
particular, energy-efficient lighting and the use of electronic com-
3.2.4. Minimum energy performance standards ponents with low stand-by power (e.g. controllers and inverter)
Based on a methodology for standardized monitoring of the were found to play a major role in this reduction. Turning off non-
electricity consumption as well as a labeling system, minimum essential equipment or putting it into a very low power or sleep
energy performance standards (MEPS) could be an option for mode, whenever possible, would produce even higher electricity
the future as well, e.g. including maximum stand-by consump- savings (BNAT scenario).
tion values for all systems, and maximum specific consumption The potential overall savings (running and stand-by) are esti-
for non-residential high traffic installations. Such standards could mated to account for savings of 11.5 TWh (BAT) or 13.6 TWh (BNAT).
significantly contribute to support the diffusion of more energy- Compared to elevators, the estimated electricity consumption of
efficient technologies and especially address the high share in escalators in Europe is relatively modest (0.9 TWh), and a potential
stand-by as discussed above. However, due to the multitude of dif- reduction of around 0.25 TWh (30%) would be feasible if all the esca-
ferent types of elevators, the introduction of comprehensive and lators installed were to be equipped with automatic speed controls
balanced MEPS may take time. and with low power stand-by modes.
However, these energy savings scenarios are far from becom-
3.2.5. Enhancing knowledge ing reality. Elevators and escalators have long life cycles, which
It is one of the general experiences of elevator experts that most imply a slow market penetration for new technologies. Addition-
clients have little knowledge about elevators. Furthermore, special- ally, various barriers to energy-efficient technology are present in
ized consultants are only involved in a minority of projects. Thus, the market as shown by the study of this topic presented above.
relevant information needs to be accessible to customers, e.g. via The main barriers identified are lack of information and awareness,
the internet or brochures. This includes, for example, checklists split-incentive problems and an unclear state of knowledge about
158 A. De Almeida et al. / Energy and Buildings 47 (2012) 151–158

the economic efficiency of the technological measures. In order to Acknowledgements

address these barriers, the following measures are recommended
in order to effectively improve energy efficiency in the elevator and This paper is based on results of the E4 project. This project
escalator market: was jointly carried out by the European Lift Association (ELA), the
Energy Agencies of Italy (ENEA) and Poland (KAPE), Fraunhofer
• implementing a standard method of measurement for the elec- ISI (Germany) and ISR-University of Coimbra (Portugal) supported
tricity consumption of elevators and escalators, by the European Commission, Executive Agency for Competitive-
• including elevators and escalators into the building energy certi- ness and Innovation, EACI (contract EIE/07/111/SI2.466703). The
fication (EPBD), responsibility for this paper lies with the authors.
• raising awareness through labeling systems and additional mea-
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