GREENBUILD 2011: Otis Elevator announces new contracts for sustainable building projects

Otis Elevator Co. announced from the Greenbuild 2011 International Conference that it has won several contracts that solidify Otis’ commitment to providing sustainable solutions for its customers.

These new wins build upon the success of the company’s "The Way To Green" initiative, a global environmental program that spans every aspect of its operations, from design and manufacturing, to end-of-life product recycling.

The most substantial of the new contracts involves supplying and installing 700 energy-efficient elevators for an immense social housing reconstruction project in Jiangsu, China, one of the largest wins in Otis’ history in the country.

Under the contract, Otis will install permanent-magnet gearless elevators, which require less space in the building and feature the company’s energy-efficient ReGen drive technology. ReGen drives capture energy generated by the elevators and deliver it back to the building for use by other systems.

When completed over the next two years, the project will provide elevator service to 16,000 units of housing, covering an area of approximately 2.9 million sm.

The other recent contracts to supply and install energy-efficient elevators include:

The Lotte World Tower in Seoul, South Korea, the world’s second tallest building, which is set to be completed in 2015. Otis will supply and install 46 elevators and escalators, including 16 energy-saving Gen2 elevators
The Vodafone D2 GmbH corporate headquarters in Dusseldorf, Germany. Otis will supply and install 39 elevators, including 29 Gen2 elevators. The Gen2 elevators will feature ReGen drives that reduce energy consumption by up to 75 percent compared to conventional systems with non-regenerative drives
Medical technology centers in Kaliningrad, Smolensk, Barnaul and Novosibirsk, Russia. Otis will supply and install a total of 28 elevators, 25 of which will be energy-efficient Gen2 elevators. BD+C

Rural hospitals present unique opportunities and challenges for healthcare facility operators. Oftentimes, the infrastructure and building systems have not been updated for years and require significant improvements in order to meet today’s modern medical demands. Additionally, as these smaller, more remote hospitals are acquired by larger regional and national healthcare systems, the first step by new ownership is often to update and rehabilitate the building. But how can this be done thoughtfully, economically, and efficiently in ways that allow the engineering and facility staff to adapt to the changes? And how can the updates accurately reflect the specific needs of rural communities and the afflictions with which these areas most commonly face?