Evaluating and improving the energy efficiency of counterbalanced elevators based on passenger traffic

Building Services Engineering Research and Technology

Siikonen³

et al. 2017

Self Cite

This article presents a study of the potential energy efficiency improvement by means of adjusting the lift counterweight. The lift energy consumption in different counterweight setups is studied by employing measured lift traffic and energy consumption data from an office building in Finland. Overall, dimensioning the counterweight based on traffic analysis is one of the fastest and most cost-effective means of improving the energy efficiency of lifts. The results from the building imply, however, that with a relatively constant loading throughout the day, the continuous adjusting of the counterweight provides limited energy savings compared to systems where the counterweight is sized according to the average load. Nevertheless, active adjustment of the counterweight size may provide considerable savings in lift systems if there is a wide variation in the car loading between the hours of the day. Furthermore, reducing the counterweight potentially improves the ISO 25745-2 energy efficiency classification of the lift, thus increasing the product attractiveness in the market. Practical Application This article presents practical approaches to analysing the energy consumption of counterbalanced lifts. The modelled results can be used to optimise the mass of the counterweight in order to achieve considerable energy savings in the actual or expected traffic profile.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Test Surroundingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A study for improving the energy efficiency of lifts with adjustable counterweighting

Building Services Engineering Research and Technology

Siikonen³

et al. 2017

Self Cite

“…Though the above equations can be considered enough for simple analysis [19], it is difficult to estimate their suitability for analyzing the aggregated power consumption of multiple elevator units with varying characteristics. In this paper, we compare the performance of the above equations to an approach which also considers energy consumed during the acceleration and deceleration phases of an elevator start.…”

Section: Traction Elevatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-resolution modeling of elevator power consumption

Journal of Building Engineering

Siikonen

et al. 2018

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This paper proposes a framework for modeling the instantaneous power consumption of individual elevators and elevator groups based on passenger traffic. Though elevators have a key role in the modern urban society, they have remained as rather neglected appliances in the energy efficiency research. To accelerate the energy efficiency studies of elevators, this paper has two major contributions. First, we propose means to model the instantaneous power consumption of individual elevators and elevator groups and analyze the reliability of these means versus the complexity of the modeling. Second, we present an elevator group control scheme to organize the elevator dispatching according to the simulated passenger traffic. When combined, these methods yield enhanced predictions about the energy and power consumption of elevators in a specific type of building with measured or simulated movement of occupants.

Explicit method to predict annual elevator energy consumption in recurring passenger traffic conditions

Journal of Building Engineering

Siikonen

et al. 2016

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This paper proposes a method for simple projecting of annual elevator electricity consumption based on short-term energy measurements and identifies challenges in the determination of actual energy consumption based on kWh meter readings. The study also analyzes the impact of the employed elevator technology, building type, and seasonal variations in elevator usage on the calculation of the annual consumption. Thus, the method can be adopted in different regions with varying elevator usage. The approach employs elevator specific daily energy consumption measured on the prevailing day types. The reliability of the proposed approach was analyzed and the performance compared to actual measured annual consumption and estimates provided by commonly adopted energy efficiency classification schemes, VDI 4707-1:2009 and ISO 25745-2:2015. The results of the monitored office elevator indicated that the proposed method performs generally better than the competing approaches.