COVID-19 And Vertical Transportation

Wash your hands, wear your mask, and stay a safe distance apart. This has become the mantra of 2020 and will stay in effect through much, if not all, of 2021. Disinfecting surfaces that may harbor the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 has also become normal. But there are many places where surfaces are not, or cannot, be cleaned often and there is where technology may benefit the safety of all.
 
Indeed, COVID-19 has thrown the spotlight on the surfaces people touch. What we have taken for granted in the past is now suspect in the present and future. The common elevator, for example, represents a collection of problems in the COVID age. The surfaces that people touch while entering, riding and activating an elevator along with social distancing protocols have prompted many property managers to implement digital and touchless technologies that eliminate those touch points to keep passengers safe.
 
But what about the health of the elevator itself? Material health is key, and it starts with avoiding harmful chemicals in the manufacturing of elevators and escalators. Vertical transportation companies have a responsibility to provide the safest, healthiest products and systems that they can, to help keep people safe. You cannot talk about wanting to positively impact the health of the environment without focusing on the health of the elevator itself. This is something thyssenkrupp Elevator has focused on, including eliminating the use of harmful chemicals in the manufacturing process.
 
In October 2020, thyssenkrupp Elevator published an EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) in the U.S. for its evolution low-rise to mid-rise elevators in accordance with ISO 14025. An EPD is an assessment of the environmental impacts of a product over its life cycle that is verified by an independent third-party. The life cycle assessment of the MRL (machine-room-less) evolution elevator encompassed the environmental impacts of the product starting with the raw material extraction of the components used to manufacture the elevator through the manufacture, transport, installation, and use phases. The assessment then ended with the eventual recycling and disposal of parts.
 
In the U.S. market, thyssenkrupp Elevator was the first elevator company to publicly disclose its environmental impacts in accordance with the Product Category Rules of the International EPD system for each of its elevator product lines. In addition, the company discloses ingredients in its cabs and entrances down to 1,000 ppm per its Health Product Declaration. This commitment to health and wellness is reflected in an extensive LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and LBC (Living Building Challenge) portfolio.
 
The Living Building Challenge, an international sustainable building certification program created in 2006 by the International Living Future Institute, promotes the most advanced measurement of sustainability in the built environment. In order to be eligible for Living Building Challenge certification, buildings must have elevators with Declare labels. Declare is a transparency platform and nutrition label created by the International Living Future Institute that shares where a product comes from, what it’s made of and where it goes at the end of its life. The Living Building Challenge includes a list of 21 chemicals known as the ‘red list’ that cannot be incorporated into any part of a building. thyssenkrupp Elevator is the only elevator company with Declare labels on its elevators.
 
Currently there are about 400 projects around the world pursuing LBC certification, including Georgia Tech’s Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design in Atlanta. The 37,000-sq.ft., two-story academic building is poised to become the first fully certified LBC facility in Georgia as well as the first fully certified LBC education and research facility in the Southeast. The building is one of three in the U.S. that has relied on thyssenkrupp Elevator’s healthy transportation systems to help them protect their tenants and guests while working toward LBC certification.
 
Meanwhile, one of thyssenkrupp Elevator’s most prominent LEED projects is SFO (San Francisco Intl.) where it is installing 33 elevators, 20 escalators and four moving walkways as part of the airport’s $2.4 billion renovation of Terminal 1 and Boarding Area B. The full renovation is scheduled for completion in 2022. SFO required all transportation products meet the Material and Resource credit requirements in their pursuit of LEED v4 Gold certification. Health Product Declarations outlining all materials utilized in each product were also required, ensuring SFO remains completely free of carcinogens and dangerous chemicals.