November 19, 2007—Leading elevator and escalator manufacturer KONE Inc. deepened its environmental commitment recently by announcing that the company will no longer sell KONE-manufactured hydraulic elevator systems.
The company says its environmentally friendly EcoSpace Machine Room-Less (MRL) elevator technology is the superior solution for low-rise buildings that have historically been fitted with hydraulic equipment.
Hydraulic elevators have been one of the primary types of elevators used in low-rise buildings for many years, notes the company. The hydraulic elevators function as a closed pressurized system, utilizing hundreds of gallons of oil to drive the piston. As systems age, hydraulic elevators can slowly leak oil from the cylinder into the earth, decreasing efficiency and contaminating the surrounding soil.
The KONE EcoSpace solution doesn’t use hydraulic oil. Additionally, the systems are up to 60 percent more energy efficient than traditional hydraulic elevators, potentially saving thousands of kilowatt hours per year for single elevators and tens of thousands of kilowatt hours for multiple elevator banks.
For more about KONE, see the Web site.
