Vertical Transportation Host Room

Report by John Saling, Fortune Shepler Saling Inc.

Hosted By:

Timo Tiainen, Director, KONE, demonstrates destination dispatch technology.

The Vertical Transportation room, hosted by KONE, showcased how their theme of People Flow Intelligence is supported by innovations they have introduced to contribute to buildings that are ever taller, smarter, and more efficient.

Featured prominently as a design innovation was KONE’s high-tech UltraRope™. The super-light carbon fiber technology allows elevator travel to extend as far as 3,300 feet (1,000 meters), a heretofore unthinkable travel distance for a single elevator. “UltraRope lowers the suspended mass of a high-rise elevator by up to 60 percent – it’s a game changer,” said Santeri Suoranta, KONE’s Director of High-Rise Technology, who presented in the host room. In addition to being able to extend the travel of a single elevator, Suoranta also pointed out UltraRope’s other benefits; elevators equipped with UltraRope are more reliable and Eco-friendly than elevators with traditional wire rope. A unique benefit of UltaRope is that its natural frequency is much higher than that of any building, thereby eliminating the possibility of harmonic vibrations induced in the ropes, explained Suoranta.

Kingdom Tower, or as rebranded at CTBUH – Jeddah Tower, was featured prominently throughout the conference with many session speakers addressing a multitude of aspects about the project. KONE proudly displayed the use of UltraRope in Kingdom Tower in their host room.

KONE’s People Flow Intelligence extends to the job-site with Jumplift. As presented by Suoranta, Jumplift improves the speed in which a building can be built, enhances safety on the job-site since the lift is equipped with many more safety features than an outside hoist, and improves site logistics.   “We’re ahead of schedule and under-budget, using Jumplift is a big part of that”, said Christopher Wein, a Toronto-based developer and the first purchaser of Jumplift in North America. Wein was part of the team presenting Jumplift in the host room. “I’ll use it on every job going forward”, he added.

As the only Lift Manufacturer to offer building turnstiles as part of their Destination Dispatch (DD) product line, KONE offers a high level of integration. KONE also displayed an innovative cab interior solution using dynamic back-lit LED panels. The panels can be programmed to change the color, and ths the mood, of the cab over the course of the day.