Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2017 | Page 51

Embracing Convergence
Santeri Suoranta points out that the digitalisation enables effective separation of control logic from physical equipment ; for example , elevator control can be separated from the physical elevator or access control intelligence can be separated from the physical readers and locks .
“ This trend opens up new possibilities for integration and system optimisation within and between multiple systems ,” Suoranta says . One can , for instance , integrate elevator control with access control or integrate elevator lobby lighting control with elevator ’ s arrival in the lobby .
According to Suoranta , KONE ’ s approach on intelligent buildings consists of integrating the people flow in four domains : destination controls , access controls , monitoring and information systems .
“ The starting point has been shifted from technology towards the key question – how to optimise the user experience . The technology here is used to enable the required solution ,” he sums up .
Make Data Work for You
In order to identify the user and ensure access to the building and proper access control , smart solutions are needed . Under the KONE master concept , the elevator destination control solutions guide the users to their desired destinations easily , with minimal journey time and with optimal elevator capacity .
“ During the journey , various information is shared to users via screens . Monitoring solutions are needed for the building management to ensure safe , reliable , and effective operation .”
Suoranta points out that adopting to digital change is easier to accomplish in the early stages of the design effort , working together with the different vendors in the industry . “ Intelligence on buildings is possible to integrate in the design phase , but very hard to adopt afterwards .”
Rethinking Construction Sites
De Rotterdam , Netherlands .
The same mindset of planning ahead has encouraged KONE to come up with solutions for the construction sites . Jussi Kojamo , Head of KONE Major Projects Sales , observes that in the construction industry there are often clear cases where time is being wasted – bottlenecks appear that can ’ t be solved on the spot , there aren ’ t enough resources etc .
“ This waste impacts every worker , every builder and every building owner ,” says Kojamo . To speed things along , KONE turned its attention to the traditional builder ’ s hoists that are often used to move people and goods on construction sites .
Builder ’ s hoists are of particular importance since on a high-rise construction site workers can spend hours commuting between floors every day . Large sites can easily employ 500 to 1,500 workers , which can mean that up to 4,500 working hours per day are lost simply traveling within a building . “ It goes without saying that cutting this number by half would have a huge impact on both the project schedule and cost ,” Kojamo observes .
JumpLift to the Rescue
KONE decided to tackle this bottleneck by bringing in the KONE JumpLift . Having been successfully utilised in numerous high-rise construction sites around the world , KONE JumpLift is a self-climbing construction-time elevator which uses the building ’ s permanent hoistway .
“ Workers can use the elevator while the elevator guiderails are being installed above from the self-powered installation platform . The KONE JumpLift climbs higher as the building grows taller ,” Kojamo explains .
Benefits for Builders , Owners & Workers
For builders , KONE JumpLift speeds up the construction process considerably . Since the KONE JumpLift can travel 4 to 6 times faster than traditional external hoists , it can increase the traffic capacity by as much as 300 % and shorten construction schedules by up to 20 %.
“ This means savings , for example , in both labor and hoists rental costs . JumpLift can be used to complement , or even replace entirely , external hoisting systems ,” Kojamo says . As well as being faster and safer , JumpLift can also operate in all weather
conditions , in a weatherproof shaft inside the building ; the work can continue regardless of the outside weather conditions .
For building owners , KONE JumpLift accelerates the whole construction schedule , meaning that the building can be completed faster and opened earlier . “ Benefits for owners include enabling a faster return on investment , lower interest payments , and other indirect cost savings ,” Kojamo says .
For workers , there ’ s considerably less time spent waiting , and they no longer need to compete for space with building materials . As a result , on-site logistics improve by leaps and bounds .
“ And when you have a fully functioning elevator , compliant with the same safety standards as the completed elevator , it also significantly improves site safety ,” Kojamo adds .
Worksite Flow Manager
According to Jussi Kojamo , once construction is completed , changing over to the permanent elevator is very quick and straightforward indeed .
“ The KONE JumpLift machinery is replaced by the permanent elevator machinery , the car and landing door materials are finished , and the permanent signalisation is installed .”
Kojamo observes that improving the construction site flow is really just an extension of KONE ’ s core business . The company is a veteran of using sophisticated traffic planning tools to optimise people flow in modern high-rise buildings – and now the construction sites are able to reap the benefits of the KONE solutions , too . l
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