BUILDING SERVICES

SERVING FLOORS AND GROUPING FOR BUILDING ELEVATORS

ELEVATOR The elevator (or lift ) is a type of
vertical transport equipment that
efficiently moves people or goods
between floors (levels, decks) of a
building, vessel or other structure.
Elevators are generally powered by
electric motors that either drive traction
cables or counterweight systems like
a hoist, or pump hydraulic fluid to raise
a cylindrical piston like a jack.
In agriculture and manufacturing, an
elevator is any type of conveyor device
used to lift materials in a continuous
stream into bins or silos. Several types
exist, such as the chain and
bucket bucket elevator, grain
auger screw conveyor using the
principle of Archimedes' screw, or the
chain and paddles/forks of hay
elevators.
Serving floors and grouping for building elevators
Several numbers of passenger elevators are usually
required in most buildings in order to cope with the
traffic density and choosing the right elevator
configuration can be a critical decision. In the interest
of economy as well as even utilization, every effort
should be made to achieve a layout where elevators
can be combined into a group with an appropriate
group control system.

For Office buildings, one elevator group can

generally serve all floors in buildings up to 15 to 20
floors depending on the building population. When
there are more than 20 floors, single grouping is not
efficient and would normally result in long travel
times and congestion in the elevator lobbies during
peak periods. The passenger elevators for buildings
with more than 20 floors (up to about 35 floors),
should be separated into low rise service and high
rise service
Elevators in the low rise group should serve the lower
half of the building while elevators in the high rise
group travel directly from the main stop to the upper
half of the building. Such a zoning arrangement
would cut down on the number of stops per elevator,
thus reducing round trip times and increasing the
handling capacity of each group.

Furthermore, the low rise group would then not

require high speed elevators, thus providing an
economical solution as well as more efficient
distribution of the building population during peak
periods. The same zoning principle is also applied in
buildings with even greater number of floors where 3
or more elevator zones can and should be deployed.
 Efficiency of the passenger elevator service in a
building is usually measured by the "5-minute
handling capacity" and the "average destination
time" which can be defined as the waiting time in the
elevator lobby plus the travelling time inside the
elevator. As a guide, the following are the guidelines
for 5-minute handling capacity for different types of
buildings:

Residential Apartments / buildings: 7 to 9%.

Premises without specific distribution traffic,
such as mixed-tenancy Office buildings with
different working hours: 12 to 16%.
Premises with excessive distribution traffic, such
Conventional elevator (left) and elevator with as single tenancy Office buildings with the same
destination control (right). With a destination control working hours: 16 to 25%.
system, floor calls are grouped.
Planning groups of elevators for tall buildings
Summary: Elevator planning must satisfy two conflicting demands:
1. Groups shall occupy the least possible building space to maximize rentable areas.
2. Groups must provide best possible service qualities under all traffic
conditions.
These two demands define a single problem: the efficiency of elevator operations. This efficiency is
primarily defined by building/elevator planning and secondly by elevator group controls. This book
explains why and how "intelligent destination" group controls will enable best possible planning and
best-possible service qualities under all traffic conditions.
Tall buildings are usually served by groups of local elevators serving about 10 to 20adjacent floors
with single deck cars. Flight times of cars between floors have been optimized by modern drive- and
door systems. It is probably correct to say that the "muscle power" characteristics of modern
elevators have reached their optimum. The best-possible use of "muscle power" should be
assured by the groups "brain power". Consequently must demonstrate for TWO elements why
and how each element affects group performance:
1. Elevator planning, i.e. the number of cars in a group, their contract load and
speed and the number of floors served. These data define the configuration
and "muscle power" of groups.
2. Group control systems; define group "brain power", i.e. their ability to make
best possible use of "muscle power".
Element 1 is best explained with a simple example. A large single-car can
serve a low building or a short building zone. Obviously its time-dependent service
qualities will be very poor. If instead of a single-car we plan a 2-car group the
 contract load of the 2-car configuration can be reduced by at least 50 %
because the average number of stops per car is substantially reduced. The time
dependent service qualities of this configuration will be much better. The contract
loads of a group can be further reduced by 3- or 4-car configurations. Time-
dependent service qualities improve accordingly. With 5- or 6-carconfigurations
groups may have very small contract loads and outstanding time dependent
service qualities. Each increase of the number of cars allows a reduction of the
contract load and a modest increase of the number of floors served. The use of
more and smaller cars implies that each car will transport fewer passengers
under all traffic conditions. Consequently the cars make fewer stops and are
more efficient. This simple logic is valid for any group and any group control
system. It is an inherent feature of all groups. Please refer to Chapter 5 for the
mathematical proof of these facts.
Element 2, group controls or "brain power" is a complex problem. This book
presents the mathematical and practical solutions for best-possible control of car
operation under all traffic conditions. The performance data and space
requirements of groups with best possible configurations disclose and define the
interdependence between elements 1 and 2.
 Existing group controls
The majority of existing buildings have groups of elevators with "collective
selective controls, i.e. controls with UP / DOWN buttons in the lobbies and floor
buttons in the cars. These traditional groups cannot be efficient because the
movements of the car sare largely decided by the random destinations of passengers,
i.e. by chance. During periods of heavy traffic these groups are in fact out of control.
Another type of existing group controls requires passengers to enter their destinations
on panels in the lobbies and assigns passengers to specific cars. The cars stop at
assigned destinations, i.e. floor buttons in the cars are not required. Unfortunately
existing destination controls are not yet intelligent.
Intelligent destination controls continuously monitor traffic conditions and
learn to recognize and predict traffic densities and other traffic characteristics with a
high degree of accuracy. Destination controls have at all times control over all cars.
They can control the number of stops during each and every UP and/or DOWN trip.
This book will prove that intelligent destination controls can simultaneously optimize the
efficiency and the service qualities of groups under all traffic conditions."Intelligent
destination" group controls This book discloses why and how "brain power", i.e.
intelligent destination group controls, can deliver best-possible service qualities under
all traffic conditions. Service quality, i.e. transport capacities and time-dependent
service qualities, consists of several components that are interdependent with each
other and:
the characteristics of a specific building or building zone
 the characteristics of the group(s) serving a specific building
the population of a specific building
traffic conditions generated by the population.
We can say that best-possible group performance is very well obscured by a large
number of interdependencies. The solution of this puzzle is easily defined in words: best-
possible use and coordination of the cars of a group. This book shows how
mathematical- and operational data structures and an artificial experience (learning)
system can be combined to form an artificial intelligence system. These systems
provide "intelligent elevators" with the "brain power" and sensory abilities required for
making the logical control decisions that assure best-possible service qualities under all
traffic conditions.
To understand why and how intelligent destination controls enable best-possible
caroperations does not require know-how of sophisticated technology. Logic and fairly
simple mathematics make the interdependencies of all service qualities transparent. When
all interdependencies are known and their relationship can be evaluated, intelligent control
decisions are reduced to selection of the specific option for momentary car operations
that delivers the agreed service qualities and reflects customer preferences. In the
following chapters the topics that are relevant for best-possible efficiency are analyzed one
by one and readers will soon begin to see the relationship between the group performance
parameters, i.e. the service qualities that together define the quality of elevator services.
Benefits of "intelligent elevators"
The benefits of "Intelligent destination" group controls are substantial for passengers and
for building owners, planners and managers.
For passengers (in new or existing buildings):
Passengers reach their destinations earlier under all traffic conditions.
Average numbers of passengers in the cars and average travel times in the cars are
minimized improving travel comfort.
Groups can maximize transport capacities in conjunction with best possible time dependent
service qualities for required transport capacities. In other words:
"Intelligent elevators" are capable to operate with the best-possible balance between
transport capacities and time-dependent service qualities under all traffic conditions.
For building owners and planners (for new buildings):
Building volumes required for groups of elevators will be substantially reduced and rentable
areas maximized.
Energy consumption will be substantially reduced.
New group configurations that are attractive in respect of the relationship between
group service qualities and the costs of elevators, building volume,maintenance and energy
are introduced.
For building managers (in new or existing buildings):
Building management information systems that deliver statistics of building andfloor
populations, traffic flows to and from all floors, service quality statistics etc.
Service qualities can be influenced by management preferences.
Building security, climate control etc. can benefit from real time data.
Monitoring of all aspects of elevator performance and automatic reporting of any
malfunctions.
Other benefits
Improved performance of groups in existing buildings
Direct communication of passengers with group controls with wireless devices, for
example mobile phones, will enable abolishing destination entry panels in lobbies.
These systems will provide group controls with exact data in respect of the number and
arrival times of all passengers in the elevator lobbies.
Building security will be greatly enhanced if visitors must obtain special mobile
devices from the building reception or security desk to use the elevators. Access can
be limited to a specific floor(s) and/or during a specific time period. If a visitor
disembarks on the wrong floor it can be automatically reported to security and/or he
visitor.
TRAFFIC PLANNING
1Deciding speed
Speed of elevator is
generally determined by the number of
floor in the building. A general guide is
that it should not take more than 30
seconds to travel in between the top and
the lowest floors. Decide the optimum
speed for the building by applying this
basic rule and considering the factors
such as building's purpose,
characteristics, and service policy.
2Deciding number of cars
1. Determine the number of cars required
Decide sufficient number of cars
to maintain the transportation capacity and
waiting time within the service standards
during peak hours which has large number
of passengers. Below is a general
guideline to determine the number of cars.

2. Traffic calculation
When deciding on the number
of elevator cars, passenger capacity and
service floors, study of numerical data is
required for the traffic calculation. The
general values for traffic calculation are
shown below.
3. Simulation
The building's traffic demand could be simulated with computer to understand more
about the service condition such as average waiting time and chances of long waits. Integrating
the result simulation with the traffic calculation to allow for better accuracy planning. The output of
the simulation contains the peak hours and the usual service condition. The general values for the
simulation are as follows:
Example : Rental office building with demand concentration at 6% of building population per 5
minutes span (during office hours)Average wait times : 30sec or lessChance of response within
30seconds : 70% or greaterChance of response after 60 seconds or more : 5% or less

3Deciding Passenger Capacity

Decision of passenger capacity must be planned with the considerations of peak hours
, characteristics of building and make allowance for leeway. Generally, the following plans are
recommended:
For a small or mid-sized building, passenger capacity of 15 (load capacity of 1000kg) or higher.
For a hotel or large office building, passenger capacity of 24 (load capacity of 1600kg) or higher.
Doors should open from the center, and the car entrance should be as wide as possible.
The car should be with in relation to its depth
 4Deciding Service Floor
Office buildings of more than 20 stories are zoned in order to
decrease transportation time and improve the rental rates. Zoning
refers to dividing elevator service into several zones, and assign
group of elevators for each zone. The following point must be take
into consideration in order to apply the zone system effectively.
Unlike office buildings, a single elevator group is recommended for
hotels 40 stories or less to give priority to the first-time users and
conveniences. Using a single group elevators, make less hassle for
the passengers to select an elevator based on their destination
floor, and is also more flexible than zoning. Allow a number of
elevators to be used for special occasions temporarily, without
greatly affecting the passengers. In additional, if the hotel has
banquet halls or wedding chapel, it is advisable to assign escalator
or elevator specially for these guests.

There should be about 10 to 15 floors per zone.

In consideration of future movements in tenant population, 2 floors
of each service zone should overlap to allow for movement
between floors.
Post the service floors clearly in order to keep people from getting
on the wrong elevator.
Keep each elevator at the top or bottom of its service zone.
5Deciding The Layout
Elevator layout has great influences on building's functionality.
Thus, the elevator must be installed in such a way that it is
easy to use without affecting the performances.

Position the elevator so that any part of the floor can be

reached with little walking, with a focus on lines of movement
for traffic.
When installing several elevator groups, concentrate each
group in a single location.
When lining elevators in a row, keep the number of elevators
to no more than 4, with at most 8 meters between the
elevators on each end.
If more than 4 elevators are installed, place them on facing
sides of a hallway, with 3.5 to 4.5 meters between them.
It must be possible to see all elevators from anywhere in the
hall. Avoid constructions with pillars in the elevator hall, and
layouts with recessed elevator car entrances.
The elevator hall must be large enough that passengers do
not spill out even during peak hours. In general, plan the
elevator hall large enough to hold about 1/2 the combined
maximum capacity of the cars (about 0.5 to 0.8 m 2 are
required per passenger).
6Operating system
Select the operating system based on the building functionality, number of
elevators in group.
CONCLUSION
In the future, more sophisticated call allocation algorithms will be developed and new optimization
targets will be found. In optimizing a single target, such as the average hall call time, a limit exists at
which new call allocation algorithms do not bring much improvement. The present tendency is to pay
attention to several items simultaneously, such as to improve passenger service and comfort level, to
increase handling capacity and to save of energy, ropes and other elevator equipment. By minimizing
passenger journey times, also waiting times, ride times and the number of stops are minimized. Often
the optimization targets are in conflict with each other, and they cannot be achieved simultaneously. To
make elevators ride smoothly their acceleration and jerk values have to be decreased, which increases
passenger waiting times and reduces handling capacity. If low acceleration and jerk values are taken
into account already when defining the elevator handling capacity in a new building, good ride comfort
and short waiting times can be achieved simultaneously. One way to achieve as many optimization
targets as possible is to change the weights of the optimization targets according to the traffic pattern
during the day.
In elevator planning, the number, size and performance of the elevators are mostly determined by two
planning parameters: the up-peak handling capacity and interval. In an elevator group with several
elevators, the handling capacity may be good and the interval may be short, but the round trip time and
passenger ride time inside the car may be long. Instead of the interval, more comprehensive and
understandable criteria would be to use the average passenger waiting and journey times in up peak.
For the average passenger waiting time, half of the interval value and criteria could be used even though
they give rough estimations of the average waiting time. By using the average journey time in elevator
planning, the total time a passenger spends in an elevator system would remain short. In a high-rise
building the journey time criterion sets a limit on the number of floors served by an elevator group.