The book “Elevators, energy, environment”, Giuseppe Iotti’s latest work, addresses the implications of the construction of elevators and platform lifts in relation to energy and the environment. This contemporary topic is new and important for the lift industry, which must address environmental issues and assess the sustainability of lift installations throughout their life cycle. This is unprecedented in the Italian literature of the elevator sector, for which we express gratitude to ANACAM for having the foresight to publish it.
The first part is dedicated to the energy issue; it first establishes a general discussion, based on the principles of physics, and then moves on to the normative level. In fact, there are standards, not very well known, that regulate the procedures for measuring and estimating the energy needs of elevators and lifting platforms (the issue of escalators is not addressed). European directives that may involve lifts are also put into context, and information is provided on the relatively new topic of environmental product declarations.
This last topic introduces the quite pioneering effort to study in detail the environmental impact of lifts, beyond their energy consumption. Before addressing this topic, the text introduces waste management, which is paramount for elevator operators for the foreseeable future. The types of materials used for this work are explained and listed, starting with packaging, but trying to cover all aspects, in particular waste from electrical and electronic equipment and chemical agents such as lubricants and oils. One chapter is devoted to examining the impact of transporting materials. The final part is an examination of all the elevator components and their composition in terms of raw materials such as iron, copper, etc., briefly illustrating the problems of production and treatment as waste. The end of the book includes some conclusions defined as “provisional”, being aware that this text can only be considered as the first step in the analysis of a subject that, in the context of the energy and environmental transition that involves the whole of society and to the economy, so it also profoundly affects the world of elevators.
For more information about the book and the author himself, contact ANACAM at info@anacam.it
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Source: EFESME
