A double-deck elevator or double-deck lift is an elevator with two cars attached together, one on top of the other. This allows passengers on two consecutive floors to be able to use the elevator simultaneously, significantly increasing the passenger capacity of an elevator shaft. Such a scheme can prove efficient in buildings where the volume of traffic would normally have a single elevator stopping at every floor. An example, a passenger may board one elevator (which serves only odd-numbered floors) on the third floor while another passenger may board another elevator (which serves even-numbered floors) on the fourth floor. The elevator serving even floors is actually on top of the elevator serving odd floors in the same lift shaft. When a passenger disembarks from the even-floor-serving elevator at level 30, for instance, the passengers in the odd-floor-serving elevator beneath it are kept waiting until the elevator doors above close.

Architecturally, this is important, as double-deck elevators occupy less building core space than traditional single-deck elevators do for the same level of traffic. In skyscrapers, this allows for much more efficient use of space, as the floor area required by elevators tends to be quite significant. (The other main technique is shared-shaft elevators, where multiple elevators use different sections of the same shaft to serve different floors, with skylobbies separating the sections.)

  UltraRope

an innovative leader in the elevator and escalator industry, today announced a new high-rise elevator technology that is set to break industry limits and enable future elevator travel heights of 1 kilometer - twice the distance currently feasible. The KONE UltraRope(TM) is a completely new hoisting technology that eliminates the disadvantages of conventional steel rope and opens up a world of possibilities in high-rise building design - an important consideration as urbanization brings increasing numbers of people to cities.

Comprised of a carbon fiber core and a unique high-friction coating, KONE UltraRope is extremely light, meaning elevator energy consumption in high-rise buildings can be cut significantly. The drop in rope weight means a dramatic reduction in elevator moving masses - the weight of everything that moves when an elevator travels up or down, including the hoisting ropes, compensating ropes, counterweight, elevator car, and passenger load (see image). Due to the significant impact of ropes on the overall weight of elevator moving masses, the benefits of KONE UltraRope increase exponentially as travel distance grows.

New EcoDisc

KONE, an innovative leader in the elevator and escalator industry, has become the very first company in its industry to reach the A class energy rating from the VDI 4707 classification rating for its KONE MonoSpace® elevators*. The A class rating is the best rating that can be given under the VDI 4707 classification standard. Customers will be able to order elevators meeting the VDI 4707 classification in the fourth quarter of 2010.

The VDI guideline is a European-based code of practice which was established by the Association of German Engineers (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure) and is now used mainly in Europe but also in other countries around the world.

"This significant achievement solidifies our leading position in the design and production of energy-efficient elevators," says Heikki Leppänen, Executive Vice President, New Equipment Business, KONE Corporation. “We are very proud of reaching this important milestone and it will only serve to drive us forward in our search to reduce the energy consumption of buildings worldwide. It is also important for our customers to know that highly efficient drive technology is now available for many standard applications, both for new projects and for modernizations."

KONE used innovative technologies such as regenerative drives, standby solutions and LED lighting to drastically reduce the energy consumption of its elevators. The use of these innovative technologies in KONE’s elevators has played an important role in KONE’s ability to reduce the energy consumption of its elevators. In 2008, KONE announced that it would reduce the energy consumption of its volume elevators 50% by 2010, compared to the previous 2006 volume model. In 2009, KONE launched a global range of elevators that achieved a 30% reduction in energy consumption for its elevators. Later this year, KONE will complete its target set in 2008 by further reducing the energy consumption of its volume elevators by an additional 20%.

KONE is also focusing on the ongoing development of standards such as ISO/DIS 25745, Energy Performance of Lifts and Escalators, which will define globally agreed criteria for measurement and comparison between different technologies and products in terms of energy consumption.