Pneumatic elevators are one of the more cost-effective designs on the market. Because no excavation and hoistway are needed, the home or business owner adding one of these elevators ends of saving money on installation. The Vision 450 is one design that’s ideal for homes, and the main prerequisite for adding this residential elevator is a flat surface and a nearby power source. All pneumatic elevators use a vacuum concept to move the cab, with a driving machine with turbines removing air from the top of the car to move it upward. The Vision 450 is no different, and other features for this home elevator include:

• Cylindrical cabs with an interior diameter of 32 inches and an exterior one of 39 inches. All cabs are 77 inches tall and offer a panoramic view.
• Cabs that sit at floor level, and no pit needs to be added in installation.
• A 450-pound capacity.
• A speed of 30 feet per minute. Two-day installation. The area should be prepared beforehand permanent power and floor cutouts. Power should be available from above or below. The area should also have a functional telephone jack and power disconnect box.
• Emergency alarm and stop buttons.
• Mechanical locks hold the cab in place.

If your home has limited space for an elevator and machine room, pneumatic elevators, such as the Vision 450, provide an ideal solution. With a shorter installation time and less interior construction, the Vision 450 elevator will quickly make your home more accessible and efficient.

How do you combine efficiency with an economical design? If you’re looking to make your home accessible, but don’t have a large amount of space for modifications, the Freedom 750 home elevator is an ideal choice. A hydraulic lift elevator, the Freedom 750 offers a 1000-pound capacity and the ability to move at 36 feet per minute. It is capable of travel up to 50 feet, and six floors. If a residential elevator meets your needs, here are some the specific, distinguishing features of the Freedom 750:

• Several safety features. This includes a battery-powered lowering system, an emergency alarm, and automatic door locks.
• A few options for door configurations. While a standard, single-side door comes with the basic model of the Freedom 750, doors can be made to be walkthrough at 90 and 180 degrees.
• The basic Freedom 750 elevator cab is 35 inches by 48 inches and 80 inches tall, although upgrades, such as a height of 95 inches instead, are possible.
• Cabs are also equipped with a floor indicator, recessed ceiling lights, and illuminated push buttons inside.
• A machine room. As another safety aspect, all hydraulic elevators are required to have a machine room. The Freedom 750 can have a machine room of three feet wide by two feet deep and should have elevator power controls and a telephone jack routed from the room to the elevator cab.
• Installation takes three to four days to complete.

The Freedom 750 is the smallest hydraulic lift made by Nationwide Lifts and is the most economical. Modifying a home for better accessibility has become the norm, and the Freedom 750 can fit inside many multi-floor homes and small buildings.

When your office building is conducting a practice fire drill, how often are you told to use the stairs and bypass the elevators? According to a recent evaluation by the International Organization for Standardization, however, using lifts may end up saving more people in high-rise buildings during fire and earthquake emergencies, as reported by an article from the Associated Press. The ISO is a 162-nation organization that sets standards for several items, including those for elevators. It recently released this report and is considering revising evacuation standards because of the taller buildings. In the not-far-off future, building designers will need to consider the use of elevators by evacuees when developing an efficient evacuation design.

This isn’t the first time elevators have been considered for evacuation purposes, however. A 2003 report by the National Research Council Canada gives a convincing argument for and a solution to using elevators for evacuation from high-rise structures. Similar to the argument used by the ISO, the NRCC report mentions that using lifts for evacuations is inevitable for high-rises, taking the stairs for buildings with over 70 stories isn’t practical (both time-wise and for physical capabilities for able-bodied workers), and, furthermore, instructions must be available inside buildings with such plans. Presently, office workers appear to possess a fear of using elevators for evacuation purposes for such reasons as burning cables and smoke hazard.

One system the NRCC report comes up with is somewhat antithetical to systems used in earthquake zones. The NRCC’s suggestion focuses on automated elevators that respond during a fire by first taking all passengers inside to the ground floor. The next step would be to address the fire floor, and the elevators would be programmed to go directly there afterward. From there, the needs of passengers on neighboring floors would be addressed. The needs of those in floors above would be addressed next, and the last step would be to help passengers with limitations on the lower floors.. Able-bodied individuals on floors not near the fire would be expected to take the stairs. Additionally, a display panel to indicate the current position of the elevators would be located on the ground floor.

What’s the largest elevator you’ve been inside? When it comes to elevators, typically for an office building, one that holds 10 people is considered average. As we saw a few weeks ago, however, some new developments for elevators in newer and taller skyscrapers in East Asia have begun, and Mitsubishi, one developer and manufacturer of elevators for that part of the world, recently put out a press release describing their newest products. As part of the new Umeda Hankyu building in Osaka, Japan, these elevators, which can hold 80 people each, are currently the largest in the world. All five of these elevators continuously transport workers inside this new building, which consists of a department store taking up the first 12 floors and office space from floors 13 to 41.

Dubbed “people movers,”, each elevator can support six tons and offers 11 feet by nine feet of space, with a height of 8.5 feet, inside. Additionally, the design offers windows so that the passengers can see outdoors.

The skyscraper opened May 6, 2010, and workers in the offices on top have been utilizing these elevators continuously. At the 15th floor, however, an additional system of elevators is in place to access the remaining floors above. According to the press release, Mitsubishi created a three- track system that takes workers to different sections within the upper 24 floors. Divided into groups “A,” “B,” and “C,” each track contains six elevators to take workers to different portion/segments of the floors. All of these elevators hold a smaller amount of people, however. In total, the entire skyscraper contains 25 separate elevators.

The press release describes the space and capacity of these elevators, but nothing about their speed. While this elevator design for skyscrapers seemingly sounds efficient, (and perhaps many American office buildings with long wait times will consider similar elevators at some point), only time will tell if Mitsubishi’s system in the Umeda Hanku building truly will offer a sound prototype for future, commercial elevator emulation.

As we saw last week in a post regarding elevators in New York’s subway system, Washington, D.C.’s Metro system is experiencing the same type of performance issue. Instead of waiting for a solution, however, according to the Washington Post, the Metro system has decided to enlist the counsel of outside experts to examine the subway system’s elevators and come up with a solution to make them more efficient.Washington Post recently. Much like New York’s system, the Metro in D.C. relies on elevators (and escalators?) to get its passengers from one platform to another. When an elevator or escalator breaks down, the system becomes far less efficient and reliable. Passengers, predictably, have contacted customer service to complain.

But the lack of efficiency isn’t based solely on anecdotal evidence. The Metro has been studying its escalators and elevators for several years, and the past three years witnessed a noticeable drop overall in the function of certain lifts. The Metro system is comprised of 588 lifts, and several are out-of-order on a daily basis. The article mentions that, from 2007 to the present, the reliability of elevators and escalators has dropped from 93.7 percent to 90.5 percent – not as significant as New York’s decrease in reliability, but certainly a factor to be observed.

The outside experts brought in will be observing the least efficient elevators and escalators in the area over a set period of time. The goal, however, is to have the experts devise a system that keeps more elevators and escalators working regularly and to change the current standards for performance that the Metro uses. Additional complications thrown into the the equation include manufacturers that no longer exist as well as dated parts that cannot be replaced. Perhaps, then, evaluating the Metro’s elevators will not only lead to different performance standards, but to the replacement of many of these lifts altogether, as well.