Session 2 / Singapore Live Program: Exploring the Permanent Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Elevators
Ian Smith
VP, Special Projects
TK Elevator GmbH, Hong Kong
Whilst social distancing was once a word unheard, and pandemics were something that existed in history books, COVID-19 has brought home the reality of both. Today we are facing the new normal of socializing, commuting, and adapting to a new office environment, all designed to protect us by keeping us apart. The transportation of passengers in elevators, escalators, and moving walkways can be an important contributor to this new normal and engineers, architects, and consultants are all looking at new ways to improve hygiene, keep passengers healthy, and minimize the spread of COVID-19.
Today the emerging picture is a two-way split on how to address these needs of technology and/or hygiene. The first encompasses the new hardware and technology considerations for existing elevators, modernizations, and new installations, utilizing touchless solutions, and meeting social distancing requirements, and the new considerations affecting architectural design, main lobby pedestrian flow, ingress/egress of main lobbies, and optimizing traffic performance.
The second takes a peak at the products and services that will help to keep equipment clean and safe to use on a continuous basis. These include the elevator cab, and escalator and moving walkway handrails.