Opportunities for Elevator Energy Efficiency Improvements

Elevator energy consumption in North American office buildings with central air conditioning systems is generally considered to be about 5% of building electricity use. Although the amount is relatively small for an individual building, the aggregate is large. In general, hydraulic elevators used in relatively low-rise buildings are much less efficient than the traction elevators used in mid- to high-rise buildings. New technologies, including software, promise efficiency gains of about 30-40% within elevator classes. Powell (2004) suggested the potential for several hundred GWh/yr in savings from adopting high efficiency technologies.

Interestingly, this is unregulated energy use