KONE, Espoo, Finland, announced a new high-rise elevator technology set to break industry limits and enable future elevator travel heights of 1 km (0.62 miles)-twice the distance currently feasible. UltraRope 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.
Comprised of a carbon fiber core and a unique high-friction coating, UltraRope is extremely light, thereby cutting energy consumption in high-rise buildings. The drop in weight reduces 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. Due to significant impact of ropes on the overall weight of elevator moving masses, the benefits of KONE UltraRope increase exponentially as travel distance grows.
UltraRope is extremely strong and highly resistant to wear and abrasion. Elevator downtime caused by building sway is also reduced as carbon fiber resonates at a completely different frequency to steel and most other building materials. The rope has an exceptionally long lifetime-at least twice that of conventional steel rope-and thanks to the special coating, no lubrication is required in maintaining it, enabling further cuts in environmental impact. All of this adds up to unprecedented eco-efficiency, durability, and reliability in future high-rise elevator travel.
UltraRope was developed and tested rigorously both in real elevators and simulation laboratories at KONE’s research and development facilities. Since 2010, it has been tested in operation at the world’s tallest elevator testing laboratory, KONE’s Tytyri facility built over 300 m (984 ft) underground adjacent to an active limestone mine. Properties like tensile strength, bending lifetime, and material aging are some of the qualities that have been measured.
More than half of the world’s population already live in urban areas, and the UN estimates that by 2050 seven out of ten people will be living in cities. Building upwards is seen as the sustainable urban solution, and the number of tall buildings built around the globe has increased rapidly in recent years. Increasingly, tall buildings are also growing taller. Nearly 600 buildings of 200 m (656 ft) or more are currently under construction or planned to be built over the next few years, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. While there are currently three buildings in the world that top the 500-meter mark, there are plans for 20 more such buildings to be built in coming years. Additionally, there are currently some 3000 buildings in the world that could benefit from modernization with UltraRope.
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