Overview of Building Elevator Systems - a PDH Online Course for Engineers, Architects and Surveyors

Overview of Building Elevator Systems

Course Outline

Elevators enable millions of public buildings to function effectively by seamlessly moving people into them, through them and out of them. Ranging from retail shops to railway stations and airports to schools, car parks, hotels, or stadiums, each of these types of buildings has a unique set of requirements that need to be met.

This 4- hour course provides criteria for design and installation of elevators. The requirements laid down in this course compliment non-governmental standards such as those published by ASME and NFPA.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

The course is divided into 4 -sections and covers:

Section - 1: General Elevator Planning

The guidelines on how to determine correct number and type of transportation devices;
The general guidelines on how to determine right sizes and speeds of the transportation devices;
The guidelines on how to zone and locate the transportation devices for smooth flow of people and goods.

Section – 2: Types of Elevators

Principle of operation of traction and hydraulic elevators;
Geared and gearless type traction elevators;
Roping and hoisting mechanisms;
Difference between the direct-acting and suspended hydraulic elevator;
Benefits and limitation of choosing electric traction drive or hydraulic elevators.

Section – 3: Elevator Design Criteria

Codes and standards governing the design and installation of elevators;
Architectural and structural design criteria;
Electrical and mechanical design criteria;
Fire protection, emergency power and HVAC criteria;
Do’s and Don’ts in design.

Section – 4: Elevator Control and Safety Features

Simplex controls – independent service, attendant service, inspect and fire service;
Group supervisory controls;
Elevator safety devices;
Common myths and realities on elevator safety.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for people who plan, design, install, and operate elevator systems for buildings. This course is ideal for experienced building services engineers, energy auditors, facility managers, architects, O & M personnel, technicians, construction or building management professionals.

Benefit to Attendees

Attendees of this course will get to know more about identifying the most suitable type of elevator for their applications. The course will be extremely helpful to the amateur engineers who desire to build on their design experience and the skilled professionals who have learnt the trade informally on the job.

Course Introduction

The elevator and escalator industry is a very unique trade among other building services. The elevator equipment suppliers usually have their standard lines of basic products to suit various needs. However, each installation is unique, and very often the optimum solution will be site specific to suit individual site’s constraints and requirements. For example:

Very high buildings require extra hoistway clearance to allow for additional construction tolerances.
Individual national regulations will need to be accommodated.
Innovations in architectural styling or structure may necessitate a radical approach to the layout.
Escalators may be more appropriate than elevators between adjacent floors. Frequently, interchange floors or main lobbies with public spaces above them (such as retail) will be better served by escalators, freeing the elevators for longer-distance travelers.
High rise buildings need fireman’s lift which serves every floor according to national code requirements.

Because elevators are complex multi-disciplined products, this course provides guidance to the architectural and engineering disciplines understand their roles in elevator design.

Course Content

This course content is in the following PDF document:

Overview of Building Elevator Systems

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Course Summary

The elevators can be broadly classified as either electric traction type or hydraulic type.

Traction elevators have an elevator car and counterweight attached to opposite ends of hoist ropes. Hydraulic elevators, on the other hand, lift a car using a hydraulic ram, a fluid-driven piston mounted inside a cylinder.

The main design considerations for choosing either electric traction drive or hydraulic for a particular project are the number of floors, the height of the building, the number of people to be transported, desired passenger waiting times and frequency of use. Traction elevators are most often used in mid-rise and high-rise buildings with five or more floors. Hydraulic elevators are commonly found in low-rise buildings with two to five floors.

The efficiency of an elevator system is defined in terms of the quantity of service (handling capacity) and quality of service (passenger waiting time). If the handling capacity of a lift system is too small, there will be lot of people queuing for the lifts during up peak. Also, the lift cars will have to go more round trips in order to clear off the queue. Thus system with too small handling capacity will degrade the quality of service.

Elevators design shall comply with the latest edition of ASME A17.1, “Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators” with amendments and Uniform Building Code (UBC).

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.