Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com ALL SHANGHAI ELEVATORS TO HAVE EMERGENCY QR CODE A QR code that allows riders to alert authorities and maintenance workers when they are stuck inside a stalled elevator will be in use in all 270,000 elevators in Shanghai by the end of September, Shine reported on July 3. By scanning the “Shanghai smart elevator” code, riders can access basic information about the elev...
Jul 07, 2020•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com TWIN CITIES ELEVATORS PREPARE FOR WORKERS' RETURN As workers return to downtown office buildings in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, observers say the way elevators are used is set to change, the Star Tribune reported on July 3. Social distancing stickers, tape marking standing areas and antimicrobial button covers were among the measures being ...
Jul 06, 2020•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com THYSSENKRUPP ELEVATOR TO RELOCATE GERMANY HEADQUARTERS thyssenkrupp Elevator announced it will move its headquarters in the first quarter of 2021 from Essen to Düsseldorf, the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The OEM will occupy more than 9,000 m2 in the Wings Building, which is owned by Commerz Real and near the Düsseldorf International Airport. There will...
Jul 02, 2020•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com LONDON SKYSCRAPERS FACE AN UNCERTAIN COVID FUTURE With many large corporations realizing working remotely saves money and doesn’t reduce productivity, office skyscrapers in London — both existing and planned — face an uncertain future in the COVID-19 era, The Guardian reports. Firms are downsizing or giving up their in-office staff, including insurer Lloyds of London,...
Jul 01, 2020•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com SPECULATIONS, UPDATES ON REVISING ELEVATOR CULTURE The New York Times recently reported on “strict new rules to govern elevator culture,” with employers and managers apparently settling on supporting the following mandates: a maximum of four people per car, designated standing spots, masks, forward-facing positions and no talking. Elevator consultants are being hired ...
Jun 30, 2020•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com STEPHENSON JOINS WITTUR AS CEO The Wittur Group has appointed Tom Stephenson CEO. Stephenson has more than 15 years' upper-level management experience and "a deep customer and product orientation within a global manufacturing context," according to Wittur. Prior to joining the company, Stephenson led various organizations around the world. In 2009, he became CEO of Da...
Jun 29, 2020•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com CORONAVIRUS DELAYS CHICAGO OBSERVATORY CONSTRUCTION Because it involves putting people in close quarters on elevators, including the tallest exterior glass elevator in North America, the US$185-million plan to build an observatory atop Aon Center, Chicago’s third-tallest skyscraper at 1,136 ft., has been delayed by coronavirus, the Chicago Tribune reports. Property ow...
Jun 25, 2020•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com WAIVERS MAY NOT PROTECT BUSINESSES FROM COVID-19 LIABILITY Waivers don't necessarily protect businesses from COVID-19 liability, a litigation defense attorney says in a June 22 report by Canadian Underwriter. John Olah, whose expertise includes liability of ski resorts and hotels, said a waiver is only a part of the overall risk-mitigation strategy. Regarding the pand...
Jun 24, 2020•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com LIFT AI, MBTA EMBARK ON PILOT ELEVATOR-MONITORING PROGRAM In partnership with Newark, Delaware-based Liberty Elevator Experts, Internet of Things company Lift AI is starting a pilot elevator-monitoring program with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) under a two-year contract with two one-year options. The program will start with 10 elevators and, if...
Jun 23, 2020•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com PLAN INCLUDING ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S TALLEST COMMENCES Phase one of a multibillion-dollar plan that includes a 108-story tower that would be one of Australia's tallest is set to start construction in Southport, providing a boost to an economy battered by COVID-19, The Urban Developer reports. Developed by Azzura Investments and designed by Kris Kowalski Architects, Imper...
Jun 22, 2020•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com THYSSENKRUPP WINS PAIR OF INDIAN AIRPORT CONTRACTS thyssenkrupp Elevator recently won two contracts to provide vertical-transportation equipment to airports in India. Fifteen elevators will serve a 40,000-m2 expansion at Pune International Airport. At the new, 77,500-m2 terminal at Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi Airport in Guwahati will be 25 thyssenkrupp elevators, 10 es...
Jun 19, 2020•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com REVAMPED CHICAGO SPIRE SITE PLAN APPLAUDED BY ALDERMAN Related Midwest has revised its US$1-billion plan for a pair of mixed-use towers on a long-vacant site at 400 North Lake Shore Drive in Chicago where the Spire, which would have been the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, was set to rise, CBS Chicago reports. After a plan that included 1,100- and 850-ft-t...
Jun 18, 2020•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com OTIS NAMES CRAMER PRESIDENT OF AMERICAS GROUP Otis has named Jim Cramer president of Otis Americas, reporting directly to Otis President and CEO Judy Marks, the company announced June 17. "During his distinguished 34-year career at Otis, he has earned a strong reputation for his strategic thinking, customer focus and passion for creating an inclusive culture," Marks s...
Jun 17, 2020•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com OTIS CHINA TO PROVIDE NEARLY 300 UNITS TO METRO SYSTEMS Otis Elevator Co. (China) Ltd. has won contracts to provide 207 escalators and six moving walks to Chongqing Metro Line 9 and 85 escalators to the first metro line in Nantong. In Chongqing, Line 9 will pass through five urban districts covering 32 km and including 24 stations. The area has a population of approxi...
Jun 16, 2020•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com DELAYED ESCALATOR REPAIRS UNDERWAY ALONG PERTH RAIL LINE Work is underway to repair escalators at several stations of the Joondalup Line, a rail line that serves the northern suburbs of Perth, Australia, Perth Now reported on June 11. The work was needed after what the source called a "botched upgrade" left the escalators broken down for more than 18 months. Officials...
Jun 15, 2020•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com ABU DHABI AIRPORT ELEVATORS GO TOUCHLESS As part of their efforts to help stem the spread of COVID-19, officials at Abu Dhabi International Airport have installed touch-free technology on 53 elevators at the facility, Gulf News reported on June 10. In partnership with Meta Touch, a U.A.E.-based startup, the airport developed and installed “Touch-less Keypad Technology...
Jun 12, 2020•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com SUPER-SKINNY SUPERTALL ENVISIONED IN TORONTO An 87-story, 1,063-ft-tall mixed-use skyscraper designed by Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron — its first in Toronto — is planned for what developer Kroonenberg Groep called "an iconic block" in the city's Yorkville neighborhood, The Architect's Newspaper reports. Developed in partnership with fellow Dutch real estate outfit Pr...
Jun 11, 2020•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com TELME TO PROVIDE 100-PLUS ELEVATORS FOR DUBAI PROJECTS Toshiba Elevator Middle East, LLC (TELME) has won a contract to supply and install more than 100 elevators for several projects in Dubai, the company announced on June 3. The deal, reached with Dubai-based developer Azizi Development, calls for 104 machine-room-less elevators for low- and mid-rise residential proj...
Jun 10, 2020•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com NONESSENTIAL CONSTRUCTION SITES REOPEN IN NYC As part of New York State’s phase-one reopening plan, the NYC Department of Buildings (DoB) released new COVID-19 safety guidelines for property owners and contractors. The reopening of 33,556 nonessential jobsites was scheduled on June 8, with new required safety measures including visible signage, social distancing, avai...
Jun 09, 2020•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com OTIS TO SUPPLY 133 ESCALATORS FOR AIRPORT PROJECT IN CHINA Otis China subsidiary Otis Electric Elevator Co., Ltd. has won an order to provide 133 escalators for the Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport Phase 3 expansion project, the company recently announced. The project will bring the total number of Otis Electric escalators and elevators at the airport to more t...
Jun 08, 2020•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com KONE ESCALATOR ORDER FOR STOCKHOLM METRO LINE EXTENSION KONE recently won an order to deliver 20 escalators to phase one of an extension of the metro line in Stockholm, Sweden, the OEM announced on June 4. One of the capital city's largest infrastructure projects, the work will add 4 km and two stations to the Blue Line in the Barkarby District, northwest of Stockholm...
Jun 05, 2020•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com SCHINDLER TO PROVIDE 160 UNITS TO MECCA GATEWAY PROJECT In partnership with NESMA of Saudi Arabia, Schindler will deliver and install 160 elevators and escalators to King Abdul Aziz Road (KAAR), one of the largest urban-development projects in the Persian Gulf. The units will help move people between some of the busiest landmarks in Mecca, including Al Haram Mosque (G...
Jun 04, 2020•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com IN MEMORIAM: MARIE McDONALD Marie McDonald passed away on May 31 at her home in Walnut Creek, California. McDonald spent much of her life in San Francisco, where she made a name for herself in the industry. In the late 1950s, she was instrumental in forming what would become the first National Association of Women in Construction chapter on the U.S. West Coast. After ...
Jun 03, 2020•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com OTIS SIGNS GENDER EQUALITY AGREEMENT IN SOUTH KOREA On May 28, Otis Elevator Korea Vice President and Managing Director IS Cho signed the "Partnership for Inclusive Growth and Gender Equality" agreement with the South Korean Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. Otis says it is the first construction company in the country to do so. More than 30% of Otis’ executives...
Jun 02, 2020•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com UNITED TO BE VIRTUAL ONLY The 2020 United Convention and Exposition, previously scheduled for Houston on September 13-16, will now be a virtual-only event sometime in September. Organizer National Association of Elevator Contractors (NAEC) said it is working with vendors and technical experts "to create a robust industry event that is entirely provided through an onli...
Jun 01, 2020•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com CHICAGO COUNCIL APPROVES PLAN FOR NEW SUPERTALL The Chicago City Council has approved developers' plans for the construction of Tribune Tower East, a 102-story skyscraper that will be the city's second-tallest building, CBS Chicago reported on May 20. The mixed-use tower, standing 1,442 ft, will bring 564 condominium units and apartments, a 200-room hotel and a 687-sp...
May 29, 2020•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com KONE WINS ORDER FOR 200-PLUS UNITS FOR BEIJING METRO KONE has won an order to provide more than 200 units of vertical-transportation equipment for the new Metro Line 17 in Beijing, the company announced on May 28. The 49.7-km-long Line 17 will be entirely underground and have 21 stations. It will connect the Beijing Future Science Park in Changping to Yizhuang in sout...
May 28, 2020•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com HIGH-SPEED HYUNDAI UNIT USES CARBON FIBER BELTS Hyundai Elevator has developed a high-speed elevator using carbon fiber belts instead of traditional ropes, BusinessKorea reported on May 22. According to the company, the innovation marks the world's first elevator with carbon fiber belts. It can travel at 1,260 m/min, or 21 m/s. The report said the belt weighs only one...
May 27, 2020•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com GREENERY-CLAD TOWER GREENLIT IN LONDON DESPITE CONCERN A 36-story, nearly 500-ft-tall office tower designed by Eric Parry Architects at 50 Frenchurch Street in central London has been greenlit by the City of London Corp.'s Planning and Transportation Committee, despite opponents who contend it will block views of the historic Tower of London, The Architect's Newspaper...
May 26, 2020•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com CORONAVIRUS INDUSTRY UPDATE ELEVATOR WORLD (EW) has been the vertical-transportation industry’s source for news and information for 67 years, and we aim to continue to be during the coronavirus pandemic affecting readers, advertisers, employees, contributors and associates around the world. With magazines in the U.S., India, the Middle East, Turkey, Europe and the U.K...
May 22, 2020•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
