Bottleneck in office lifts

Optimised planning of passenger flow around lifts

The COVID-19 pandemic and the current associated requirements of social distancing have impacted everything about our daily life. This includes lift travel, especially in commercial properties and in high-rise office buildings. How can building operators prevent lifts from becoming a bottleneck when more and more people are returning to the office and yet maintain appropriate distancing? TÜV SÜD can support building operators with its lift expertise including traffic analysis simulation expertise.

Pre COVID-19, lifts often looked the same at rush hour every morning; every square inch of the lift cabins were closely packed with building users. But where previously there was room for a dozen people, the current distancing requirements mean that only two or perhaps three people can ride the lift together. Long waiting times resulting in stress, annoyance and frustration are thus very likely. In the end, the resulting chaos would make it impossible to effectively occupy the building.

TÜV SÜD can help you make passenger transport for your building as effective as possible while at the same time complying with social distancing measures.

Expert lift traffic simulation helps you plan “new normal” concepts for your real estate

In the planning phase of a building, lifts are usually designed such that the building can be used optimally. The characteristic of the planned building, such as the number of floors and future occupancy rates, are considered in a traffic simulation. Based on the result of the simulation, the optimum number and design of lifts is defined. A new resilient model can be created on the basis of the planned occupancy rate of each floor, which allows for the "new normal" of everyday office life: How does the waiting time for the lift change, which waiting queues may form in the lobby, etc?

During the simulation, there are several parameters to be considered. Our experts benefit from many years of experience in handling complex simulations and the operational management of lifts to avoid possible pitfalls and find the optimal solution for your needs.

Your advantages at a glance:

• You receive a reliable model for the passenger traffic for your lifts (capacity, waiting time, queues, etc.) and stairwells
• The model is tailored exactly to the needs of your building
• The optimal lift utilization is simulated considering various new parameters (e.g. home office quota and staggered starting times)
• Basis for the development of a strategy to optimize the occupancy rate of office space (work from home to office ratio)
• Compliance with current distancing measures and alignment to building usage concept