Elevator Shaft Ventilation Control for Low-Energy Buildings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing building designs with lifting installations, such as elevators, face significant thermal energy losses due to ventilation requirements, which are costly and inefficient, especially in low-energy buildings, and often violate legal and safety standards when attempting to minimize heat loss.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that dynamically control the ventilation passage of a lifting installation's shaft by monitoring state parameters like presence and movement within the cabin, evaluating the need for ventilation, and adjusting a shutter element to either open or close the ventilation passage based on operational and legal requirements, ensuring compliance while minimizing heat loss.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the ventilation passage is kept open to comply with legal and safety standards, then safety and legal compliance are ensured, but thermal energy loss increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The shutter element is made dynamically controllable, transitioning from a fixed open position to a dynamically adjustable component that can switch between open and closed states based on real-time operational conditions. The control unit monitors shaft conditions and actuates the shutter accordingly, enabling the system to adapt its ventilation state rather than remaining statically open for safety compliance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameter of the ventilation passage from a constant open state to a variable state that transitions between open and closed positions. By monitoring parameters such as shaft occupancy, temperature, and pressure, the system adjusts the shutter position parameter to optimize both safety compliance and thermal energy conservation.
2Loss of energy
If the ventilation passage is closed to reduce heat loss, then thermal energy loss is reduced, but safety and legal compliance are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit continuously monitors shaft conditions including occupancy sensors, temperature sensors, and pressure sensors to determine when ventilation is actually needed. This feedback mechanism ensures the shutter remains open when safety requires it while allowing closure when conditions permit, thus maintaining compliance without unnecessary energy loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The system proactively opens the shutter element in advance when hazardous conditions are detected or predicted, such as when occupancy is detected or temperature thresholds are approached. This preliminary action ensures safety compliance is maintained before critical conditions develop, rather than reacting after safety is compromised.
3Loss of energy
If a sealed airlock is constructed around the shaft to prevent heat loss, then thermal energy loss is minimized, but construction costs increase very high
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the ventilation control function from the building's permanent structural elements and places it in a movable shutter element. Instead of constructing a permanent sealed airlock system, the solution uses a removable, controllable shutter that can be installed in the existing ventilation passage, dramatically reducing construction complexity and cost while achieving similar thermal performance.
4Temperature
If the shaft is ventilated continuously to prevent overheating, then temperature control is maintained, but thermal energy loss increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of continuous ventilation, the system implements periodic or conditional ventilation through the shutter element. The shutter opens periodically or when temperature sensors detect approaching thresholds, providing intermittent cooling when needed while remaining closed during normal conditions to conserve thermal energy.
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The invention concerns a method for managing energy in a building (10) comprising a lifting installation (13) with a car (16) mobile in a duct (14) and a ventilation passage (22) between the duct (14) and the atmosphere. The invention is characterized in that the method includes the following steps: monitoring at least one parameter of the state of the lifting installation (13); assessing in a management unit (32) the ventilation requirement in the duct (14) based on said at least one state parameter; shifting a closure element (30) associated with the ventilation passage (22) from an opening position, wherein the ventilation passage is substantially open, into a closing position, wherein the ventilation passage (22) is at least partly closed, only when the assessment indicates that a ventilation duct (14) is not required, the closure element (30) being prestressed in its opening position. The invention also concerns a system for managing energy designed to implement the inventive method. The inventive method and system are particularly adapted for installing a lift in a low energy or passive building