Helping cities grow sustainably

As cities worldwide set ambitious targets for carbon neutrality, KONE is deepening our commitment to sustainability and helping customers radically reduce emissions. Our new SVP Sustainability & Environment, Kirsi Simola-Laaksonen shares her insights on shaping the future of carbon-neutral cities.

KONE's elevators and escalators can have a lifespan up to 40 years. We asked Sebastian Zhang what it takes to keep them in tip-top shape. Working for a decade with maintenance at KONE in China and Finland, he has developed maintenance work to fit various cultures and witnessed first-hand how digitalization has transformed our technicians’ work.

KONE has reduced our elevators’ annual energy consumption by about 90 percent since the 1980s, with help from the IGBT – a small chip with an enormous environmental impact. In the future, this award-winning innovation is expected to play a vital role in advancing renewable energy solutions.

This International Women’s Day, we celebrate four of our female leaders taking action to accelerate equality and inclusion. Explore their success stories and be inspired to make your mark!

When it comes to cutting carbon, Hotel Marcel blurs the line between the past and the future. Built in 1968, the landmark architectural property is now on the fast track to becoming the first net-zero hotel in the U.S. Thanks to our regenerative drive elevators that return energy to the building, KONE is helping this customer to decarbonize.

After his first day as a young apprentice in Sydney, Australia, Martin Dumbrell doubted he could work in the elevator industry. Yet here he is, 50 years later, many learnings richer. From working in service and training apprentices to rolling out new digital solutions for our technicians in Australia and Asia, Martin shares how the world has changed over the years and what made him stay at KONE.

Renowned for its rich cultural heritage and soaring high-rises, Qatar is now prioritizing sustainability and modernizing buildings to reduce carbon emissions. KONE upgraded six outdated elevators and their systems at Qatar’s Ministry of Culture, improving energy efficiency and sustainability, while also enhancing safety and user experience for employees and visitors alike.

We are setting new standards for smarter, more sustainable buildings with a ground-breaking solution. Our innovative collaboration in Tallinn’s Ülemiste City uses KONE elevator data to optimize the energy consumption of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, reducing energy use and emissions by up to 36%.

Stefan Wallin has spent five decades maintaining elevators and escalators in Sweden, and he is now ready to share his secrets. We joined him at KONE Årsta office, located in the southern part of Stockholm, to reflect on the past and envision the future of both the city and the work of service technicians.

In Asian metropolises like Bangkok, the future of urban development is clear: it means going vertical. At KONE, we’ve developed innovative solutions that make better use of space in tall buildings, enhancing both efficiency and sustainability. When less space is used for elevator equipment, more is available for tenants. This could even mean getting an additional floor on top of the building.

As cities worldwide set ambitious targets for carbon neutrality, KONE is deepening our commitment to sustainability and helping customers radically reduce emissions. Our new SVP Sustainability & Environment, Kirsi Simola-Laaksonen shares her insights on shaping the future of carbon-neutral cities.

KONE's elevators and escalators can have a lifespan up to 40 years. We asked Sebastian Zhang what it takes to keep them in tip-top shape. Working for a decade with maintenance at KONE in China and Finland, he has developed maintenance work to fit various cultures and witnessed first-hand how digitalization has transformed our technicians’ work.

KONE has reduced our elevators’ annual energy consumption by about 90 percent since the 1980s, with help from the IGBT – a small chip with an enormous environmental impact. In the future, this award-winning innovation is expected to play a vital role in advancing renewable energy solutions.