KONE to Supply Oklahoma City's First Elevators Equipped with Destination Control Technology

LISLE, Ill., April 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- KONE has been chosen by Grubb and Ellis|Levy Beffort to modernize 14 elevators with supportive technologies in the Oklahoma Tower Building located in Oklahoma City, Okla.  The modernization project will feature the KONE Polaris™ Destination Control System (DCS) hybrid configuration on 12 of the elevators, making Oklahoma Tower the first building in the Oklahoma City region with this technology.

The KONE Polaris system uses artificial intelligence to optimize elevator traffic patterns.  Building tenants and guests will be able to select their destination before being guided to an assigned elevator, which groups them together with other passengers headed to similar floors.  The system's increased carrying capacity not only reduces overall riding time for passengers, but streamlines boarding as well.

The building's control system will use a DCS hybrid configuration, meaning the main floors will feature the new Destination Operating Panels, while all other floors as well as elevator cars will have conventional landing keypads.  This configuration is beneficial for improving the people flow in heavily used floors, such as the first floor lobby. 

The modernization project will also update 13 of the building's elevator control systems to KONE ReSolve™ with Unity Drives.  This technology is specifically designed for existing DC gearless elevators and delivers significant improvements in energy performance using low harmonic distortion and a near-unity power factor capability.  The technology also enables full line regeneration of energy to significantly reduce energy consumption.

"We are excited to work with Grubb & Ellis|Levy Beffort to provide an industry-leading ride experience to Oklahoma City professionals throughout the building," said Vance Tang, EVP and Area Director of KONE Americas. "The efficiency provided by this technology shows a marked difference in people flow during peak elevator times. We expect destination control technology to become an industry standard given its proven benefits including increased handling capacity,  reduced journey times, elevator call personalization and security options."

Destination control continues to gain momentum in modernization and new construction projects throughout the U.S.  Other buildings that have recently installed the KONE Polaris DCS include: 

• 3009 Post Oak, an office construction project in Houston 
• Market Square, an office building modernization and new construction project in San Francisco 
• DaVita World Headquarters in Denver 
• 425 Mason, a hotel renovation and modernization project in San Francisco 
• Campus Desjardins, an office construction project in Quebec City 
• Biltmore Financial, an office modernization project in Phoenix 
• KONE Centre, an office construction project and future home of the KONE U.S. Operations Center in Moline, Ill.

The Oklahoma Tower project is expected to be completed in 2015.

For further information, please contact:
Kellie Lindquist, Marketing Manager, KONE Inc., tel. +1 630 955 4202

About KONE 
KONE is one of the global leaders in the elevator and escalator industry. The company has been committed to understanding the needs of its customers for the past century, providing industry-leading elevators, escalators and automatic building doors as well as innovative solutions for modernization and maintenance. The company's objective is to offer the best People Flow™ experience by developing and delivering solutions that enable people to move smoothly, safely, comfortably and without waiting in buildings in an increasingly urbanizing environment. In 2011, KONE had annual net sales of EUR 5.2 billion and on average 35,000 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd in Finland.
www.kone.us 

SOURCE KONE Inc.