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Press Release
06.30.2021

TK Elevator installs its environmentally friendly elevators in new Pikes Peak Summit Visitor Center

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  • The Summit Visitor Center, located 14,115 feet above sea level at the top of Pikes Peak – America’s Mountain in Colorado, was the highest construction project in the U.S.
  • Manufactured with the healthiest materials in the industry, the two TK Elevator units will help the Summit Visitor Center in its pursuit to become the first facility in Colorado to earn Living Building Challenge certification.

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Colorado Springs, Colorado (June 30, 2021) – TK Elevator is proud to announce that it has provided the Pikes Peak Summit Visitor Center on Pikes Peak – America’s Mountain with two of its environmentally friendly elevators. The Summit Visitor Center, which opened today to visitors and is located at the top of the 14,115-foot mountain, features numerous interpretive exhibits and panoramic views as well as the return of the world-famous Pikes Peak donuts – a long-time staple in the previous Summit House, which was built in the 1960s.

Construction on the Summit Visitor Center started in July 2018 and was the highest ongoing construction site in North America. During construction, the project faced significant weather- and transportation-related challenges for general contractor GE Johnson and TK Elevator.

“This project truly embodies what makes America, and America’s Mountain, so great. Partnering with our good friends at GE Johnson, we worked together under some of the most unique and challenging circumstances to create a building as unique as the project itself,” says Kevin Lavallee, President and CEO of TK Elevator North America and Australia. “We are proud to have our American-made, environmentally friendly elevators in place at one of America’s most majestic locations.”

Safety was paramount throughout all aspects of this project. To ensure a safe work environment, GE Johnson required all crew members to undergo an extensive physical examination, including a flexibility test and Harvard Step fitness assessment. Crew members also went through a two-hour, site-specific orientation followed by a briefing on the special safety measures necessary to work at high altitude.

To get a tour of the construction project from GE Johnson, click here (video courtesy of Pikes Peak – America’s Mountain).

With more than 50 years of experience, GE Johnson, headquartered in Colorado Springs, is dedicated to enriching the communities where they work. It has partnered with TK Elevator on a variety of projects, including the Vail Health Hospital East Wing and Children’s Hospital Colorado in Colorado Springs.

The Pikes Peak project is pursuing LEED Silver and Living Building Challenge certification. The Summit Visitor Center will feature net positive energy, net positive waste and net positive water.

The Living Building Challenge – an international sustainable building certification program created in 2006 by the International Living Future Institute – promotes the most advanced measurement of sustainability in the built environment. In order to be eligible for Living Building Challenge, buildings must have elevators with Declare labels. Declare is a transparency platform and nutrition label created by the International Living Future Institute that shares where a product comes from, what it’s made of and where it goes at the end of its life. The Living Building Challenge also includes a list of chemicals known as the ‘red list’ that cannot be incorporated into any part of a building.

With the Summit Visitor Center’s LBC certification, it will become the first building in Colorado with this designation. There are currently less than 30 LBC projects that have met the standards for certification in the U.S. Three of those projects feature the industry’s healthiest elevators courtesy of TK Elevator. Most recently, Georgia Tech’s The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design in Atlanta achieved LBC certification. The 37,000-square-foot, two-story academic building became the first building in Georgia to earn that distinction.

To learn more about TK Elevator, go to https://www.tkelevator.com/us-en/

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Available here. (Photo courtesy of Windstar Studios)

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TK Elevator

With customers in over 100 countries served by more than 50,000 employees, TK Elevator achieved sales of around €9 billion in fiscal year 2022/2023. We ensure high levels of customer service globally from our extensive network of about 1,000 locations. Over the past several decades, TK Elevator has established itself as one of the world’s leading elevator companies and became independent after separation from the thyssenkrupp group in August 2020. The company’s most important business line is the service business proudly provided by around 25,000 service technicians. The product portfolio ranges from standardized elevators for low-rise residential buildings to highly customized solutions for skyscrapers. In addition, it covers escalators, moving walks, passenger boarding bridges and stair and platform lifts. Integrated cloud-based solutions, such as the MAX platform, are delivering enhanced services. With these digital offerings, there are no longer any limits to urban mobility. TKE – move beyond.

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