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April 9, 2012 - Elevators
After being shuttered for more than six years, following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Hyatt Regency New Orleans recently reopened following a $275 million redesign and revitalization.
The 1,193-room hotel offers the city’s largest hotel event space, doubled to 200,000 square feet and features Schindler Elevator Corporation’s PORT (Personal Occupant Requirement Terminal) Technology to help move the thousands of guests who pass through the building’s 32 floors every day faster and more efficiently.
Each guest’s room key is programmed automatically upon check-in to provide customized elevator access to the PORT destination-dispatch system on the eight high-rise passenger elevators. When guests swipe their room key at the PORT device, an elevator is automatically called to take them to the hotel floor where they will be staying. Due to the PORT system’s access control, guests receive customized mobility throughout the hotel from the moment they first reach the elevator bank. It is the first hotel in the United States with a building security system seamlessly integrated with elevator access control at every floor.
Best understood as the central nervous system of a building, PORT Technology functions as a two-way communication interface between the occupants and the hotel’s environment. The system’s visible aspect is a sleek, futuristic interface positioned at access points and elevators around the building. The software system is capable not only of calculating the optimum route to any destination within the building, but also “learning” how its occupants typically move around. With this information, PORT Technology primes the elevators to direct and transport people to their individual destinations. Furthermore, Schindler’s patented technology works with RFID badges to identify passengers and call elevators for personal service.
PORT Technology includes energy-saving features. Each terminal’s proximity sensor tells it when to be active and at all other times puts it into low energy consumption mode. When the terminal screen illuminates, an ambient light sensor determines only the brightness level required. And the technology helps ensure elevator trips are as efficient as possible, even during heavy traffic.