ABOUT GMV

GMV is a leading company in the field of elevator systems, well known by all lift companies and installers worldwide. With more than 800,000 lift systems equipped with GMV technology worldwide, GMV has been a real pioneer of the market in terms of innovation, introducing, first in Italy, then in Europe and in the world, the hydraulic lift system as an economical and technical alternative to the then prevailing electric lift system.

Thanks to this innovation, GMV established its role as a producer of components and complete hydraulic elevators, investing in its development and finally obtaining 100 % green solutions, i.e. products with low energy consumption and an excellent operational performance in total safety.

The Green Lift® Fluitronic elevators have always been the best choice for typical residential buildings up to 6 stops, being 20 % more convenient than any other solution for the same performance. GMV was able to eliminate the well known problems concerning hydraulic lift systems by introducing the power unit with a DRY motor, which increases energy efficiency by reducing power losses of the lift system and, at the same time, requires a smaller quantity of fluid. The Green Lift® Fluitronic features also the ETC system applied to the mechanical Valve 3010, the sophisticated electronic NGV valve, ideal for high traffic lift systems, and the ECOLOGIC FLUID as an alternative to the traditional mineral oil.

The mechanical Green Lift® is characterized by simplicity, an easy installation and the regulation by 3-phase asynchronous motors without permanent magnets, this being an excellent mechanical solution for elevators with more than 6 stops. The system is also available in the version Machine Room Cabinet (MRC), in order to guarantee maximal safety to installers, service technicians and users, and to enable easy and cost-effective maintenance work, increasing the economic efficiency of the lift.

GMV has developed ad hoc-versions of the Green Lift® Fluitronic, in order to respond to specific needs, for example the GLF anti-seismic lift (complying with the standard EN 81.77). This specific lift was designed and produced taking into account the seismic degree of the area where the lift will be installed. There is a GLF with either a reduced pit and/or overhead (complying with the norm 81.21), or the pit of 200 mm and a speed of 0,30 – 0,40 m/s (this solution is recommended for lifts to be installed in the staircase), or a GLF with a limited load of 450 kg and a 6 kW power meter.

GMV always invested and believed in safety as a concept. In this respect, the company works on an increased awareness of the lift safety among lift installers and their related associations, notified bodies and property managers.

In the elevator branch, believing in safety actually has three meanings:

1) Work in a way to make sure that existing elevators are equipped with the same safety elements that nowadays are standard for new elevators and are required by professional technique and law regulations.

2) Consider safety as being the most important element of elevators.

3) Design, plan and produce elevators considering the seismic level of the area where the lift will be installed.

For these reasons GMV:

1) strives for “securing” all existing hydraulic elevators by installing safety elements during refurbishments, at least similar to the ones of electric elevators.

This is necessary to assure the user’s physical integrity and the serenity of all those who, before the law, are responsible for the safe functioning of the lift: the owner, the property manager, the maintenance technician, the notified bodies (in charge of the periodical inspections), the installer and the manufacturer.

The hydraulic installations have been updated in terms of safety through the amendment A3, which, however, applies only to new built elevators.

The CEN (European Committee for Standardization) Directive 81.80 from 2016-06 confirms that these safety measures should be extended to existing elevators and underlines the high risk of uncontrolled car movement with open doors.

It is therefore task of maintenance companies as well to meet these requirements, insofar as they are held responsible for possible accidents, too.

GMV sees it as its duty to inform its customers in this regard and to work on an increasing awareness among all interested people.

Moreover, GMV offers suitable products to meet these requirements at low cost.

2) GMV considers safety being the most important element of elevator systems.

For this reason, the construction of GMV elevator systems also includes a Machine Room Cabinet (MRC) version, considered top-class in terms of safety.

The Machine Room Cabinet (MRC) version is in contrast with the Machine Room Less (MRL) version, the latter having a greater demand on the market nowadays.

GMV offers both versions, for Fluitronic lifts as well as for electric lifts and home lifts. In the MRL version, both the drive and the controller systems are fitted in the elevator shaft, whereas in the MRC version, they are placed in a cabinet anywhere in the building, next to the elevator.

The MRL systems are useful and convenient from an architectural point of view, but we don’t feel like recommending them to you as they require more maintenance work from inside the shaft or on the top of the car, which can lead to difficult and dangerous situations, in addition to increasing maintenance costs.

GMV managed to design smaller dimensions of the cabinet in the machine room (for example L 450 x D 300 x H 2000 mm for a Green Lift® Fluitronic), where the entire controller system can be fitted in. It may be placed anywhere in the building, even next to the landing doors, in order to facilitate the controlling and maintenance activities, while ensuring maximal safety.

3) GMV offers the anti-seismic Green Lift® Fluitronic 81.77 complying with the European Standard EN 81.77, which requires that the elevator is designed, planned and produced considering the seismic level in the installation area. The standard has been harmonized in the first months of 2014.

It is a matter of common sense to decide upon the installation of an elevator in compliance with the standard EN 81.77 in seismic risk areas, where the construction of new buildings already comply with the criteria of seismic risk, namely because a lift may result unusable after an earthquake while the building itself has structurally survived.