An energy-efficient lift is one designed or upgraded to use less electricity across both travel and standby, using technologies like regenerative drives, LED lighting, and smart standby modes. Lift energy performance is measured by BS EN ISO 25745, which gives lifts an A-to-G energy rating, much like the labels you see on household appliances.
Lifts run around the clock, so even small efficiency gains add up to real savings on running costs and carbon over a year. Whether you’re specifying a new lift or looking at an existing one, here’s how lift energy efficiency works, what actually makes the difference, and why it’s worth caring about.
Why Lift Energy Efficiency Matters
It’s easy to forget that a lift is running (or sitting on standby) 24 hours a day, every day of the year. That constant, low-level draw is why lift energy use adds up to a meaningful slice of a building’s electricity bill, especially in busy commercial or residential blocks.
There are three good reasons to pay attention to it:
- Running costs. A more efficient lift simply costs less to run, month after month, for the life of the equipment.
- Carbon and sustainability. Lower energy use means lower carbon emissions, which matters more and more to building owners, tenants, and investors with net-zero goals.
- Green building credentials. Efficient lifts can contribute towards green building certifications like BREEAM, which can add value to a commercial building.
As a business, we think this is worth taking seriously. Reducing energy use is good for our customers’ budgets, good for the buildings we look after, and good for the wider effort to cut carbon, so it’s something we care about in the work we do.
How Lift Energy Use Is Measured: BS EN ISO 25745
You don’t have to guess how efficient a lift is. There’s an international standard, BS EN ISO 25745, that sets out how to measure and classify a lift’s energy performance.
It works in a way that will feel familiar: lifts are given an energy rating from A (most efficient) through to G (least efficient), similar to the energy labels on fridges and washing machines. Crucially, the rating takes account of two things:
- Travel energy, the electricity used while the lift is actually moving.
- Standby energy, the electricity used while the lift is idle and waiting, which for a lift that isn’t very busy can be a surprisingly large share of the total.
Because it covers both new and modernised lifts, the standard is a useful reference point whether you’re buying a new lift or improving an existing one. Asking about a lift’s ISO 25745 class is a simple way to compare how efficient different options really are.
What Actually Makes a Lift More Efficient
A handful of technologies do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to saving energy:
Regenerative Drives
This is the big one. A regenerative drive captures the energy that would otherwise be wasted when a lift brakes (for example, a full car going down or an empty car going up) and feeds it back into the building’s electricity supply, rather than losing it as heat. In the right building, this can cut lift energy use significantly.
LED Lighting
Older lifts often still use halogen or fluorescent lighting in the car, which is on constantly and burns more power. Switching to LED lighting cuts that energy use dramatically and the bulbs last far longer, so there’s a maintenance saving too.
Standby and Sleep Modes
A lift spends a lot of its life doing nothing. Smart standby modes power down non-essential systems (lighting, ventilation, displays) when the lift has been idle for a few minutes, then wake them instantly when the lift is called. Because standby can be such a big share of total energy use, this makes a real difference.
Efficient Machines and Controls
Modern gearless machines are more efficient than older geared or hydraulic systems, and smarter controls can group and dispatch lifts so they run fewer, fuller journeys rather than lots of near-empty ones. In multi-lift buildings, intelligent dispatching alone can shave off meaningful energy.
Improving the Efficiency of an Existing Lift
You don’t necessarily need a brand-new lift to see savings. Many of these improvements can be retrofitted as part of a wider modernisation:
- Adding a regenerative drive during a control system upgrade.
- Swapping car lighting to LED (often a quick, low-cost win).
- Enabling or upgrading standby modes.
- Replacing an ageing machine or controller as part of planned modernisation.
If you’re already considering modernising a lift for reliability or compliance reasons, folding in energy improvements at the same time is a smart move, you get the efficiency gains without a separate project. We cover the wider process in our guide to lift modernisation.
Is It Worth It?
For most buildings, yes, though the size of the payback depends on how busy the lift is and how old the current equipment is. A heavily used lift in a large building will recoup efficiency investments faster than a lightly used one. The best first step is to understand your current lift’s energy performance and where the easy wins are.
Deltron Lifts can assess your lifts, identify the most cost-effective efficiency improvements, and carry them out as part of maintenance or modernisation, helping you cut both running costs and carbon.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is a lift’s energy efficiency measured?
Lift energy performance is measured using BS EN ISO 25745, which gives a lift an energy rating from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient). It accounts for both travel energy and standby energy.
What is a regenerative drive?
A regenerative drive captures energy that would normally be wasted when a lift brakes and feeds it back into the building’s electricity supply. It’s one of the most effective ways to reduce a lift’s energy use.
Can an existing lift be made more energy efficient?
Yes. Many improvements, such as LED lighting, standby modes, and regenerative drives, can be retrofitted, often as part of a wider modernisation project rather than a full replacement.
Do energy-efficient lifts help with BREEAM?
They can. A lift’s energy performance can contribute towards green building certifications like BREEAM, which is valuable for commercial buildings pursuing sustainability credentials.
How much can an energy-efficient lift save?
It varies with how busy the lift is and how old the current equipment is. Busier lifts and older starting points tend to see the biggest savings. An assessment of your specific lift is the best way to estimate the payback.
