E2 Forum Milano Digital Talk - Final report

Elevators: adding value and accessibility to buildings

E2 Forum Milano Digital Talk: opportunities for building upgrades

Promoted by ANIE AssoAscensori and organised by Messe Frankfurt Italia, the digital edition of E2 Forum Milano was held on 3 December, focusing on the world of vertical and horizontal transportation. For two hours, participants explored one of the hottest topics in the industry, looking at the opportunities for building upgrades and the tax benefits that could be heralding a new era in urban regeneration.

Public involvement was high, presumably driven by a panel of speakers that truly managed to present the topic coherently within the European context, while also providing practical information about the raft of incentives made available by the Italian government.

At the end, people were left in no doubt about the importance of accelerating the pace of building upgrades to meet the targets for energy efficiency and growth in employment, and to encourage the adoption of new technologies to bolster building safety and accessibility.

In this context, such accessibility takes the form of lifts, which play a critical role in transforming the built heritage. They improve user comfort and greatly increase property value.

Angelo Fumagalli, President of ANIE AssoAscensori "When talking about incentive mechanisms, it is necessary to guarantee 'equal dignity' for all the installations in a building, giving them the same importance as is given to the building and the envelope. More specifically, potentially extending the works covered by government bonuses to include the installation and/or modernisation of lifts, goods lifts and platform lifts will not only help increase the value of a property but also, at the same time, improve the safety,  ccessibility, comfort and energy efficiency of the building as a whole, through the use of new digital technologies."

Wolfgang Marzin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Messe Frankfurt GmbH “The E2 Forum Milano digital edition has achieved a format that once again transports the success of its previous events to a future-oriented, though pandemic-driven, digital highlight. Our thanks go to all participants and especially to ANIE AssoAscensori, for its rich contribution to giving people in the industry a chance to learn about the latest developments. Much is to be said on the issue of innovation in buildings. And even more remains to be said in the future. E2 Forum Milano will continue to explore the vertical development of our cities."

Carlo Corazza, Head of Office, European Parliament in Italy "Thanks to Paolo Crisafi and Angelo Fumagalli, technical support was provided by Re Mind for the agenda approved by the Chamber of Deputies that has committed the government to revising building safety regulations, including for installations and especially elevators. Making buildings and the related installations safe can be done by making special use of European funds such that all buildings become accessible. The European Parliament is willing to work with Re Mind on other issues tied to good practices for the maintenance and updating of elevators."

Dario Trabucco, Professor at IUAV University in Venice and Chairperson of the E2 Forum Milano Scientific Committee "The E2 Forum Milano Digital Talk took place on 3 December - World Disability Day. Building accessibility is not only a topic for disabled people, but for anyone - the ill, injured, elderly and others - for whom a flight of stairs is an insurmountable obstacle. Elevators make buildings more user friendly and, despite not being directly part of the exceptional 110% bonus schemes that are all the rage at present, they remain an important investment for the value of buildings."

Award for “Ticino x tutti 2.0”

During E2 Forum Milano Digital Talk, the “Ticino x tutti 2.0” awards presentation took place. This initiative was born of the joint efforts of ANIE AssoAscensori and the University of Pavia to promote, among other aspects, accessibility and inclusive design. The best project went to Riccardo Bellati and Sara Ventura.

Watch the event

About E2 Forum Milano

Within Messe Frankfurt's trade event portfolio for technology industries, the E2 Forum Milano is one of four conference and exhibition forums for the elevator and escalator industry alongside the E2 Forum Frankfurt in Germany, IEE Expo in Mumbai and E2 Forum Mumbai.