3 Ways to Optimize Your Building’s Elevators (BOMA 2025)

Are you just spending money on your elevators—or are you really making them work for you? I walked the expo floor at the 2025 BOMA International Conference & Expo in Boston and discovered three ways you can maximize the value of your vertical transportation assets.

1. Get Your Elevators Serviced Regularly

The importance of maintenance was a recurring theme on the expo floor. Timmy Kilkenny, national sales director for Nouveau Elevator, a national vertical transportation provider, told me about his company’s approach to servicing elevators monthly.

“At the end of the day, it’s about inspections and code compliance,” Kilkenny said. “If you’re not properly maintaining the equipment, the building or the ownership is going to run into deficiencies or violations during inspections. [Maintenance] is how you prevent that issue.” The service-first company supports the newest—and the oldest—proprietary technology from major manufacturers and uses non-proprietary controllers, door operators, and other systems when it modernizes elevators.

I learned that failing to maintain elevators on schedule can shorten the lifetime of the equipment and cause more frequent breakdowns, according to Brian Pacheco, district manager for New England for VDA Elevator Consulting. VDA creates maintenance documents for clients that can be used to attract bids from contractors. The agreements cover specific requirements for preventive maintenance, number of hours, visit frequency, and more.

“It’s really critical that if you have a building you’re concerned about, bring in a third party to look at it,” Pacheco said. “A third party is a resource to a building owner to help them with design and maintenance. Ultimately, be very critical of your maintenance contract—it’s a very valuable tool, and if it’s got the right language, it’ll protect the owner.”

2. Turn the Elevator into a Revenue Stream

In talking to exhibitors like Captivate, I discovered that people in your elevators are ready to be entertained during what might otherwise be a boring ride up or down. The company provides content for digital screens in elevators, from news, sports, business, and lifestyle content. The screens can also display ads that earn you money, as well as your own building announcements.

The key to getting people to look at the screens is creating engaging content, explained Michael Kingston, vice president of content for Captivate. Using the company’s Screen Center feature, you can create announcements with graphics that will keep people’s attention while they ride.

“The more engaging the content is, the more reason people have to look up at the screens, and the more effective you’ll be at getting your message across, whether it’s a fire drill or a farmer’s market,” Kingston told me.

3. Revamp the Cab Interior

Your lobby elevators are an extension of the lobby itself—but do they reflect the same welcoming look? If not, your elevators might be candidates for a cab makeover. Alan Schulz, national account manager of continuity business for Eklund’s Inc., explained to me the importance of an elevator cab that speaks for itself.

“A lot of times, it’s the first thing people see or walk into when they enter the building,” Schulz said. “The elevator cab is like the centerpiece of where people enter the building, so [owners] want it to look aesthetically pleasing like the rest of the lobby and the outside.”

Bronze and brass hardware is making a comeback, as is wood veneer, Schulz said. Stainless steel is also popular.

“Installing the right type of cab does matter,” Schulz added. “If you have a high-traffic elevator with people moving in and out, you probably don’t want to go with glass or an expensive material. Make sure you install the right type of elevator cabs for the clientele that will be riding in it.”