In the context of its annual report, Schindler explicitly presented its product-ecological environmental performance for the first time in 2000 and explained its strategy for continuous reduction of its impact on the environment. This strategy is based on the knowledge derived from a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) for standard elevators in which all life cycle phases – development, raw material acquisition, production, packaging and transport, utilization and maintenance as well as disposal – are being analyzed. This LCA demonstrates that power consumption of an elevator for operation and standby over a life cycle of 20 to 30 years causes at least two-thirds of the total environmental impact. By far the largest potential for reduction of the environmental impact lies thus in the utilization phase, followed by raw material acquisition and disposal.

The other life cycle phases are of minor relevance. In particular, the production of an elevator is responsible for less than 10% of the entire environmental impact within the life cycle. Since the environmental impact of the elevator throughout its lifecycle − including during utilization − is determined to more than 80% in the development phase, product development is the area with by far the greatest scope for ecological leverage.