It is interesting. I think elevators in some building will run, but with the buttons disabled. So its like
Go to floor 1
Open doors
Wait 30 seconds
Close doors
Go to floor 2
<Repeat in a loop>
Go to floor 1
Open doors
Wait 30 seconds
Close doors
Go to floor 2
<Repeat in a loop>
There are two exceptions, one is in the case of urgency that is not life threatening (for example a cold baby in a house with the heat off). (If it was life threatening than you just do it yourself.)
The second is you can hint to the non-Jews. For example say: It's so dark in here. Then the non-Jew is doing it for himself and not for you, and it's permitted. However doing this is discouraged except when it's important.