How EU firms are saving energy this summer
The old saying that bad news comes in threes is holding true this summer. Not only is the summer likely to be as shirt-clingingly muggy as usual, but you can forget about cranking up the air-con: Tepco has forecast an electricity supply-demand shortfall of 6.2GW (approximately 10%). To compound matters, Tohoku Electric Power is expecting a shortfall of 1.1GW.
In response, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is requiring businesses to substantially cut back their electricity consumption. Those using 500kW or more must map out and implement a plan to reduce electricity consumption by at least 15% year on year during peak periods (9am to 8pm on weekdays) between 1 July and 9 September. For businesses using less than 500kW, along with households, there will be a voluntary 15% target.
So how are companies, including EBC members, aiming to reach these targets?
Saving energy at work
Some manufacturers are shifting factory hours to the weekends or evenings to reduce demand at peak consumption periods. Other businesses are opening and closing their offices an hour earlier to cut down on air-conditioning needs, or even moving to a four or four-and-a-half-day week. Meanwhile, the annual Cool Biz initiative will help reduce electricity demand by allowing higher air-conditioner temperatures.
Mary Zanette is the senior vice-president for strategic planning, marketing, e-commerce, and store planning at Toys”R”Us Japan. She says they will enhance energy-saving plans implemented during last year’s unusually hot summer.
“I guess many companies are doing similar things, such as turning off unnecessary lights,” she says. “One thing we started last summer, to cut down on how much heat was generated in the office because it was so hot, was to have everyone turn off their PCs, monitors, electric kettles and so on at the end of the day, and also draw down the blinds to keep the sun’s heat out. We now have someone in each department in charge of checking that this is done,” Zanette says.
“It sounds like such an obvious thing to do, but you would be amazed at how much energy is wasted through small things like that. No matter how small you think an appliance is, the energy consumption all adds up,” she says.
At Hays Specialist Recruitment Japan, managing director Christine Wright says they are taking a similar approach.
“We’ve cut 50% of the lighting in the office, have set the air-conditioner temperature higher, are asking staff to use stairs rather than elevators, and are getting them to turn off all monitors and PCs before going home,” Wright says. “These are all easy things to do.”
Toys”R”Us has been thinking outside of the toy box, too, by applying energy saving to the office restrooms and turning off electric bidet toilets. And for good reason: in the 70% of Japanese homes that have such high-tech loos, they account for 3.9% of annual electricity consumption.
Zanette says Toys”R”Us is also saving energy in its stores.
“We’ve turned off the pylons [large signboards in and outside stores] and are using fewer lights; the air-conditioning is set so it goes on only when the temperature hits 28 degrees. In stand-alone stores we have automatic doors to make sure that air-conditioning stays in the building, and is not blown out onto the street and wasted,” Zanette says. “We’ve managed to cut in-store electricity use by about 30%.”
The company has been carefully monitoring customer feedback since it adopted the in-store measures and has yet to receive any complaints. Staff, too, are positive about the measures.
“Our staff have really taken to turning off equipment and reducing the lighting, plus they get to wear casual clothing to be more comfortable with the reduced air-conditioning,” Zanette says.
Bringing energy-saving tech to Japan
But while many European firms in Tokyo are focused on reducing their energy usage this summer, others are offering long-term solutions.
Shizen no Sumai, a company founded in Nagano in 1988 by Austrian Peter Mathae, builds houses 100% free of chemicals and glue, and made entirely from sustainable resources. For the main structure of its houses, Shizen no Sumai uses environment-friendly “Holz 100” wood building casings produced by Austrian company Thoma. The homes boast excellent insulation to keep heat in or out, thereby drastically reducing heating and cooling needs.
The homes are strong too; on the Ministry of Construction’s (now part of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Tourism) strength scale of one to five, they are the only residences to have received a grade seven (sic) rating – meaning they are extremely earthquake-resistant. (When the houses were tested they exceeded previous highs and so received a higher than usually possible rating.)
The homes also offer significantly better-than-standard fire security and radiation shielding – as well as 100% protection against mould growth.
Another Austrian company, SOLID, is offering the Japan market solar energy air-conditioning that provides heating and cooling using just 20% of the energy that conventional systems consume. Among the other environmental benefits of SOLID’s system are zero CO2 emissions and its long lifespan.
In a related field, Norwegian firm Elkem Japan provides raw materials (solar-grade silicon) used for solar panels. Made in Norway with a production process driven by hydroelectric power, the material is manufactured using just 25% of the energy consumed by traditional technology.
Elkem Japan’s representative director, Hiroyuki Date, believes solar power is a viable power alternative.
“A benefit of solar power is that the peak generation hours of the day happen to meet more or less with the peak consumption hours, which would greatly contribute to preventing large scale blackouts,” he says.
Shizen no Sumai’s Mathae thinks that attitudes to sustainable living are changing.
“There are many architects who still think it is better to replace buildings entirely after 10 or 20 years, so they can easily be fitted with the latest technologies,” he says.
“But I think there are lots of people in Japan who are interested in a more sustainable, environment-friendly approach. It’s certainly not a difficult area to do business in nowadays.”
And with Japan now having to drastically reduce its energy consumption – perhaps over the long term – there may be even more business opportunities ahead for European firms.