Takenaka's Multiple Power Source Control System Promises to Improve Efficiency, Reduce CO2 Emissions

Copyright Takenaka Corp. All Rights Reserved.

Takenaka Corp., a leading Japanese construction company, announced September 25, 2015, that it has developed a new energy management system called "I.SEM," designed to work well with Japan's reformed energy market. I.SEM controls energy use accurately and efficiently according to the needs of a building's residents, resulting in numerous benefits including reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

I.SEM first estimates the energy load of a building and then develops a plan to optimally operate heat sources, air-conditioning equipment, and other devices, and thereby achieves the most efficient electricity demand management plan possible. The system enables real-time control by building the management function on an information platform through a cloud-based system to allow high-speed processing and incorporation of personal demand-response into its load estimation.

Although individual estimation and control systems already exist, this is the first commercialized management system built on a cloud infrastructure that can comprehensively control individual systems. In the future, Takenaka will collect actual data at the TAK Shinsuna Building, the first building where the I.SEM system has been introduced, and work to improve the system.

Copyright Takenaka Corp. All Rights Reserved.

Report from Fukushima: Five Years after the Great East Japan Earthquake

JFS Newsletter No.163 (March 2016)

On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake caused massive devastation in the Tohoku District, followed by a massive tsunami and aftershocks. The death toll exceeded 15,000, and nearly 2,500 people remain missing. At the same time, the disaster led to an unprecedented nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant owned by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO). Five years later, the entire Tohoku region continues moving toward reconstruction, but over 80,000 people still live away from home as evacuees, particularly in areas within a 20-kilometer radius of the plant, located on the coast of Fukushima Prefecture.

On February 7, 2016, JFS joined a study tour arranged for students of JFS chief executive Junko Edahiro's laboratory at Tokyo City University. We visited areas within a radius of 20 kilometers from the plant, and the Minamisoma Solar Agripark, which was launched to nurture and train human resources for Fukushima's reconstruction. The tour was hosted by Eiju Hangai, director of the non-profit group Asubito Fukushima (Asubito means "people who open the way to tomorrow"). We visited these places while listening to the stories of what happened at the sites and details of current conditions. This JFS newsletter article is a report on the current status of what we saw during these site visits and the efforts of Asubito Fukushima, which has devoted itself to educating the next generation to play a leading role in future reconstruction.

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