The Fujisawa Technology Center in Kanagawa Prefecture is one of our primary business sites, with approximately 1,800 employees. It is an important site for our electricity conservation measures, which are adapted to individual building specifications. One building in particular, which has been promoting energy visualization, incorporated its own unique approach to high-priority measures such as shifting usage to off-peak hours, controlling power demand, and employee-led electricity conservation. In order to shift power usage to offpeak hours, the entire building was pre-cooled prior to working hours, when power usage was not restricted. Then, during the period subject to usage reductions, cooling was accomplished using only ice generated with nighttime electricity and kept in thermal energy storage. Our proprietary forecasting technology, which incorporates weather forecast information, was also used to minimize the pre-cooling required. Additionally, an incentivetype control system was introduced that allowed a lower indoor temperature setting if lights were turned off. A system introduced on a trial basis allowed employees to take the lead in setting the indoor temperature for each workday.
These initiatives helped cut peak electricity consumption on every workday subject to power usage restrictions by more than 40% at the building and by some 30% for the entire Fujisawa Technology Center, greatly exceeding the target.