News Releases
2012

* Information contained in this news release is current as of its date of announcement. Be aware that information contained herein is subject to change without notice.

METI Selects Fine Court Okurayama Master’s Hill (a Residential Development for 33 Detached Homes) for Inclusion in the Next-Generation Energy and Social Systems Demonstration Project
-First Time Participation of Built-for-sale Homes in the Yokohama Smart City Project-

August 9, 2012
Mitsui Fudosan Residential Co., Ltd.
Toshiba Corporation

Mitsui Fudosan Residential Co., Ltd. and Toshiba Corporation announced today that detached homes from Fine Court Okurayama Master’s Hill, a residential development for 33 built-for-sale homes in Kohoku-ku, Yokohama City, have been selected by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) to participate in a home energy management system (HEMS)*1 trial demonstration in the ministry’s Next-Generation Energy and Social Systems Demonstration Project for fiscal 2012.

Inaugurated by METI in fiscal 2010, the Next-Generation Energy and Social Systems Demonstration Project conducts trial demonstrations of next-generation energy and social systems, and smart communities, on a regional scale. The trial demonstrations seek to combine the efficient use of electricity with paradigm shifts in local public transportation systems and the lifestyles of residents.

The trial demonstration of HEMS at Fine Court Okurayama Master’s Hill will be conducted as a trial of the system for detached homes within the Yokohama Smart City Project (YSCP), which METI designated as a component of the Next-Generation Energy and Social Systems Demonstration Project in April 2010. In the YSCP, Yokohama City is working to build smart communities in collaboration with private-sector companies.

The trial demonstrations at Fine Court Okurayama Master’s Hill will not only seek to optimally manage the energy consumption of each household by using HEMS, but also that of the entire community be using a community energy management system (CEMS)*2 developed by Toshiba. Specifically, each home in the trail demonstration will be installed with three air conditioners linked to a HEMS energy display terminal. This terminal will be equipped with functions such as the real-time monitoring of electricity consumption. The HEMS energy display terminals in these homes will in turn be linked to the CEMS. The trial aims to demonstrate how an entire community can work in unison to conserve energy by enabling the CEMS to request the HEMS in individual homes to automatically adjust the thermostat settings to air conditioners (demand-and-response energy conservation). The trial demonstration period is scheduled to span from December 2012, when the households begin moving in, until March 31, 2015.


A Schematic Image of the CEMS-HEMS Linkage

Participation in the trial demonstration will provide households with an in-depth visualization of the energy they consume, as well as a means to draw historical comparisons, helping to raise energy-consciousness. Moreover, it is hoped that using the system in combination with Mitsui Fudosan Residential’s ECO Challenge for Residences*3 website will encourage households to take deliberate action to conserve energy. The website will award the participating households points for the energy they voluntarily conserve. Households will be able to exchange their points for eco-friendly home appliances and merchandise certificates at a later date. Encouraging households to conserve in this way is expected to help stabilize the energy consumption of the community.

Toshiba will design and develop the CEMS and HEMS, and will provide the analytics for the trial demonstration. Mitsui Fudosan Residential will develop and market the EMS-compatible homes. After the householders begin moving in, the two companies are planning primarily to analyze the results of householder awareness surveys and power consumption data, and to operate the incentive point website for encouraging ecology-minded behavior.

Technologies and systems for reducing CO2 emissions in cities are indispensable in both advanced and emerging countries. Against this backdrop, Mitsui Fudosan Residential and Toshiba are working together to pool the experiences and expertise they will gain from this trial demonstration, as well as from Park Homes Okurayama and Park Tower Nishi-Shinjuku Emsport, with the goal of furthering the creation of smart communities. To this end, the two companies will work to popularize next-generation housing and provide cloud-based services linked with HEMS for conserving energy.

The Mitsui Fudosan Group has formulated the &EARTH Group Vision, and is striving to build a society that enriches both people and the planet. For example, in collaboration with public, private and academic spheres, Mitsui Fudosan is working to develop Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City (Chiba Prefecture) as a government-designated Future City. This so-called “smart city project” is blazing a trail in futuristic urban development by proposing three model solutions as an “Environmental-Symbiotic City,” a “City of Health and Longevity” and a “City of New Industry Creation.” Going forward, the Group aims to contribute to the creation of prosperous and comfortable urban surroundings, and the Earth’s environment, through the promotion of its various business activities.

The Toshiba group is accelerating the development of technologies underpinning the realization of smart communities through its participation in the YSCP and other trial demonstrations and commercialization projects worldwide. Going forward, the group aims to market multiple, integrated solutions for optimizing the provision of electricity, gas, water, transportation and other such infrastructure globally; particularly among the emerging countries, where growing economies and populations have driven business demand for the development of social infrastructure higher. In this way, the Toshiba group will contribute to building a low-carbon society.

*1. A home energy management system (HEMS) is a system that uses information and communication technology (ICT) to optimally manage energy consumption in a home. HEMS in the detached homes of Fine Court Okurayama Master’s Hill enable households to visually monitor power consumption separately for each individual room (lighting and power outlets) and air conditioner unit, and the power generated from an ENE-FARM residential fuel cell system and photovoltaic panels. The HEMS, moreover, is capable of controlling the air conditioner units in each home.
*2. A community energy management system (CEMS) comprehensively manages and controls the energy consumption demands of an entire community by coordinating with other energy management systems installed in homes, buildings, storage batteries and other energy facilities within a community.
*3 ECO Challenge for Residences is a website operated by Mitsui Fudosan Residential that provides support for ecologically-minded activities. Membership is free of charge to those registering their name, address and other relevant information. The website comprises an “environmental home account book,” which members can use to compute their household CO2 emissions from their energy consumption, and an ECO Challenge, or a series of tasks they can complete to earn points that can be exchanged for eco-friendly products. The website is also designed with features enabling participating households to communicate with one another and enjoy their effort to economize and be ecological. Among these is a scoreboard where households can check on where they rank in the challenge and leave comments.
URL:http://www.sumai-challenge.com

Overview of Fine Court Okurayama Master’s Hill

Location 284-8, Morooka-cho, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama City
Access 11 minutes on foot from Okurayama Station on the Tokyu Toyoko Line
13 minutes on foot from Kikuna Station on the JR Yokohama Line
Land area per residence 100.04 to 115.32 m2 (1,076.82 to 1,241.29 ft2)
*Applies to 19 residences with building certification
Floor area per residence 91.91 to 117.17 m2 (989.31 to 1,261.21 ft2), including the 18.84 m2 (202.79 ft2) footprint of a box culvert parking garage
*Applies to 19 residences with building certification
Structure and scale Two-story two-by-four timber construction
Total residences 33
Floor plan Four bedrooms with a living room, dining room and kitchen
Planned completion August 2012 for 13 residences in construction zone 1
October 2012 for 6 residences in construction zone 2
Completion of residences in construction zone 3 remains undecided
Move-in Planned for December 2012
Sales schedule Homes go on sale October 2012
Housing design and construction Mitsui Home Co., Ltd. and Seibu Construction Co., Ltd.

Main Features of Fine Court Okurayama Master’s Hill

A townscape created by development of a total 33 detached residences

  • Bright and airy plots terraced southward, taking advantage of the existing lay of the land
  • Roads with plenty of width (5.5 meters)
  • A community landscaped with lush greenery such as olive and laurel trees


Planned Layout of Fine Court Okurayama Master’s Hill

High energy efficiency achieved by the latest housing equipment

  • All residences come installed with an ENE-FARM residential fuel cell system from Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. as standard equipment.
  • Residence No. 5 will be equipped with solar power generation panels for the first time among the Fine Court series of built-for-sale homes. Other residences will be pre-wired for the optional installation of solar panels.
  • In addition to insulation properties equivalent to a rank 4 rating under the Design-Based/Construction-Based Housing Evaluation, the residences are equipped with various energy-saving equipment meeting Japan’s Top Runner standards
  • Standard energy-saving appointments include Low-E multilayer glass, a thermal-insulated bathtub, LED gate light, fluorescent down lighting, and porch and front door lights with motion sensors.


A Perspective Drawing of Fine Court Okurayama Master’s Hill