Kokuyo Proposes Office for Lower CO2 Emissions, Higher Work Efficiency

Jul 15, 2008 19:36 Chiho Matsuda, Nikkei Monozukuri

An overview of the new office. The company has also increased work efficiency by implementing a free-address office system and allowing employees to stay in the same place no longer than two hours, it said.

Panels that generate power when people walk on them could be found on the floor near the entrance. The system is the same as the one developed by Keio University and employed for a verification test at Tokyo Station.

The amount of power generated by the power generation floor system. The generated power is not used at present, but the company expects to use it to charge mobile phones, etc in the future.

An example of a screen display in the "Office Environment Monitor." If the temperature of the air conditioner is increased in summer, power consumption will decrease but work efficiency will decrease at the same time. The system prevents work efficiency from lowering by maintaining the comfort index within two degrees above or below the standard.

The condition of each office area is monitored by the "Business Microscope." A sharp contrast is shown between areas where people are actively moving about and those where they are gathering.

Stationary receivers. The company is collecting information by placing them on tables in reception areas and other places.

Demonstration of the "Kokuyo XVD Tele-presentation System." The staff members were communicating with Kokuyo Furniture Co Ltd's Mie Plant.

Kokuyo Office System Co Ltd (Tokyo) disclosed its renovated headquarters office July 14, 2008. In the new office, the company aims to enhance "efficiency," "creativity" and "comfort" by setting relaxation facilities and spaces where employees can concentrate on their jobs, while employing light-emitting diode (LED) lighting systems to reduce its CO₂ emissions.

The company said its industrial segment (including factories) accounts for 39% and its business segment (including offices) constitutes 19% of its total CO₂ emissions. While the amount of CO₂ emissions from plants is remaining flat, that from offices has recently increased every year, it said.

Based on these circumstances, Kokuyo Office System designed the new office to cut CO₂ emissions. It has reduced power consumption for the overall office area by approximately 44% through the use of LED lighting systems in about half the area, for example. In addition, the company attached a task light to each desk that employees can turn off whenever not in use.

Kokuyo Office System has also realized "zoning that enables effective lights-out," dividing the overall office into several areas, it said. These efforts resulted in about 28% reduction in power consumption by the overall office, compared with the office before the renewal.

The company has also developed a mechanism to visualize the temperature, humidity, comfort and CO₂ emissions through its "Office Environment Monitor." Comfort is an index calculated based on the temperature and humidity. The monitoring system updates the temperature, humidity and comfort every 10 minutes, while updating the previous day's total power consumption and CO₂ emissions every day.

The company also introduced its "Business Microscope" as part of its efforts to increase productivity. The Business Microscope is aimed at monitoring trends in employees' actions using terminals equipped with infrared and acceleration sensors. In collaboration with Hitachi Ltd's Central Research Laboratory and Hitachi High-Technologies Corp, which developed the Business Microscope, Kokuyo Office System is collecting data and watching trends to discuss the state of its in-house communications.

Furthermore, the "Kokuyo XVD Tele-presentation System" facilitates information sharing by connecting offices and plants, for example, using video. And workers can concentrate on their jobs at the "Quiet Pit" booth, in which they wear headphones to shut out noise from their surroundings.

In addition to meeting rooms that are completely surrounded by white boards, the office features a facility to increase work efficiency through rest by "turning off" work, called "Rirakucafe (Relax Cafe)." The facility houses massage chairs and a planetarium.

Kokuyo Office System names its headquarters, Osaka and Nagoya Offices "Live Offices" for proposals to clients and allows visitors to look around.

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