Sanyo Offers Solutions to Stricter Environmental Law

Mar 31, 2010 08:36 Naoshige Shimizu, Nikkei Electronics

Sanyo Electric Co Ltd explained about its energy management systems (EMSes) for buildings and offices at a press conference March 29, 2010.

Sanyo expects that more and more Japanese firms will have to take measures to comply with the revision of the Rationalization in Energy Use Law, which will become effective April 1, 2010. And the aim of the conference is to promote the company's services related to energy saving.

"At this point, many companies are not paying attention to the revision," Sanyo said. "And they might haste to cope with the revision in April to June 2010."

The company aims to sell its EMSes to 500 firms in fiscal 2010. Moreover, it plans to offer fare-paying consulting services for helping firms deal with the revision of the law.

Sanyo will focus on selling the "STAIMS," which controls the air-conditioning equipment and lighting equipment in a building, etc, and the "ERMOS," which remotely monitors the energy consumptions of multiple offices. The price of the STAIMS, which is being introduced into about 100 organizations including universities and companies, is expected to be about ¥5.5 million for an office building with a gross floor area of 12,000m².

The STAIMS can also figure out the number of people and the illuminance in an area of about 20m². And, based on them, it controls the air flow of air-conditioning equipment and the brightness of lighting equipment.

On the other hand, the ERMOS records the electric power consumption of each firm on the server located at Sanyo's business place in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. And the subscriber to the service can check it online. Currently, the ERMOS is being tested at several offices.

Japanese government revised the Rationalization in Energy Use Law to expand its range of application. First, energy consumption, which has been monitored for each office, will be monitored for each company. And if the energy consumption of a company exceeds 1,500kL per year in terms of crude oil, it has to register with Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and be designated as a "specified enterprise."

Second, the law will be applied to franchise stores of, for example, convenience store chains. If a convenience store chain has an annual energy consumption of more than 1,500kL per year in terms of crude oil, the franchiser has to register with the ministry and be designated as a "specified chained company." So, the law will be applied to convenience store chains that have more than 30 to 40 franchise stores.

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