Technologies

01 High-Efficiency Equipment

Significantly reduce power consumption by installing Mitsubishi Electric’s unique high-efficiency equipment.

Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) air conditioner high-end model

"Gran Multi®" (for the Japanese market)

A new configure to order product range with improved energy efficiency for better energy savings in net zero energy buildings.

Heat Recovery Ventilation

Commercial Lossnay®

Energy-efficient ventilation through heat exchange reduces air conditioning heat load. With motion sensors and CO2 sensors to detect the number of people in the room, ventilation levels can be controlled. Less need for air conditioning leads to improved energy saving effects.

LED lighting

MILIE®

As well as saving energy on individual units with LEDs, energy saving is further improved with image sensor and motion sensor control.

Hot Water Heat Pump

High annual heating efficiency leads to significantly reduced running costs and total CO2 emissions.

DC distribution system

D-SMiree®

Achieves energy savings through reduced conversion loss compared to conventional AC power distribution. Ideal also for linking multiple power generation facilities that use renewable energy (solar power, wind power, etc.). Direct current is used in some of the experimental rooms and elevators at the SUSTIE test facility.

Elevators

Highly efficient elevators

Highly efficient motors and regenerative energy recovery when descending leads to energy savings.

02 Natural Energy

Further improve ZEB performance using sunlight and natural winds.

Solar panels covering the whole rooftop and on the eaves on each floor on the south side harness natural energy from the sun. Natural winds also blow through automatic ventilation windows located on the south side of each floor. With this, heating and cooling panels pre-cool or pre-heat rooms to get them at the right temperature. Warmed air then accumulates in the upper part of the atrium. When this hot air is released buoyancy drives the ventilation process. During the summer months also, other ways to harness natural energy are put into practice, such as the use of cool tubes*1 to lower intake air temperatures.

*1A system in which the cold outlet of a Hot Water Heat Pump is passed through a tube buried in the ground for further cooling. This cold air then lowers the ventilation temperature.

03 Building Simulation Technology

SUSTIE simulation technology predicts energy consumption and comfort levels, saving time and effort in running a net zero energy building.

*2Building Information Modeling: A design method for more efficient building management through the use of shared 3D building models, which includes information on such things as building management and materials, to facilitate design, construction, and operation processes.

Implementing building simulation technologies for operating net zero energy buildings makes it possible to find an optimal balance between energy saving and comfort. This technology produces the SUSTIE building simulator, manageable in a virtual space on a computer. Models that simulate the operation of Mitsubishi Electric’s building facilities are set up in the same way as actual buildings in the simulator to enable highly accurate predictions of energy consumption and comfort levels.


And by using the Facima® building management system which controls and monitors air conditioner, lighting, the access control system, etc., and with the BuilUnity® integrated building solution, data can be collected from various sensors in the test building and used for the testing of ZEB technologies.

04 Worker’s Health and Comfort

SUSTIE seeks to create an office that offers both energy savings and comfort.
This is how it is done.

Experimental rooms (offices) on each floor are set up in line with the ABW*3 concept on the themes of dialogue, relaxation, and focus, allowing employees the chance to find the space that suits their own particular way of working.

*3Activity-based working: A work style that allows employees to choose from a variety of settings according to the work they are doing that day.

4th Floor — Focus

3rd Floor — Relax

2nd Floor — Dialogue

As well as the open-feel atrium area, large biophilic walls have been installed in various places. The cafeteria offers healthy meals and the meeting rooms lacking any natural light are equipped with a piece of sky by "misola" to give the office space a more comfortable feel. And with plenty of ventilation and non-contact doors, SUSTIE provides a new office style in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Biophilic walls

Healthy choices cafeteria

Meeting room with a piece of sky by misola

05 Demonstration Experiments at SUSTIE

Accelerating development and conducting demonstration experiments for the growing demand in ZEB-compliant energy saving technologies, contributes to the realization of more comfortable and highly energy-efficient workplace environment.
For example, through demonstrations of our ventilation control system which controls the amount of ventilation by using information on the number of people in the room, and through demonstrations of energy management that utilize the Ville-feuille smart city & building IoT platform, we will establish technology that achieves both further energy savings and comfort. As a response also to the coronavirus pandemic, the SUSTIE test facility will monitor when and for how long rooms and seating areas are occupied, controlling the amount of ventilation or switching over to natural ventilation as required.