Reducing Greenhouse Gasses
We continue to carry out a range of Group-wide initiatives in an effort to address the serious environmental issue of global warming by reducing the amount of energy consumed by the Citizen Group as a whole.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
In an effort to efficiently and consistently reduce CO2 emissions, we have set up the Subcommittee on Energy Savings as a channel for representatives from individual Citizen Group premises to report on their respective activities and take on board initiatives that have proven effective at other sites.
Our goal for fiscal 2009 was to reduce Groupwide CO2 emissions by 1% per unit of sales and by 1,500 tons overall compared to fiscal 2008. Although we managed to substantially reduce the total volume of emissions by approximately 14,000 tons due to deteriorating economic conditions, emissions per unit of sales increased by approximately 10% to 0.356.
Using sales as the basic unit denominator in this manner is not an effective indicator of the extent to which we have efficiently reduced environmental impact. As such, we intend to concentrate on reducing the total volume of emissions in the future.
Group-wide CO2 Emissions
Example Initiative
Citizen Business Expert
Initiatives at our Tokyo Works
High-efficiency chiller
We have replaced our vapor absorption refrigeration system with a high-efficiency chiller capable of achieving industry-leading levels of energy efficiency. Along with improvements in areas such as powering heat transfer systems, this has enabled us to substantially reduce power and gas consumption (approx. 945 tons CO2 equivalent).
Example Initiative
Citizen Seimitsu
Rooftop heat-insulating coating
Heat-insulating coating
We have replaced rooftop coatings on all of our buildings at Citizen Seimitsu with a highly reflective coating in order to keep roofing materials cooler and reduce energy consumption from indoor air conditioning units when set on cool.
This has reduced the surface temperature of roofing materials during summer months by at least 12℃, compared to before applying the new coating, and enabled us to reduce energy consumption from our second floor clean room by 7%. This initiative was covered by the local media as part of a report on eco activities.
Example Initiative
Citizen Electronics
Carbon offset printing for LED pamphlets
Carbon offset printing services use emission credits approved by the UN Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Executive Board to offset carbon emissions from the printing process. It helps to reduce CO2 emissions as an environmentally friendly means of printing in three specific ways – by minimizing harmful wastewater, by reducing consumption of disposable films and by cutting CO2 emissions from printing.
In addition to these three benefits, we also take shipping into account at Citizen Electronics, through initiatives such as direct delivery in order to eliminate unnecessary transportation, and have managed to reduce CO2 emissions to 146g per pamphlet as a result. We are committed to environmentally friendly printing, using methods and materials such as waterless printing, FSC approved paper and plant-based inks, and monitoring CO2 emissions from the printing process, as part of our efforts to reduce CO2 emissions, and will continue to improve our carbon offset waterless printing specifications.
Example Initiative
Citizen Yubari
Installing a new air conditioning system
We have installed a displacement ventilation air conditioning system with the aim of saving energy at our new factory, which has been up and running since October 2008.
Unlike the previous air conditioning system, which was a mixed-air system that circulated air around the entire inside of the factory, the new system is a displacement ventilation system that efficiently vents exhaust heat rather than releasing it into the air. Harnessing the updraft from exhaust heat produced by machine tools inside the factory, the system quietly lifts warm air upwards for ventilation (air conditioning).
This effectively reduces the flow of air required for air conditioning and places less of a strain on the system's fans. By actively taking in air from outside, the new system has also reduced running times for refrigeration units.
We have gathered data in order to calculate the effect the system has had during the first year of operations at our new factory and have run comparisons against our existing No.2 Factory*, which has a mixed-air system. The results indicate that the new factory uses one sixth as much energy for cooling purposes as our existing No.2 Factory. Taking into account fuel consumption for heating as well, installing a displacement ventilation system has effectively reduced CO2 emissions by approximately 105 tons.
The new system also has the added advantage of reducing dust and odor levels in work areas compared to our existing No.2 Factory (mixed-air system).
Based on these findings, we believe that displacement ventilation systems save more energy and are more environmentally friendly than mixed-air systems.
*We used our existing No.2 Factory as a comparison because it has a mixed-air system covering roughly the same floor area as the new factory.
Example Initiative
Citizen Electronics
Saving energy in the office
LED lighting on company premises
We have been working to establish energy saving practices as part of our environmental management activities for around ten years now. In addition to ongoing initiatives such as turning off lights on a companywide basis during lunch breaks and using intermittent lighting in accordance with JIS illumination standards, we have recently started to effectively save energy through additional initiatives such as fitting reflective plates to fluorescent light covers to increase efficiency and fitting light shielding to south-facing windows to improve insulation.
As we develop, manufacture and supply mercury-free environmentally friendly LED lighting designed to consume less power and last longer, we have installed lighting equipped with LEDs manufactured in-house in the lobby of our main building and in other locations around our premises. We will continue to install LED lighting in the future so as to save more and more energy.