**Author details**

businesses, which is the subject of the city's call for submissions, will have to be investigated. It

In this paper, we introduced an example of a community energy project that is in progress in the town of Shinchi. For the redevelopment of the JR Shinchi Station district being carried out by the local government of Shinchi, construction of the cogeneration-type district heat and

In this case, the key to improving environmental performance is effective energy management that combines heat and power. In other words, multiple autonomous energy management systems must work together to optimize demand and supply through energy demand predictions and power consumption reductions during peak energy demand, ultimately improving energy conservation and achieving a low-carbon society. The heat and power supply system introduced in this paper is a useful and advanced example. This technology can be developed in other communities as a model of local production and consumption of heat and power,

We developed a central control server system known as the "smart hybrid center" and a user information terminal, the "Shinchi Life Assist Tablet," for which demonstration experiments involving local residents have already begun. With this information network, continuous power monitoring in households has been implemented, providing energy consumption data for the present community. In addition, by examining individual household energy consumption, power-saving activities were proposed to suit each household, heightening powersaving awareness in the community and optimizing power demand. Utilizing an existing base of 75 households and adding residences being constructed around Shinchi Station to this base, energy demand information from typical households can be collected. By sharing informa-

the station can be planned. As community-linked energy conservation measures develop, the new smart community can progress smoothly. Residents can gain energy-related knowledge and can be expected to approve of the system. Furthermore, through an integrated supply and demand energy management system that is linked via the CEMS, automatic demand response control can be introduced, and further improvements in energy efficiency and CO<sup>2</sup>

The project introduced in this paper is being conducted by the Smart Community Adoption Promotion Project, with the National Institute for Environmental Studies acting as the academic advisor and supervisor, based on the Basic Cooperation Agreement, with cooperation of related companies. Many companies, such as Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd., Keiyo Plant Engineering Co. Ltd., Japan Environment Systems Co. Ltd., and NEC Global, are par-

emission reduction efforts in the area among residents, new communities around

is also necessary to consider adjusting the heating and electricity charges as needed.

cooling system and community energy system is currently in progress.

which promotes locally produced energy and vitalizes the community.

**7. Conclusions**

118 Sustainable Air Conditioning Systems

tion on CO2

emission reductions can be expected.

**Acknowledgements**

ticipating as business entities.

Yujiro Hirano\*, Shogo Nakamura, Kei Gomi, Takuya Togawa, Tsuyoshi Fujita and Makoto Ooba

\*Address all correspondence to: yhirano@nies.go.jp

National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Japan
