Authors

Masaaki Bannai, Dr., P.E.
Energy Solutions Head Office, Urban Planning and Development Systems, Hitachi, Ltd.

Takuya Yoshida
Fluid Science Project, Turbo-machinery Research and Development Center, Energy and Environmental Systems Lab., Power Systems, Hitachi, Ltd.

Yasutaka Kimura
Power Systems Control Unit, Second Dept. of Systems Research, Information and Control Systems Research Lab., Hitachi Research Lab., Hitachi, Ltd.

Tatsuo Fujii
Air-conditioning Appliance Unit, Appliance Products Dept., Mechanical Engineering Research Lab., Hitachi, Ltd.

Kyoichi Sekiguchi
Cryogenic Systems Div., Hitachi Building Systems Co., Ltd.

Toshiyuki Sawa
Power Systems Control Unit, Second Dept. of Systems Research, Information and Control Systems Research Lab., Hitachi Research Lab., Hitachi, Ltd.

Overview

As concrete measures for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (mainly CO₂) pledged under the commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, ESCOs — targeting customers in the industrial and commercial sectors — are drawing attention. As a service business based on a platform for so-called "monozukuri" (i.e. "making things by the hands of skilled labor" in Japanese), the Hitachi Group is actively engaged in ESCO business, which has built up many successes since starting up in 1999. In regard to ESCO equipment currently in operation, to address issues that come up concerning operation of equipment, new measures (starting with methods for optimizing operation of each of multiple machines and for evaluating performance of constituent devices) make it possible to minimize operation cost over the lifecycle of a machine or facility.