20 Facilities Win '2010 Energy-saving Lighting Design Awards'

Japan's Ministry of the Environment decided and announced on February 14, 2011, the three grand prizes and 17 second-place prizes from 96 applicants as winners of the "2010 Energy-saving Lighting Design Awards."

The award recognizes facilities that achieve both outstanding energy-saving benefits and sophisticated designs. It aims at promoting further energy conservation in lighting, which accounts for about 20 percent of the energy use by commercial buildings and business offices, whose carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have increased by about 40 percent compared to 1990 levels.

The grand prize winner in the public facility and complex category is the Nezu Museum (Minato ward in Tokyo), which introduced 80,000 LEDs for its display cases. It was awarded the prize as "a next-generation facility in which LEDs are used for exhibition lighting, and as base lighting throughout the whole building, thereby realizing good esthetics and high energy savings."

In the commercial facility category, Daimaru Umeda (Kita ward in Osaka) was awarded the prize as "the first department store in the world to replace most of its ceiling lights with LEDs." The introduction of 35,000 LEDs reduce annual CO2 emissions by about 1,500 tons. In the other facility category, Tokyu Welina Ookayama (Shibuya ward in Tokyo) was awarded the prize for "energy-saving lighting synchronized with circadian rhythms, thereby realizing a comfortable residence for the elderly."

Posted: 2011/05/27 06:00:15 AM