Amazon (located in Meguro-ku, Tokyo) and Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd. (located in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) announced that they will open a new Amazon logistics base in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture this summer. The base will be a Mitsubishi Estate facility called “Logicross Nagoya Minato” designed exclusively for Amazon, with a total floor area of approximately 125,000 square meters and a product storage capacity of approximately 1.37 million cubic feet, making it the largest FC in Western Japan. It is scheduled to start operation in August of this year.
Amazon and Mitsubishi Estate will work together to introduce technologies for more sustainable facility operations, such as geothermal air conditioning systems and wall-mounted solar power generation equipment, which are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and embodied carbon (carbon dioxide generated outside the operation of a building, from the procurement of building materials to transportation, construction, repair, disposal, etc.) related to the operation of the facility.
In addition, the facility is expected to be the first building in Japan to receive the international certification of zero carbon certification from the International Living Future Institute. In addition, through collaboration between the two companies, the building has been designed with consideration for the working environment and the local community.
The headquarters will introduce an air conditioning system that uses geothermal heat pumps. It will be the largest geothermal energy use in Japan, with 200 geothermal heat exchangers installed, and will extract stable thermal energy from 100 meters underground. The introduction of this system is expected to reduce energy consumption by approximately 30% compared to conventional air conditioning.
In addition, to cover part of the electricity used at the facility, solar power generation equipment will be installed on the roofs of the buildings and the car and bicycle parking areas, and Amazon will also install solar power generation equipment on the south side of the buildings, a first for the company in the world. The total power generation capacity will be 5.5 megawatts (MW), which is one of the largest on-site solar power generation facilities installed at a logistics facility in Japan and the largest on-site solar power generation facility outside the United States for Amazon. In addition, a storage battery with a storage capacity of 2.9 megawatt hours (MWh) will be installed, allowing carbon-free energy to be used even on rainy or cloudy days and at night.
Furthermore, this facility has been awarded six stars, the highest rating standard, under the Building Energy Efficiency Labeling Scheme (BELS).
Concrete materials, which are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 30% over their life cycle, from procurement of materials to disposal and recycling, are used in the building foundations and office areas. The facility is also actively promoting the use of rainwater, and by using rainwater collected in a storage tank for restrooms, etc., it is expected to reduce water usage by approximately 40% compared to conventional FCs of the same size.
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