New trend "Recycled architecture" - HUAWEI power storage solution that further enhances its value
"Refining" is a construction method that restores reinforced concrete buildings that are over 50 years old to the same level as new construction. In the effort to turn negative assets into positive assets, the power storage system is now becoming a pillar of further asset value improvement and regional contribution. On October 27, I visited a building that had just been completed the day before.
Main image: Rooftop of a refining building with solar and energy storage systems installed.
A 50-year-old building that looks like new
Clears current laws with various reinforcements
The building was located in a quiet residential area of Ogaki, a city in the southwestern part of Gifu Prefecture. What I visited was a completely refurbished 4-story reinforced concrete building that was 55 years old. While making use of the 55-year-old framework, earthquake resistance reinforcement and other measures have been implemented to ensure earthquake resistance at the level of the current law. The original interior and exterior have been removed, and the skeleton state has been given a new finish. No matter where you look, it looks like a new building.
Reinforced concrete building regenerated by refining. (Photo courtesy of Naito Construction)
The rooftop is equipped with solar power generation equipment and a power storage system, and the first floor has a garage equipped with chargers for electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV). Not only the appearance, but also the performance and facilities as a building are on par with the latest buildings. Hiroshi Naito, President and CEO of Naito Construction (head office: Gifu City), who worked on this building, describes the property as a “refining architecture” as follows.
Mr. Hiroshi Naito, President of Naito Construction Co., Ltd.
“Refining is a regenerative architectural method advocated by architect Shigeru Aoki, which seeks to make bold design changes, change uses, and refurbish facilities while reusing structural frameworks. Unlike other buildings, it is possible to comply with current laws and regulations by strengthening earthquake resistance performance, etc., and an inspection certificate is issued just like a new building.At about 70% of the cost of rebuilding, the building is the same as a new building except for the structural framework. can be reborn into
Furthermore, when rebuilding a dilapidated building, the height is often restricted by regulations that did not exist at the time. The property this time was and still is four stories high, but if he wanted to demolish the old building and build a new one on the same site, he would have been allowed only up to two stories high. Refining construction also has the advantage of maintaining the volume of the building on site.
Naito Construction develops a power storage system
Why did you introduce it?
The building that was refined this time is a property owned by Naito Construction, where the company's Ogaki branch resides and has long been used as an employee dormitory. In the future, it will continue to be used as the Ogaki branch office and employee dormitory, and some floors will be operated as rental housing. This is the first time the company has introduced a power storage system.
"Refining is a method that is friendly to the global environment. In one customer's case, we were able to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 80% and construction waste emissions by more than 50% compared to conventional replacement work. Refining can be said to be an initiative that should be promoted from the perspective of ESG.In order to further enhance the value of being environmentally friendly, refining construction is actively introducing equipment that is useful for energy conservation and energy creation. I think it should.
In previous projects, there was no demand for a power storage system, but this time we introduced it as a model case, partly because it is our own property. I wanted to try it out on my property before recommending it to my clients. Through the operation here, it is our policy to accumulate knowledge and utilize it for proposals to customers.
Being able to store the electricity generated by solar power also has great significance as a BCP measure. It also functions as a regional disaster prevention base in the event of a disaster. We are a company that has survived and developed rooted in the local community for 75 years since its foundation. When refining this building, we wanted to make it as pleasing to the local community as possible.”
Disaster-resistant basic design and scalability
To be a local construction doctor
The power storage system introduced by the company is Huawei's LUNA2000 series power storage system. What was the reason for choosing this from among the many storage batteries?
Storage system LUNA2000 series. Here, two storage battery modules are combined into a package with an effective capacity of 10 kWh.
“When selecting a power storage system, we focused on packaging and scalability. In this building, the solar power on the roof is used to power some of the common areas (corridors, entrances, elevators) and our office (Ogaki branch). However, from the perspective of BCP measures, the problem was in the event of a storage battery failure, and we wanted to avoid a situation in which we would have to give up if it did.
Huawei's energy storage system is packaged with a combination of 5 kWh modular storage batteries. Even if one of the modules fails, the other modules will continue to work, so it won't fail completely. This was a big relief.
In addition, this module can be added later, so we decided that it would be easy to deal with cases such as increasing the number of residents or strengthening cooperation with EVs. At present, we have introduced a 10 kWh power storage system with two modules in a photovoltaic power generation facility with a capacity of about 10 kW. This high level of scalability is also what makes Huawei products stand out from other companies.”
The first floor of the building is lined with garages equipped with EV chargers. It is a facility that assumes cooperation with a solar power / storage system.
At the property, each solar panel is equipped with a Huawei optimizer to maximize power generation. Regarding this, Mr. Naito said, "We also installed an optimizer in order to efficiently generate power in the limited space on the roof. There are panels that cast shadows in the morning, but we wanted to see how much we could reduce that effect. I would like to verify it, and I expect synergistic effects with the power storage system.”
Naito Construction aims to be a “regional construction doctor”.
“Rather than demolishing and throwing away old buildings that have become negative assets, we want to turn them into positive assets through environmentally friendly refining. Just like people have a family doctor. , I want to be a local construction doctor who can diagnose old buildings and provide prescriptions to turn them into positives.
Solar power and energy storage systems add value to refining buildings. In addition to the ESG and BCP mentioned so far, it is becoming more and more indispensable, especially for self-consumption in these days where electricity prices continue to rise. From general households to buildings, construction, and warehouses, the needs are only increasing. We hope that Huawei will provide us with an even wider range of solutions and success stories that we can refer to, and that we can work together to contribute to the development of the local community.” (Mr. Naito)
