Mitsubishi Electric Splits Up for New Building Systems Management Company
Mitsubishi Electric has recently announced that after the company split in October 2021, a new subsidiary is being built. With all of the futuristic things Mitsubishi Electric is working on, attempting to make technology that can be installed in entire buildings and city infrastructure, the company needs to split up when the other half still works in lighting, appliances, and HVAC systems. The new subsidiary being opened in April 2022 is being called the Mitsubishi Electric Building Solutions Corporation with a focus on building systems management. Hmm, sounds a little like a by-product of the SUSTIE building Mitsubishi Electric built that reduced energy use to -15-percent. To understand, let’s take a look at the history of the SUSTIE building and what may have led to Mitsubishi Electric dedicated a whole business to it.
Neutral Energy
First came the neutral-energy project. In tandem with ENGIE, a utilities company where its headquarters (HQ) is a Building Energy Management System (BEMS) outfitted with solar panels to collect energy and store it in the building’s energy grid. Mitsubishi supplied the project with one unit of the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV – a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) SUV – and Hitachi Europe Ltd. joined the project with its vehicle-to-everything V2X charger. How did it work?
Throughout the project, ENGIE would continue business as usual. Solar panels would collect and store energy, and then instead of simply burning up excess energy, that excess was transferred to the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Having a large enough battery for electric-only travel, this turned the Outlander PHEV into a portable energy storage unit as well as an extra unit for backup energy. Perfect for those dark days during the winter.
Cutting Costs and the Dendo Drive House
With some testing, Mitsubishi Electric found that it could reduce the energy costs of a typical office building by 5-percent. That’s about $7000/year in savings that can go back into the company or *cough*employee salaries*cough*. These findings, although they may seem small, led to the development of the SUSTIE building, but first came the Dendo Drive House, a real test.
Sure, an office building has certain uses for electricity, mostly desktop computers and other office machines, HVAC systems, and lighting. How could the neutral-energy project stand up to the many uses a small family may have all day? Same concept, smaller building. The Dendo Drive House was a home equipped with solar panels that collected and converted solar energy into electricity stored in a large home battery. This home battery could power the entire house and a number of appliances, all without tapping into the city power grid? If collecting more energy than needed, consumers just need a plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle (EV) in the garage, and we have a personal mobile energy storage unit.
SUSTIE
Then came the SUSTIE building. Constructed in October 2021 – what a surprise – this net zero-energy building (ZEB) test facility was basically a medium-sized office building with more than 6,000m2 of floor space. ZEB operating technology by Mitsubishi Electric was utilized over a one-year period to simulate the everyday use of building equipment. This included operating and managing air conditioning and lighting based on energy consumption and comfort levels, as well as other devices that may be using energy. By the end of the year-long test, Mitsubishi Electric found that the SUSTIE Zeb not only reduced the cost of energy but it reduced its energy use by 115-percent. Essentially, this building generated its own energy. Talk about energy costs, that’s -15-percent. If only the building could also return the money saved.
Crazy stuff, but Mitsubishi Electric is working on clean energy, and the SUSTIE building is the first step. You can learn more when you follow along with us on University Mitsubishi social media.