Efforts of the Energy Conservation Center, Japan – History and Future of ECCJ’s Activities

Efforts of the Energy Conservation Center, Japan – History and Future of ECCJ’s Activities

Efforts of the Energy Conservation Center, Japan

History and Future of ECCJ’s Activities

Yoshihiko Takamura, Professor Emeritus, Tokyo Denki University

 

1. Background of the ECCJ

The Energy Conservation Center, Japan (ECCJ), was established prior to the enactment of the Energy Conservation Act (officially, Act on the Rational Use of Energy) in 1979. The ECCJ is intended to promote publicity activities for the industrial community and general public and as a core body to promote energy conservation in the private sector. At the time of presenting a bill for the Energy Conservation Act, one item of a collateral resolution stated that “in order to promote energy conservation measures smoothly and efficiently, a closer communication and coordination structure should be enhanced among the relevant government agencies, and the ECCJ, should be enhanced and utilized as a core body to promote these measures.”

Japan has a long history of energy management. To realize the then social goals such as the development of industry, resumption of normal life, and revival of a society in postwar disorder, it was necessary to work earnestly on the development of utilization methods and enhancement of users’ awareness regarding coal, or some other energy source to support the goals. Heat management regulations were enacted in response to this need, and the enforcement of a national examination for heat managers was decreed. In November 1947, the Kinki Heat Management Association was established as a private body to ensure proper enforcement of these regulations.

Taking this as an opportunity, the Kanto Shinetsu, Shikoku, Tohoku, Kyushu, Tokai Hokuriku, Chugoku, and Hokkaido heat management associations were established in succession over the following year, 1948. Furthermore, the Central Heat Management Council was inaugurated as their communication body in 1948, completing an organization for the promotion of nationwide heat management. Along with the inauguration of the Central Heat Management Council, its journal Heat Management was first published. Its name was subsequently changed to Heat Management and Pollution, which was eventually succeeded by the ECCJ’s current journal Energy Conservation. At the time, major projects included cooperating with the national administration by holding various study groups and seminars, recommending the Award for Excellent Energy Conservation Factory, and energetically promoting the fostering of heat managers. In October 1951, the Heat Management Act was enforced. Establishment of a legal foundation for the promotion of heat management triggered corporate heat management campaigns, bringing about significant improvements in the intensity of energy consumption and rationalizing business management.

After that, inexpensive and ready-to-use oil became easily available as an energy source, lowering heat management awareness. However, because 80% of the primary energy in Japan depends on imports from overseas, with almost 100% of its oil being imported, it also became necessary to revive energy conservation awareness from the viewpoint of energy security. In consideration of such concerns and taking the 20th anniversary of enforcement of the Heat Management Act in 1971 as an opportunity, the government started to review heat management administration and the associated regional cooperative bodies, or heat management associations. During the course of the review, integration of the Central Heat Management Council and regional heat management associations was proposed, establishing the Heat Energy Technical Association on April 1, 1972, with the Kanto Shinetsu Heat Management Association as its base. Taking this as an opportunity, a nationwide organization capable of effectively carrying out projects commissioned by the government was completed, rolling out a wide range of projects such as an energy conservation audit, holding energy conservation best practices presentations and energy conservation exhibition, and publishing an “energy conservation pocketbook.”

The first oil crisis occurred in October 1973, not long after inauguration of the Japan Heat Energy Technical Association. With the importance of energy management newly recognized, the energy conservation policy was renewed to establish a new policy implementation body. Against such a backdrop, the Japan Heat Energy Technical Association was disbanded in 1978 to inaugurate the ECCJ on October 16, 1978, as an overall body to carry out the elaborate provision of information on energy conservation and guidance and investigative research in the industrial sector.

 

2. The ECCJ’s Activities

The ECCJ inherited all of the projects of the Japan Heat Energy Technical Association, but the newly enacted Energy Conservation Act covered not only factories but also buildings and machinery/equipment, expanding the scope of the ECCJ’s activities far beyond that of the Japan Heat Energy Technical Association. In addition to technical guidance and capacity building, centering on the industrial sector until then, activities to enhance energy conservation awareness also became important, including the consumer and transportation sectors. In addition, along with the revision of the Energy Conservation Act in response to changes in the energy situation and social environment, the ECCJ will establish new projects and improve existing ones in order to properly carry out the measures after revision.

The following sections describe the projects inherited from the Japan Heat Energy Technical Association.

 

2.1 From the Presentation of Energy Conservation Best Practices to Energy Conservation Grand Prize

The first National Contest of Energy Conservation Best Practices was held in November 1975 by the Japan Heat Energy Technical Association, the predecessor of the ECCJ. The following year, entries from all over Japan were examined at conventions for presentation in each district, and selected best practices would be presented at the National Contest of Energy Conservation Best Practices in February, an “energy conservation month.” Upon its establishment, the ECCJ inherited the system as it was, and the approaches at different corporations and successful cases of energy efficiency improvement were presented. This was a good opportunity for presenters to receive feedback on their presentations and the results accomplished by corporations. It also seemed very effective for the presentation participants to use this opportunity as reference to solve on-site problems. The total number of entry cases increased to exceed 200 between 1980 and 1985. However, the total number of presentation cases in a year remained constant at around 150 in subsequent years, possibly because of lower energy prices and the completion of almost all basic measures.

Categorizing the presentation cases by industry type, the entries from the steel industry accounted for 30% in the early years, followed mostly by energy-intensive industries such as petroleum products, cement, electric power, and chemicals. In the following years, there was an increase in the number of entry cases from the transportation machinery and equipment industry and from the electrical machinery and equipment industry. Then, in 1999, the Energy Conservation Act was revised to include workplaces such as buildings as designated energy management factories, gradually increasing the number of entries from national and public universities, retailers, building management companies, the lodging industry, etc. Through selection by the Central Review Committee, over 30 of the entry cases were granted best practice awards, such as the METI Minister’s Prize, the METI/ARNE Director General’s Prize, and various METI regional bureau director general’s prizes.

The Presentation of Best Practices of Energy Conservation continued until 2008 but was forced to change its mode of operation in 2009, making it difficult to hold on a national scale. Accordingly, the “2009 Convention for Presentation of Energy Conservation Cases in the Kanto Region” was held in joint sponsorship with the Kanto Bureau of Economy, Trade, and Industry, presenting 27 cases. In 2011, it was decided to unify the name to the Energy Conservation Grand Prize, a system to recognize the consumer products and systems with the highest energy efficiency and examine the energy conservation practices at conventional factories and workplaces through the Award for Best Practices of Energy Conservation in Factories and Buildings. In the first year, the total number of entries for the two awards of the Energy Conservation Grand Prize was 113: twenty-two cases were awarded in the Award for Best Practices of Energy Conservation in Factories and Buildings and 20 cases in the Award for Excellent Energy Conservation Equipment and Business Model, which included the METI Minister’s Prize, the METI/ARNE Director General’s Prize, the ECCJ Chairman’s Prize, and the Examination Committee Special Prize. For the judging method, preliminary judging was conducted by applicant screening, followed by judging at the conventions for presentation to be held in eastern, central, and western Japan.

2.2 Energy Conservation Audit

In 1975, the energy conservation audit project was also launched by the Japan Heat Energy Technical Association, the predecessor of the ECCJ. The project was taken over by the ECCJ and has continued until now. At the time of establishment of the ECCJ, the targets of the audit were limited to small– and medium–sized manufacturers. From 1996, however, in order to intensify energy conservation measures in the commercial sector, where energy consumption had been increasing remarkably, an energy conservation audit for office buildings was started. The cumulative number of audit cases now exceeds 20,000. The average energy conservation rate by audit is 6% to 7%, producing a significant result overall. Because small– and medium-sized businesses and office buildings are short of human resources with professional knowledge of energy management, external experts visit to provide guidance in line with their technical knowledge and experience in the implementation of energy conservation measures. As a result of the audit, the groundwork was laid to continually carry out not only the instructed measures but also some that are more advanced.

In the early days of the ECCJ, the energy conservation audit was conducted by a rationalized energy use adviser for small– and medium-sized business operators. After 2000, however, a rationalized energy use auditor system was set up to delegate the task to external experts with rich experience in energy management. Audit results are processed statistically to allow their use not only by the audited business establishments but also at various presentation meetings for the promotion of energy conservation; more general matters were addressed in a guidebook.

 

2.3 Capacity Building

To properly carry out energy management at factories and workplaces, it is necessary to secure engineers with professional knowledge of energy use methods. For this reason, the Heat Management Act classified factories with heat consumptions higher than a certain level as designated heat management factories and obligated them to have a certain number of qualified heat managers. Following enactment of the Energy Conservation Act, similar regulations were inherited: the Heat Management Act covered fuels and the heat generated by them as heat sources, whereas the Energy Conservation Act covers electricity as well. As a result, designated energy management factories were categorized as “designated heat management factories” and “designated electricity management factories.” Similarly, qualified energy managers were also categorized as qualified heat and electricity managers. Accordingly, the government conducted an examination to allow heat or electricity managers to obtain qualified energy manager’s licenses. In 1984, however, clerical work for the qualification system was delegated to a private body, and the ECCJ was designated as the body in charge of the examination. From the early days of its establishment, the ECCJ had been in charge of conducting this examination in order to foster qualified energy managers in cooperation with the government. Taking this designation as an opportunity, the examination department was launched strictly to conduct the clerical work related to the examination for the qualified energy manager’s license, contributing to promotion of energy conservation in factories and buildings.

Because the revision of the Energy Conservation Act in 1998 expansively applied the past framework for the designated energy management factories, centering on the industrial sector, to all business categories, it came to include office buildings, department stores, hotels, schools, hospitals, etc. Through the specified requirements for designated energy management factories, annual energy consumption was halved in both heat and electricity compared with historical values, allowing many factories in the industrial sector to be newly appointed as designated energy management factories. In order to distinguish between the conventional designated energy management factories and the new additions, those with annual energy consumptions exceeding the conventional value were called “Type 1” and those exceeding half of the conventional value were called “Type 2.”

The newly added Type 2 designated energy management factories also required a manager to centrally promote energy management to business establishments. However, it was unreasonable to require a qualified energy manager, so it was decided to refer to those who completed government-provided energy management training as Type 2 energy managers. Because one training course was not enough to attain sufficient knowledge, it was made obligatory to take additional training every 3 yr. For this reason, to distinguish between them, the first training is called primary training, and the training at 3-yr intervals is called follow-up training. Designated as a Type 2 energy manager training agency in 1999, the ECCJ has been effectively conducting primary and follow-up training for Type 2 energy managers ever since.

 

3 Future Activities

In order to be a core body for the promotion of energy conservation in the private sector, as stated in the prospectus, it will be important to provide proper guidance and public relations to business establishments and to propose necessary future measures to the government while determining the working status of energy management at those establishments. Because the ECCJ has been running a project to survey the energy usage status and equipment installation status at the factories, it understands the degree to which the national measures have been carried out and what the problems are in the cases of insufficient progress. The ECCJ can also inquire directly to the business establishments about their energy conservation aspirations. It is necessary to fully analyze such precious survey results and divide them into those that are immediately workable and those that can be used some years in the future, in order to consider effective measures.

Based on the results, the most serious concern is believed to be a future shortage of human resources in charge of energy management. The number of energy management personnel has been decreasing greatly, and those familiar with energy at site are becoming depleted. Also, equipment has become increasingly automated, significantly reducing workers’ involvement at site. Such a situation cannot be properly addressed by the conventional energy management method, and those in charge are often pressed by other duties, while feeling the need for energy management.

The basis of energy management is to minimize the losses in each phase of generation, transportation, and use of energy and to recover energy emissions after the losses are minimized. Basic elements for energy management include optimization of the combustion air ratio, prevention of radiation, and periodic maintenance of equipment. Although such basic ideas remain unchanged, the specific working methods change with the times. Energy management requires us to positively introduce related peripheral technologies, namely, materials, processing, measurement and control, and information communication, to continue the improvement of energy use efficiency at all times. Under circumstances in which the peripheral technologies advance remarkably, it is very difficult for energy personnel to collect information, and the ECCJ believes that its role is to provide energy management methods that proactively utilize these technologies.

 

Yoshihiko Takamura
Mr. Yoshihiko Takamura the Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Waseda University. He held positions such as chairman of the Working Group on Classification Standards for Plants and Other Facilities of Energy Efficiency, chairman of the Conservation Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy, and chairman of the Japan Boiler Association. He was awarded the METI Minister’s Prize for Excellent Energy Conservation Manager and the Prime Minister’s Prize for Safety Contributor. Currently, he is the exclusive chairman of the E Committee for the Energy Conservation Grand Prize (ECCJ), chairman of the planning committee for this journal, etc.

 

 

ECCJ’s 40-Yr History

 

 

Source: Monthly Magazine “Energy Conservation”