Basic Technologies of ecostyleTM Products Technologies for Effortlessly Creating Comfortable and Eco-Friendly Lifestyles OKAZAKI Shizuo ecostyleTM Products Aiming at Global Warming Prevention and Comfortable Life YAMADA Tetsuro Toshiba introduced ecostyleTM as a new marketing concept covering our home appliances in October 2007. Based on this key concept, we have been providing customers with choices for new ecological lifestyles without lowering comfort levels and without the need for too much effort. We are continuing to make technical innovations for the development of ecostyleTM products with higher performance, in order to further contribute to the prevention of global warming. Energy Conservation Technology Applying Home Network System HIRAHARA Morio / SAWAI Hiroshi / KUWABARA Katsuyoshi/ TAKAHASHI Toshiaki Toshiba’s FEMINITYTM home information technology (IT) system is steadily becoming popularized due to the widespread diffusion of the Internet and cellular phones and the service applications of the system responding to diverse market demands. There has also been growing emphasis on energy conservation, including in consumer markets, since the Third Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change(COP3) in 1997. We have developed a new FEMINITYTM service, electric power monitoring, applying home network technology. This new service promotes energy saving at home by visualizing electricity consumption while controlling networked home appliances. Energy-Saving Technologies for Air Conditioners Offering Comfortable Living Environment SEKI Yusuke / ODASHIMA Madoka / HIRANO Koji Toshiba Carrier Corporation has been developing air conditioners that offer comfort and economy while contributing to preservation of the global environment by improving the annual performance factor (APF) of the cooling capacity for the 4.0 kW-class model, which has become a leading product for living rooms. The 4.0 kW cooling capacity model won the 2007 Energy Conservation Grand Prize, and has attained the highest energy-saving performance due to the development of a new compressor, inverter system, and high-performance air-purification unit with low air resistance. Energy-Saving Technologies for TW-4000VF Drum Type Washer-Dryer with Heat Pump NISHIWAKI Satoru / KONO Tetsuyuki Sales of washer-dryers in Japan are expected to reach about 1.3 million units in fiscal year 2008, accounting for about 30% of all washing machine sales, with those of drum type washer-dryers amounting to 0.8 million units. In response to the worldwide demand for the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, Toshiba Home Appliances Corporation has been developing products that reduce both water and power consumption by introducing a high-capacity drum type structure and a refrigeration cycle using a heat pump system. We have now released the TW-4000VF, a new drum type washer-dryer equipped with a heat pump system as well as a new compact compressor and new refrigeration cycle control system. As a result of these technologies, the TW-4000VF features high energy-saving performance and high washing and drying performance. GR-X56FT Energy-Saving “ Reach-In” Refrigerator MASHIMO Takuya / MISHIMA Koji / NOGUCHI Akihiro In home appliance products, especially in refrigerator it is not only required to reduce power consumption but also to reduce food wastage in accordance with the spirit of mottainai (the philosophy of utilizing things fully and avoiding waste). Toshiba Home Appliances Corporation has developed the GR-X56FT refrigerator to meet the above requirements. This model is equipped with a new style“ visible at a glance vegetable compartment” to improve the visibility and accessibility of its contents, in order to reduce food wastage. The GR-X56FT refrigerator has two other feature; (1) a high humidity of about 85%, achieved by adopting a dual twin-cooling system and ducting designed by computational fluid dynamics; (2) improvement of energy saving, achieved by reduction of insulating partitions separating the vegetable compartment and freezer, reduction of heaters, and higher cooling efficiency. These features promote good eating habits and reduce power consumption by 24 %. High-Efficiency White LED Lamps to Replace Incandescent Lamps TANAKA Toshiya / OSAWA Shigeru Eco-friendly self-ballasted fluorescent lamps and light-emitting diode( LED) lamps are being developed with the aim of reducing carbon dioxide(CO2) emissions. In particular, white LED lamps are expected to be the next-generation light source. The efficiency of white LED lamps is now approaching that of fluorescent lamps, and there is worldwide demand for high-efficiency white LED lamps with E-type screw bases to replace existing incandescent lamps. Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corporation( TLT) has developed white LED lamps with E-type screw bases that can replace general-purpose incandescent lamps. After 20,000 hours of operation, these white LED lamps show a significant reduction in electricity cost and CO2 emissions in comparison with incandescent lamps. Energy-Saving High-Efficiency LED Luminaires for Residential Lighting Applications Utilizing E-CORETM Technologies HAYASHI Junya / SHINOZAKI Akihito High-efficiency light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are expected to be the next-generation light source for residential lighting applications, which are expanding to various areas including downlights. The efficiency of LEDs has been improving year by year, and they are becoming popular not only as local lighting sources but also for general lighting. Especially for outdoor lighting applications, there are expectations for the development of products offering a long life and power-saving operation, which are features of LEDs. Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corporation has developed outdoor LED modules and outdoor lighting fixtures for residential lighting applications utilizing the technologies of the already released E-CORETM LED downlights. Long-Life Mercury-Free HID Lamp for Automotive Headlamps DEGUCHI Makoto / OKI Masahiro / NOGUCHI Hidehiko In recent years, high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps have come into widespread use for automotive headlamps due to their superior luminous flux compared with halogen lamps. Conventional HID lamps contained mercury, an environmentally harmful substance, and their replacement with mercury-free HID lamps began in 2004. However, there was a problem that the lifetime of the mercury-free HID lamps was shorter than that of conventional HID lamps. To overcome this problem, Harison Toshiba Lighting Corporation has developed a long-life mercury-free HID lamp with characteristics comparable to those of the previous mercury-free HID lamps, and started to produce it in commercial quantities in March 2008. |