Fujisawa, Japan – The Fujisawa SST Council, a consortium led by Panasonic Corporation spearheading the development of the Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town (Fujisawa SST) held a grand opening ceremony for the Fujisawa SST on 27 November 2014.
Located on the outskirts of Tokyo, Fujisawa SST is based on the concept of a smart community lifestyle, taking into account such aspects as energy, security, mobility and healthcare. The town features homes with solar panels, batteries for storing energy, LED lighting, mobility-sharing services and a community centre with a cafe and kitchen facility to hold workshops and events. The idea is to create a centralised meeting place for the town’s residents and guests.
Covering an area of over 19 hectares, the town will boast 1,000 households comprising of 600 semi-detached houses and 400 apartments. It will also have various facilities designed to promote interaction among the residents and guests visiting the town. The total cost of the project is approximately 60 billion yen.
The construction of the Fujisawa SST will be carried out in two phases. Phase 1 has already produced 120 semi-detached houses. An additional 100 semi-detached houses will be built under Phase 2, which will be completed in March 2015. In total, 600 semi-detached houses are expected to be completed and sold by 2018. All the facilities in the town will also completed in 2018. As for the 400 apartments, they are still in the design and planning stage, said the company. Fujisawa SST is designed by leading Japanese architecture firm Nihon Sekkei.
Fujisawa SST, which opened partially in spring 2014, is being nurtured to grow in full-scale into an eco and smart town that puts a high priority on the residents' lifestyles. For example, every detached house in Fujisawa SST will be installed with a solar power generation system and storage batteries. Devices for managing power consumption by home appliances will be integrated into a complete SMARTHEMS™ (Home Energy Management System). This will give the resident optimal control of household energy consumption while utilising electricity generated from Fujisawa’s sunlight.
Fujisawa SST will also have various facilities in the Fujisawa SST SQUARE designed to promote interaction among the residents and guests visiting the town. The SQUARE Center has a cafe and kitchen corner where people can relax or host environmental education and other events, as well as a presentation corner that introduces main appeals of the town. The SQUARE Lab is a food and craft studio offering interactive workshops for the residents. The SQUARE Mobility provides environmentally-friendly means of transportation. In mid December, a cultural complex called the Shonan T-SITE will open on the south side of the Fujisawa SST SQUARE. The aim is to make the combined site a place that will foster enriched lifestyles by maximising its value to the people who gather there, including not only the town residents but also people living in the vicinity and visiting from elsewhere.
To turn the concept into a real town, Fujisawa SST has set a number of numerical targets to set the direction for creating the town. It aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 70 percent and achieve renewable energy usage of over 30 percent for the entire town. Fujisawa SST was selected as a leading project with excellent potential in CO2 reduction by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. It was adopted as a ‘Model Project for Promoting CO2 Reduction in Housing and Building’ in September 2013.
