Japanese

	The Kepco Building that lights up with the movement of the wind also lets the wind blow through. The windows in ultra-high-rise buildings cannot usually be opened, which stops outside air from being brought directly into offices. At the Kepco Building however, engineers have created a natural ventilation system, to allow air in without opening or closing windows. By utilizing nature while doing things such as measuring the temperature inside and outside of offices, Kepco will reduce the amount of energy required to run office air conditioning by around 24% annually. This natural ventilation system is only one of several features that make the Kepco Building environmentally friendly. A structure of external beams, which we call the eco-frame, also creates a passage for air from outside. A distinctive feature of the building exterior, these beams around the perimeter of the structure also function as eaves over the windows, blocking sunlight in midsummer, and between the hours of 10:00 and 14:00 when electricity demand is at its peak. In addition, solar power generating facilities have been installed on the eco-frame and rooftop on the south side of the building, supplying around 100kW of natural energy. This provides most of the power required to run the liv-lit system. The Kepco Building also incorporates numerous other facilities and ingenious ideas that make it a model environmentally friendly building, including local heating and cooling (heat pump, etc.), a thermal storage system, gray water use, dimmer controls for office lighting when staff are absent, and use of ecologically sound materials.		These underside of the Kepco Building's external beams act as eaves projecting 1.8m from the windows to block sunlight in midsummer, as well creating a passage to allow air in from outside. A sensor at the point of entry maintains air pressure and automatically controls the flow of natural ventilation.

	Director, Nikken Sekkei, Equipment Design Office At Nikken Sekkei, Horikawa is involved not only in equipment design but also thermal environment and energy design. For the Kepco Building design, he concentrated on designing an environmentally friendly building adapted to the climatic conditions of Nakanoshima in Osaka.		The exterior of the Kepco Building has an uneven surface due to its beams, in contrast to the glass-covered "international style" predominant in high-rise building design at present. These exterior beams however act as eaves to keep out sunlight, wind and rain, at the same time reducing wind underneath, and directing natural breezes indoors. In Germany there are already a number of ultra-high-rise buildings able to be ventilated naturally. However, these employ a system designed for cold climates, and as such are not suitable for Osaka, with its harsh sunlight and exposure to passing typhoons. The Kepco Building is therefore an environmentally friendly building designed specifically for this location. In the field of thermal environment engineering there is a concept known as "adaptability". Surveys show that the inhabitants of buildings in which the windows can be opened are satisfied even with a room temperature 2-3 degrees Celsius on the high side. This leads to energy savings, and at the same time, shows that people working in a building will find it more pleasant and satisfying when they can feel the fluctuating natural breezes outside. Slowly it is becoming possible for people to exist alongside nature even in the artificial environment of an office building.