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Experimental "Smart Town" To Be Built In Japan

Posted by samzenpus on from the a-bicycle-on-every-corner dept.

StormDriver writes "Basically, Fujisawa SST is envisioned as a bottom-up approach to energy efficiency — a green village built from scratch with modern green technologies rather than less-efficient older tech. Panasonic wants to use it as a template for other larger communities in Japan and elsewhere. If all goes as planned, Fujisawa SST will start receiving residents in March of 2014 and finish filling up its houses by 2018."

13 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Picture not so smart... by flimflammer · · Score: 2

    Not having jobs in town is only an issue if there's no public transit in or out, and if it is ridiculously far from the rest of civilization. There are many places around the world like this (though not "green") that function well.

  2. Some thoughts by foniksonik · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How about local water treatment of waste water. Recycle it through a small hydro plant and then water the lawns.

    How about organic waste being used to feed a methane generator.

    How about a local grid that can recharge electric vehicles with excess power.

    There are a great number of small efficiencies that can be created at the community/neighborhood level which are not feasible either for individual homes or for full cities.

    --
    A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
    1. Re:Some thoughts by Mindcontrolled · · Score: 2, Insightful

      All great ideas, but from the sparse information in the article, I see the main problem in that this project is just a continuation of the suburbia paradigm. And that paradigm is wrong in any conceivable way. It's industrialized feedlot farming of middle class workers. Where are the shops in walkable distance? Where are the schools, the community centers, the local neighborhood pubs and restaurants? Where are the workplaces close to home? All I see are homes, homes, homes. As long as it depends on heavy commuting for every single activity out of your house, it is not remotely green, not even with public transport. Worse, it is a sleeping ghetto for the middle class. And that is wrong on so many social aspects.

      --
      Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
    2. Re:Some thoughts by hey! · · Score: 2

      The problem with many neat sounding water recycling schemes is that they ignore a basic fact exploited by all large scale water works: water flows downhill. Furthermore, we build large centralized water treatment facilities because of economy of scale. If economy of scale didn't come into play, you'd make every individual dwelling treat its wastewater rather than letting it discharge contaminated water into a common sewer. That leaves these wonderful schemes stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place. The cost of hundreds of small treatment plants is bound to be greater than one giant plant. Keep in mind that when Boston built such a giant plant a couple decades ago, it cost just shy of four billion dollars.

      It's not issues of physical feasibility that prevent many cool sounding public works projects from happening; it's economic feasibility. I don't mean in a "gee our water bill went up by $20 a month" way, I mean in a "gee we're spending 20% of our income on water" way. Closed loop is ultimately the way to go, and the water flows downhill thing means that it ought to be done on smaller scales like a city block or housing development. But we won't see such things happen until cities have grown to the point where they simply can't find any more water and people *do* spend almost as much on water as housing.

      Well before the point where we start doing fancy things to combine and un-combine crap with drinking water, it'd make a lot more sense just to convert to composting toilets. These are nothing like an outhouse or porta-johnnie. My wife's architect uncle (who was a hippie before the word was invented) had one in his house, and it was *less* smelly than an ordinary toilet. You throw in pee, poop, table scraps and the occasional handful of sawdust (for body) in one end, and it emerges from the other end a few months later as rich, beautiful, not-at-all-disgusting compost. You can buy small capacity models (serving 1-2 adults) for as little as $2000 these days. It's not by any means an insane investment, but only if you care about externalities. The seven thousand gallons per year such a toilet saves cost the average American less than $15. That's why you're most likely to find a composting toilet in national parks where providing an disposing of several gallons of water per day per visitor is impractical.

      In any case, I don't think sewage is as big a source of methane as you think it is. I've read about some sewage treatment plants that are partially powered by methane, which is a good thing, but compared to the energy use of all the people contributing to that methane, it's not a significant energy savings. More important is to capture the nitrogen in the wastewater as fertilizer, as some wastewater agencies do.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  3. Re:Picture not so smart... by MrEricSir · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I walk to work, takes 10 minutes. And I do 50%+ of my shopping on the way home.

    Public transit is wonderful, don't get me wrong. But it's no substitute for mixed zone, high-density neighborhoods.

    --
    There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
  4. Experimental "Smart Town" to be built... by VortexCortex · · Score: 2

    Experimental "Smart Town" to be built, as opposed to all the "Dumb Towns"?

    I know this seems like a crazy far-out there idea, man... but -- hey, let's try to, you know, build a "Smart Town" this time -- it'll be an experiment. Like, what if we make the buildings out of geniuses? I know, right!? Dude, why didn't anyone think of this before?!

    Seriously -- When did "smart" become synonymous with "green"? I thought a "smart" home was one where every light fixture, appliance, or wall socket was connected to an always-on energy consuming whole home computer system that can record everything you do and has voice activated commands for common tasks like, dimming the lights, or wiping your ass and flushing for you -- "Computer, Shit Happened."

    I guess that "smart" home solution finally found the problem it was searching for after all by jumping on the green bandwagon. However, I'd be pissed off if my new green "smart" home was just as dumb as my current one (read: manual everything -- doesn't even have powered locks, windows or steering).

    1. Re:Experimental "Smart Town" to be built... by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Seriously -- When did "smart" become synonymous with "green"?

      Why wouldn't it? They are doing a "smart home" experiment here in the Netherlands, with homeowners, appliance manufacturers, energy companies, and the municipality. In this case smart does mean green. For example: instead of just switching on the washing machine, you tell it: "I want this clean by 5". The washing machine tells the home automation system: "I'll need about 2kW for 45 minutes, some time before 5". The home will then negotiate with the grid and tell the washing machine when it can start. It's a bit too early to be sure, but apparently considerable savings can be made this way, especially when the grid has a substantial solar/wind component. It's not about using less energy, but about using the cleanest/cheapest energy when it's available.

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      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    2. Re:Experimental "Smart Town" to be built... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Don't worry, you get both.

      I write software for buildings and environmental control is fairly standard now. When it gets too hot instead of turning on expensive AC you just automatically open some vents and allow cool air to circulate. We also do solar panels that are built into blinds that automatically close when the sun is low in the sky.

      Lighting that only comes on when someone is in the room, doors that lock automatically after a few minutes (like modern cars do), even baths that you can control from your mobile phone so they are filled and ready when you get home... In Japan you have been able to get those things for a while as stand alone devices for a while but linking them all up is the key.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  5. Japan is Bizzaro World by Reed+Solomon · · Score: 2

    Is this the opposite of this "Stupid Town" built in America?

  6. Deja Vu all over again by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Every time I read about one of these planned cities, I'm reminded of Walt Disney's original concept for the Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow EPCOT - not the theme park it became after he died. The original idea was damn visionary - take a look at the Wikipedia article, or here. The idea was a community where people lived and worked - I don't know what the word is - synergistically? Certainly a decent first crack at a practical corporate utopia. It makes me really angry that it became a 'ride' instead.

  7. Re:Great by Gadget_Guy · · Score: 2

    There have been many projects over the years that aim to create a sustainable city. I know when China announced its eco-city, it was just as much a showcase for technology that could be exported to other countries as it was an experiment in making towns better for the environment. This is going to be big business in the future once the politicians and those with a vested interest in fossil fuel stop fighting the change.

  8. Re:Picture not so smart... by macshit · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yup... and as a result it will probably be less energy efficient than existing Japanese towns.

    In reality this looks more like a way to sell Panasonic "green" products...

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    We live, as we dream -- alone....
  9. Re:Picture not so smart... by Kamiza+Ikioi · · Score: 2

    Yeah, but unfortunately Walmart probably set ecology back 100 years by decimating the small, walking distance corner markets. Lower prices, higher emissions.

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    I8-D