Initiatives that contribute to addressing social issues

Living Environment & Digital Media Equipment Group

Message from the Group President

Providing Products that are Helpful for Society and the Environment in Wide Areas and Reducing Environmental Impact during Production

photo: So Suzuki

So Suzuki
Executive Officer, Group President,
Living Environment & Digital Media Equipment

The Living Environment & Digital Media Equipment Group focuses on the air-conditioning and refrigeration systems business, one of the key growth sectors at Mitsubishi Electric. In addition to expanding operations, we are pressing forward with proposals of total solutions using IoT and AI technologies as well as products within and outside the Mitsubishi Electric Group to realize life solutions for everyone, from workers to people at home, to live by their own values by taking advantage of a wide range of synergies in technologies and business operations as a general electric-appliance manufacturer.

As we expand business, we believe it is important to provide products and services that contribute simultaneously to achieving sustainability, safety, security, and comfort as well as to resolving social issues. Part of this includes supplying a broad range of environment-friendly systems and services for the home, office, and industry. These include air conditioners that produce less CO2 during use and our energy-saving EcoCute product lineup. Additionally, Mitsubishi Electric proposes solutions that aim to achieve energy savings by building systems as a whole in support of programs such as ZEB, promoted by the Japanese government, in cooperation with the Building Systems Group.

Meanwhile, as activities to reduce CO2 from production, the Living Environment & Digital Media Equipment Group is proactively introducing energy-saving products at production sites; namely, high-efficiency air-conditioners, heat-pump hot-water supply systems and LED lighting. We are also promoting energy-saving activities by improving productivity linked to just-in-time improvement activities based on e-F@ctory concepts.

Major social issues for which risks and opportunities have been recognized and evaluated Priority SDG initiatives
  • Optimal use of energy
  • Introduction of clean energy
  • Development of safe, secure, comfortable and sustainable cities
  • Sustainable use and development of resources
  • Proper management of chemical substances
  • Addressing climate change
icon: Priority SDG initiatives

Initiatives that Contribute to Addressing Social Issues

Lossnay® for Commercial Use, High-performance Ventilation Equipment

photo: Lossnay® for Commercial Use

Lossnay® (the world’s first energy recovery ventilator to use heat-exchange technology), a system that eliminates air conditioner energy loss during ventilation, has a sales track record stretching back more than 50 years, and a wide lineup is offered for offices, tenant buildings, stores, schools, and various other buildings. Lossnay® creates a comfortable environment while ventilating in an energy-saving manner. Lossnay® also supports special environments with a moisture-proof model for pools, air-conditioned cultivation rooms, and refrigerators as well as a high-power deodorization cassette model for elderly care facilities and hospitals. In response to recent needs, it has been enhanced with a humidification function.

photo: image of ventilation with Lossnay

Achieving High Efficiency Operation and CO2 Emissions Reduction for Hot Water and Heating Systems by Switching from the Combustion Type to the Air to Water (ATW) Heat Pump Hot Water System Mainly in Europe, Which Has Strict Environmental Regulations

Demand for the ecodan series of air to water (ATW) heat pump hot water systems is rapidly increasing given the environmental regulations in place mainly in Europe, where hot water heating systems are generally used for heating. These systems conventionally employed a combustion system based primarily on a gas or oil boiler as the heat source equipment. By replacing such systems with ecodan, a heat pump hot water system which is a renewable energy solution, Mitsubishi Electric reduces CO2 emissions. We now lead the market with our lineup of products that are conscious of the global environment mainly in European countries.

  • photo: ATW（Air to Water: Heat Pump Hot Water System）

    ATW（Air to Water: Heat Pump Hot Water System）

  • illustration: ATW（Air to Water: Heat Pump Hot Water System）

MILIE LED Lighting – Realizing Reduced Power Consumption and Comfort

The MILIE LED lighting brand name was coined from the words "Mitsubishi", "lighting", and "ecology". It expresses our desire to make positive contributions to Earth and society through LED lighting. The lineup has been expanded to include products for a wide variety of applications according to purposes and facilities. These include My Series LED base lights mainly for offices, GT Series high-ceiling LED base lights for factories, warehouses, and gymnasiums, AK Series LED spotlights for retail stores, the MILCO.NET and MILCO.S lighting control systems, which simultaneously achieve improved comfort and reduced power consumption, misola blue sky lighting that expresses a clear and bright blue sky with a sufficient feeling of depth and natural streaming in of sunlight, and more.

photo: MILIE LED lighting

MILIE LED lighting

EcoCute Provides Excellent Energy Savings and Comfort

photo: EcoCute

EcoCute

The EcoCute heat-pump hot-water supply system that uses air heat to efficiently boil water has further improved its energy-saving performance with a "thermo jacket tank"*1 as the hot water storage unit tank to improve thermal insulation. Consideration is given to the environment as well by adopting the split style for the urethane foam to make recycling easy. In addition, operation linked to a photovoltaic power generation system*2 based on weather forecasts facilitates effective use of the surplus power generated during daytime.
Moreover, with "kirariyu-keep,"*3 a new function that suppresses the proliferation of germs in bathwater, and "attaka-link,"*4 a function for linking operation to dressing room/bathroom heating, EcoCute improves cleanliness and comfort while achieving energy-saving performance.

  1. *1 Models with a thermo jacket tank only.
  2. *2 Excludes Compact EcoCute and EcoCute Lite. Using EcoCute in conjunction with a photovoltaic power generation system requires the purchase of related devices and parts sold separately, installation by a special operator, Internet access, a dedicated app, and settings configuration by customers. Photovoltaic power generation systems by any manufacturer can be connected to EcoCute.
  3. *3 Models with kirariyu-keep only.
  4. *4 Excludes Compact EcoCute, EcoCute Lite, and hot water supply-only models. Attaka-link requires the purchase of related devices and parts sold separately, installation by a special operator, Internet access, a dedicated app, and settings configuration by customers.

Recycling of Home Electrical Appliances

We have developed technologies to automatically separate three types of plastics (i.e., PP, PS and ABS) used in home electrical products from a mixture of different materials originating from home appliances. We have also improved the identification of physical properties when separating plastic materials, and are pressing forward with an original recycling system in which plastics recovered from home electrical appliances are recycled and used to manufacture our home electrical products.