Research Center on Environment and Energy

It is highly significant for Keio University to disseminate wisdom that contributes to "security in the environment and energy fields." Many researchers specializing in the "environment and energy fields" are affiliated with Keio University, and our objective is to create a support base at Keio University to return research outcomes to society through interdisciplinary connections, thereby further vitalizing research and educational activities in this field at the university.

Environment, energy, fusion of humanities and sciences, secure society, Great East Japan Earthquake, natural energy, carbon dioxide emission reduction, energy conservation

■ Activities Continuing from Fiscal Year 2019: Background, Rationale, and Goals

This activity is timely for advancing the construction of a new energy-use society, which began with the liberalization of the electricity market in April 2016 and the gas market in April 2017. Additionally, with a focus on public funding such as the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S) "Measurement of the Effects of the Living Environment on the Brain, Circulatory, Respiratory, and Musculoskeletal Systems and Evaluation of Benefits for Disease and Long-Term Care Prevention" (FY2017–FY2021), we will conduct interdisciplinary joint research and development in the fields of energy engineering, environmental science, environmental engineering, architecture, socioeconomics, and medical sciences. This R&D aims to create housing, buildings, and local communities evaluated on the axes of environment, energy, and health. Furthermore, we will strengthen R&D initiatives leading to social implementation through designated donations from Osaka Gas and joint research with private companies such as Kansai Electric Power, Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Nice Corporation, the Japan Sustainable Building Consortium, Shimizu Corporation, Azbil Corporation, Kajima Corporation, Panasonic, Panasonic Homes, Konica Minolta, and LIXIL. We also plan to host the 9th International Conference on Energy and Environment of Residential Buildings (ICEERB 2020, including a public symposium) from November 23 to 25, 2020, at the Kyoseikan Collaboration Complex (Fujiwara Hiroshi Hall) on Hiyoshi Campus, to share the research outcomes of our center with both domestic and international audiences.

■ New Activity Goals and Content for Fiscal Year 2020, and Background for Implementation

As described above, our activity goal remains unchanged: to continue activities in the fields of energy engineering, environmental science, environmental engineering, architecture, socioeconomics, and medical sciences. By having members respect each other's fields and apply for new projects as multi-perspective initiatives through collaboration, we aim to demonstrate Keio University's leadership as a comprehensive university in the environment and energy fields and to contribute our findings back to society.

■ Implementation Details, Research Outcomes, and Degree of Achievement Relative to the Fiscal Year Business Plan

In fiscal year 2020, we continued to expand our activities into fields including environmental science and engineering, architecture, and economics. We conducted active research, supported by ongoing joint and commissioned research from the electricity, gas, and other industries, as well as continued public funding from the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S) "Measurement of the Effects of the Living Environment on the Brain, Circulatory, Respiratory, and Musculoskeletal Systems and Evaluation of Benefits for Disease and Long-Term Care Prevention" (FY2017–FY2021). Furthermore, including lectures by a Project Professor, we believe we have sufficiently achieved our initial goals in both research and education. However, due to the impact of COVID-19, we were forced to postpone some field surveys, such as brain MRIs, and events like the 9th International Conference on Energy and Environment of Residential Buildings (ICEERB 2020, including a public symposium) to the following fiscal year or later.

The main achievements related to the center in terms of published papers, conference presentations, and social contributions are as follows:

"Journal of Hypertension" (International medical journal on hypertension)

"Indoor Air" (International medical journal on indoor air)

"Urology" (International medical journal on urology)

"International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health"

"PLOS ONE" (International medical science journal)

"Journal of Epidemiology" (International journal of epidemiology)

7 papers in international medical journals such as "Solar Energy" (International journal of solar energy)

1 paper in "Research in Exercise Epidemiology" (Japanese medical journal on exercise epidemiology)

6 papers in the Journal of Environmental Engineering (Transactions of AIJ)

4 international conference presentations and 80 domestic conference presentations

20 events in locations including Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Sendai, Mie, Kochi, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, and Kumamoto

To maintain and develop the results of the demonstration research on total environment and energy management at Keio University conducted until fiscal year 2013, as well as research on the intellectual production environment of classrooms, we continued research on the sensor network for all classrooms in Building 12 on Yagami Campus. As an outcome of the center's activities, the "University CEMS Package," which originated from interdisciplinary collaborative research, aims to serve society as a pioneering model for the introduction of system design technology in the new environment and energy fields. Since fiscal year 2015, we recognize that we have been developing these technologies for dissemination to the general public. Furthermore, we were able to advance developments useful for building a secure society, such as methane hydrate as an energy resource, the relationship between the natural environment and society, disaster countermeasures for earthquakes, power supply control technology, air environment conservation technology, and renewable energy utilization technology. In fiscal year 2016, this led to the adoption of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Strategic Information and Communications R&D Promotion Programme (SCOPE) (International Standard Acquisition Type R&D) "Research and Development of an Information and Communication Platform for Smart Community Services" and the Cabinet Office's ImPACT Program "Realization of a Vibrant Life by Visualization and Control of Brain Information" R&D theme "Brain Information Cloud" (FY2016–FY2018). In fiscal year 2017, it led to the adoption of the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S) "Measurement of the Effects of the Living Environment on the Brain, Circulatory, Respiratory, and Musculoskeletal Systems and Evaluation of Benefits for Disease and Long-Term Care Prevention" (FY2017–FY2021). Our research activities to date have been shared with society through the publication of many international and domestic academic papers and lectures that cross the interdisciplinary fields of environment, energy, and medical sciences.