Project60:Commitments
to reduce power consumption by 40%
The Rakuten Group is launching various initiatives in aid of the Tohoku Pacific Offshore Earthquake, in its capacity as a corporation. As a consequence of the earthquake, a nuclear accident occurred at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, resulting in unstable power supply conditions. The Group considers this a pertinent issue that should be addressed in its position as a corporation, and has been cooperating with the relevant authorities on this since the earthquake first struck. Under “Project60” and its slogan to “Reduce individual power consumption this summer by 40%, compared to last year,” the Group is currently implementing measures aimed at achieving significant energy reduction.
A corporation’s greatest efforts taking place in the office
After the Great East Japan Earthquake, Rakuten achieved a significant reduction in energy use at Rakuten Tower and Rakuten Tower 2 (both located within Tokyo Electric Power Company [TEPCO] service areas), through measures such as telecommuting, the turning off of lights on office floors during the daytime, and restrictions on elevator and air conditioner usage.
Even after the return to normal operations, Rakuten has continued to limit power consumption as much as possible. Rakuten has reduced the use of lighting by 50% and put into place restrictions on the use of multi-function printers and air-conditioning. These activities have brought about changes to the working hours of employees, with many now reporting for work earlier. This has helped Rakuten reduce the use of lighting at the end of the day by 60%.
With the aim of realizing further energy reductions, Rakuten is carrying out studies on power consumption and implementing any measure that can be shown to possibly reduce such consumption by even the slightest. The commitments of the Rakuten Group for power conservation are being advanced by each and every individual employee. Project60 activities have now been expanded to every branch office in Japan and employees are being encouraged to conserve energy even further. As the Group continues to work towards its goals, it will begin gathering innovative every saving ideas from employees and implementing them as well.
- Reducing individual power consumption by 40% - measures for the summer
- The goal of Rakuten is to reduce monthly individual power consumption compared to last year by 40%. Thanks to the measures mentioned above, Rakuten succeeded in reducing consumption at all 15 offices in Japan, including Rakuten Tower and Rakuten Tower 2, by 28.8% in March, 42.6% in April, and 35.4% in May.
Rakuten cares about the health and welfare of its employees. For this reason, we recognize the importance of placing limits on the amount we restrict the use of air conditioning this summer. We will be thus trying out other supplementary measures, such as dimming computer displays to an extent that still allows employees to view their screens comfortably.
- SUPER COOLBIZ-Rakuten's Hawaiian Summer
- In an effort to keep employees cool and in good health, Rakuten has introduced a relaxed dress policy known as "Rakuten's Hawaiian Summer."
During Rakuten's Hawaiian Summer, employees area encouraged to come to work in even shorts and sandals, with appropriate levels of decorum. This has caused significant changes in the way men dress at Rakuten and among women, some are choosing to work in traditional Japanese yukata. Employees share sightings of stylish outfits via the internal SNS, with some having reported seeing even cool attire from different countries, such as Indian employees wearing Salwar Kameez.
- 50% reduction in lighting
- In addition to turning signboard lights and large information display monitors off in Rakuten Tower and Rakuten Tower 2, early on after the earthquake, office floor lights were turned off in the daytime as a general rule, with work carried out under natural light. Currently, lights are turned on when their use is deemed necessary. However, in order to keep power consumption to a minimum, fluorescent lighting has been dimmed on all floors to the extent that it does not interfere with work. The dimming of offices has not given rise to any particular difficulties, and work is proceeding as smoothly as before.
- Restricted use of multi-function printers
- The use of some multi-function printers on each floor has been restricted since the earthquake.
- Reduced operating hours at the staff cafeteria
- “Rakuten Cafeteria,” which was opened in consideration of employee health, has reduced its operating hours in a bid to conserve electricity. The previous opening hours of 8:15 AM to 8:30 PM have been revised to 8:15 AM to 6:00 PM; breakfast and dinner were suspended to be served.
- Minimizing the use of air-conditioning
- The use of air-conditioning on each floor has been kept to a minimum. The use of air-conditioning was significantly lower the week following the earthquake thanks to the many employees who cooperated with power saving initiatives by working from home.
Initiatives to Reduce Power Consumption at Data Centers
In an effort to further reduce power consumption, Rakuten has begun reviewing how to limit certain server operations at its data centers, which serve as the backbone of its Internet services infrastructure. Data center peak energy-consumption hours are after 10 pm, which does not overlap with the power consumption peak time stipulated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) (10 am to 9 pm). As a result, we have some flexibility in reducing the rate of our server operations during this peak time prescribed by METI. To this end, we are examining measures that will help further reduce our power consumption.
- Phased Power Saving Plan
- Our two data center operators, KVH Co., Ltd. and Fujitsu Ltd., have agreed to the Rakuten Group’s Project 60 initiative, which aims to reduce power consumption by 40%, and will take phased power conservation measures in advance of potential large scale power cutbacks this summer in areas serviced by Tokyo Electric Power Company and Tohoku Electric Power Company. Since April 2011, we have re-examined our server operations, which follows restrictions placed on lighting and air conditioning usage in our offices. In addition, efforts will be made to control the warm air released from servers in order to further reduce power consumption this summer.
- Further Improving Power Consumption Efficiency at Data Centers
-
In the final stage of this summer’s large scale power saving initiative, we will step up our efforts to control warm air released from our data servers. For example, blanking panels capable of preventing the backflow of warm air from behind servers have been installed on each rack housing a server. Vinyl curtains have also been installed to separate and control warm air emitted from server racks from the cool air in the walkway.
In addition to this enhanced control of air flow, we expect to reduce power consumption by 40% through efforts to limit our use of lighting and air conditioning, as well as optimize the air conditioning temperatures. In addition to the initiatives implemented by our two data center operators, we will also strive to employ energy saving measures for our servers, and continue to reduce the amount of power used by equipment.-
Vinyl curtains have been installed to help control room temperature by separating warm and cold air areas.
-
The transparent and white part attached to the back of the server rack is a blanking panel. This configuration helps to control the warm air emitted from servers.
-
