Tourism Japan's first zero-emissions hotel inaugurated in Ehime

[thomas]

Itomachi Hotel 0 (Zero) in Saijo, Ehime Prefecture, was partly designed by the world-renowned architect Kengo Kuma and is Japan's first zero-emissions hotel.

Photo credit: Mainichi/Hiroyuki Ota​

The Itomachi Hotel 0 (Zero) is a net zero-carbon hotel that uses rooftop solar panels to generate its own energy. It is part of a renewable energy initiative to revitalize the region of Saijo, which is facing population decline. The hotel was founded by Advantec Co., a semiconductor and renewable energy company based in Tokyo. The company's representative director, Masahide Yamana, is a native of Saijo and wanted to contribute to his hometown's development. Renowned architect Kengo Kuma designed the hotel.

When a commercial facility housing a market and restaurants opened on the site in 2020, solar panels with 140 kilowatts of capacity were installed on the roof. The building can also serve as an emergency shelter able to provide enough food, water and backup power for 300 people over a three-day period. The newly added hotel's power generation capacity is on the 300-kilowatt level. The hotel is the first in Japan to receive the highest level of green accreditation as a zero-emissions building. [...] The facility is reportedly fielding a large number of requests for on-site tours from governmental and educational institutions, businesses, community organizations and others within Ehime Prefecture and elsewhere, offering one around every two weeks.

Kengo Kuma-designed building paves path as Japan's 1st zero-emissions hotel - The Mainichi

SAIJO, Ehime -- A recently opened facility designed by famed architect Kengo Kuma in this southwest Japan city is gaining wide interest both as the co

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