Earthport: Tokyo Gas Kohoku New Town building. An office building with life-cycle energy saving features

Earthport, Tokyo Gas Kohoku New Town Building, is an office building which is in harmony with the environment, the entire building being based on a "life-cycle energy-saving" concept, including the use of natural energy such as sunlight and natural air flow. This "life-cycle energy-saving" is not simply a matter of cutting energy consumption. It includes the idea of reducing the load on the global environment over the life of the building, from the time of its construction until it is scrapped. The building is situated within Kohoku New Town in Yokohama and it has been in full operation for about two and a half years since it was completed in March 1996. Records on 1997 fiscal year show that as a result of a 39% reduction of primary energy consumption, it might be expected to reduce by about 30% in life-cycle CO/sub 2/ emission.