JAPAN | Amazon’s newest fulfilment centre in Japan is designed not only to ensure customers receive their orders, but to operate more sustainably.
Using the Earth’s underground temperature to heat and cool the centre, it will leverage vertical solar panels to help power its operations with carbon-free energy.
Located in Nagoya, Japan, the fulfilment centre will use geothermal technology known as geo-exchange for heating and cooling. This means Amazon will harness underground temperatures to regulate the indoor climate of the building more efficiently than traditional systems.
It’s also the first Amazon building globally to feature vertical solar panels on its walls and will be the company’s largest on-site solar project outside the US.
In the summer, when temperatures rise, a geothermal heat pump will move water through 200 bores drilled more than 300 feet deep to absorb the Earth's naturally stable temperature. It will then restore the coolness to the building's first floor, maintaining comfortable indoor temperatures.
In the winter, the process is reversed, as the ground at this depth stays relatively warm. The circulating water absorbs heat and returns it to warm the building.
This natural heating and cooling system is not only smart but also efficient. Compared to regular air conditioning systems, it uses 30 percent less energy, which is more environmentally friendly.
In places like Japan, where available land is scarce, building new carbon-free energy sources is becoming increasingly challenging. This fulfilment centre not only has solar panels installed on the roof, but also in the parking lot and vertically on the building’s south-facing walls, the first Amazon building globally to incorporate vertical solar panels.
These panels can absorb extra sunlight early in the morning and late in the afternoon as the sun moves across the sky. They can also act as a giant heat shield for the building, helping to keep it cooler during hot summer days.
The solar panels have a combined capacity of 5.5 MW, making it one of the largest on-site solar power systems at a logistics facility in Japan, and the largest on-site solar project by capacity in Amazon’s portfolio outside the US.
The fulfilment centre will also be equipped with a 2.9 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery storage system, which will supply carbon-free energy to the building when the sun isn’t shining during the day or at night.
The geothermal heating and cooling system will operate under the fulfilment centre/ Due to its numerous sustainability features, it is expected to earn the “Zero Carbon Certification” from Living Future by the end of 2026.
