Eidai Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Suminoe-ku, Osaka City; President Masahito Oomichi) and Mitsubishi Plastics Infratec Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President Masato Sasaki) have jointly developed a next-generation heat-storing flooring system. The system combines wood flooring endowed with a heat-storing capability that is the first of its kind in Japan and heat-radiating panels with the highest output in the industry. It circulates warm water heated by solar and waste heat through heat-radiating panels and uses phase-change material (PCM) to efficiently incorporate thermal energy into home interiors. Through these and other features, it enables the construction of new heating and cooling systems for housing using renewable energy.
　

　Recent years have seen a rise in the levels of airtightness and thermal insulation in housing as a result of steps in the aspects of housing structure, construction methods, and materials. In the process, there are growing needs for performance of heating and cooling with less energy and extensive use of solar heat and other types of renewable energy. Under these circumstances, Eidai, a leading manufacturer of wood flooring, and Mitsubishi Plastics Infratec, a leading manufacturer of underfloor heating systems, joined hands to develop the new system, which applies the building material design and processing technologies of the two companies. The system rests on the combination of PCM*1 in the form of gel sheet with a thickness of about 5 millimeters sealed within strips of wood flooring with a thickness of 12 millimeters, which are in widespread use for floors in ordinary homes, and special-purpose heat-radiating panels.

　PCM acts to discharge or absorb heat when changing from a solid into a liquid at a temperature set at 28 degrees (centigrade)*2. In winter, the system circulates water heated to temperatures in the range of 40 - 60 degrees by sources such as solar or waste heat within crosslinked polyethylene tubes inside special heat-radiating panels. The heat of this water is absorbed by the PCM, which then releases it gradually to keep the room at a comfortable temperature for a long duration. In summer, the system may be expected have the effect of reducing interior temperatures as the PCM naturally absorbs the heat inside the rooms during the daytime. It should be added that the system does not entail any modification of wood flooring design or installation method. Similarly, because the flooring has a built-in heat-storing capability, there is no need for space to install a heat-storage tank, and there is also little of the energy loss normally accompanying movement.

　Needs for energy conservation and reduction of consumption of utility energy to zero in housing and office or commercial buildings are anticipated to intensify from now on. The two companies aspire to the creation of total heating and cooling systems that fuse equipment applying solar, waste, and even geothermal heat and other renewable energy with this new system. To this end, they plan to publicize this system widely among manufacturers of solar heat collectors and various other equipment and devices as well as housing manufacturers. At the same time, they are going to partner with university research institutes and other organizations in efforts to check and evaluate energy-saving effects, with a view to launching sales of this system in the spring of 2014.

 

*1 PCM discharges or absorbs thermal energy accompanying the phase change from a liquid to a solid or from a solid to a liquid, as when water freezes and changes into ice.

*2 The phase-change temperature of PCM may be set in the range of -10 ~ 80 degrees (centigrade). A temperature of 28 degrees, which is a proper one for living space, is recommended as the standard.

 Eidai Co., Ltd.
Head office: 2-10-60 Hirabayashi-Minami, Suminoe Ward, Osaka City, Japan
Representative: Masahito Oomichi
Capital: 3,285.3 million yen
Line of business: manufacture and sale of housing materials and wooden boards
・Mitsubishi Plastics Infratec Co., Ltd．
Head office: 1-2-2 Nihonbashihongokucho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Masato Sasaki, President
Capital: 400 million yen (Mitsubishi Plastics 100%)
Line of business: Manufacturing and sales of synthetic resin products (house building plastics pipe, building materials and
equipment, house and building materials, construction materials, waterproofing/strengthening/functional materials, and plastic
plates)

 No. 1 Product Section, Construction Materials Business Department, Eidai Co., Ltd.
TEL:＋81-3-6684-3005
 Public Relations and Investor Relations office, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation.
* The contact unit at Mitsubishi Plastics Infratec
TEL: +81-3-6748-7140 

 

The product is designed to offer domestic customers in principle: there will be a need for various procedures for confirmation in the case of export