Global Corporate Information

Boilers at the Tatsuno Plant, a manufacturing facility for digital cameras, LCD inspection equipment, industrial videoscopes and other products, have been converted to operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG) instead of fuel oil. At the Ina Plant, which produces microscopes, fuel oil has been replaced with electricity as the energy source for air conditioning systems. These fuel conversions have reduced CO₂ emissions by around 2,000 metric tons annually.

Aizu Olympus Co., Ltd., which manufactures endoscope bodies, installed solar panels for power generation and heat collection on the roof of its new factory building, which was completed in March 2009. The resulting reduction in CO₂ emissions is estimated at around 120 metric tons per year.

Green electric power is used to meet 100% of electricity requirements in the factory of the Irish Branch of Olympus Life Science Research Europa GmbH. In addition, wood chips are used to fuel the heating system. This use of renewable energy resources has reduced net CO₂ emissions to almost zero and there are also plans to increase the use of renewable energy still further by installing wind power generation facilities, with approval for construction received in September 2008. These initiatives are dramatically reducing both energy costs and CO₂ emissions.

The Research and Development Center at Hachioji, Tokyo conducts research relating to medical, health, imaging, information and industrial systems as well as developing new products and production technologies. The new building of Ishikawa at the Research and Development Center, completed in late February 2009, features an environment-friendly design based on the concepts of "light," "water" and "green." "Light" symbolizes the use of renewable energy, "water" the efforts made to conserve water resources, and "green" the beautiful natural setting of the facility. Compared with existing facilities, the new building utilises 28% less energy per square meter through facilities including the use of natural light in the atrium, double-glazing for heat insulation, cooled air from underground common conduits ("cool tubes") to reduce air conditioning energy requirements and a green roof.

This total commitment to the environment also guided the design of the new factory of Olympus Winter & Ibe GmbH (OWI) in the Czech Republic, an emerging industrialized nation. Completed in April 2009, the new facility will be used as a repair base for medical endoscopes. It has a number of environment-friendly features, including thermally insulated windows and exterior walls, advanced lighting systems, heat pumps and heat recovery compressors.

Olympus Imaging has switched from air freight to marine freight for much of its international shipment of products, resulting in lower CO₂ emissions. The weight of items included in product packaging has also been reduced by supplying product manuals in CD-ROM form and using built-in plugs instead of separate power cords. There have also been changes to the bulk packaging used to hold multiple products. These modal shifts and product/packaging modifications have reduced transportation-related CO₂ emissions by about 12,000 metric tons.