Japan to showcase eco-friendly house on G-8 summit occasion

TOKYO, June 18 Kyodo - The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Tuesday it will showcase an eco-friendly house almost free from greenhouse gas emissions on the occasion of a Group of Eight summit in Hokkaido in July.

Japan's advanced energy conservation and environmental technologies will be demonstrated to reporters coming from various countries to cover the G-8 summit where environmental conservation will be one of the key topics, METI said.

Some 50 Japanese companies including Sekisui House Ltd. and Matsushita Electric
Industrial Co. will participate in building the eco-friendly house and a
footbath in a 280-square-meter site within an international media center to
open in Rusutsu for the G-8 summit.

On the roof of the house will be a 14.5-kilowatt photovoltaic power generation
system. Vacuum thermal insulators will be used to help prevent inside
temperatures from changing.

Energy-efficient organic light-emitting diodes will be used for lighting. The
footbath will use waste heat from fuel cells.

In the living room, Honda Motor Co.'s ASIMO humanoid robot walking on two feet
will serve tea.==Kyodo