"Comfortable Air" Hospitality at the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 Athletes' Village

The Athletes' Village for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games opened on July 13th. 18,000 beds will be provided for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and 8,000 beds for the Paralympic Games, providing a comfortable environment for athletes and staff who will be visiting Japan from all over the world. Especially in Tokyo, where extreme heat is expected, it is essential to control temperature and humidity. Panasonic's technology, which realizes "hospitality" in the form of comfortable air, played an active role in the athletes' village.

A comfortable and relaxing space in the Athletes' Village

"Athletes who come to the Athletes' Village will have a relaxing and comfortable space so that they can concentrate on their competitions and demonstrate their best performance." I hope that when the athletes return to their home countries, they will feel glad that they came to the Athletes Village.” Yoshinobu Kondo, Director of the Athletes' Village Development Section, Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee Athletes' Village Development Manager Yoshinobu Kondo It is divided into a "residential zone" where the athletes live, an "management zone" that aggregates the functions necessary for the operation of the athletes' village, and a "village plaza" where stores that support the athletes' lives are available. The residential zone includes 21 residential buildings with 14 to 18 floors above ground, a complex facility with a main dining hall, a fitness center, a recreation center, a general clinic, and a park.

ⒸTokyo 2020 / Shugo TAKEMI Athletes' village for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games

There are approximately 3,800 units (for 1 to 8 people) in the residential building, and each unit has a bedroom and a unit bath. There are also common rooms. The bedrooms are over 9㎡ for single rooms and over 12㎡ for twin rooms. Air conditioners are one of the most important facilities for athletes to relax in their rooms. “Since the event is held in the hot and humid midsummer of Japan, the heat is naturally a problem. In order for the guests to have a comfortable stay, it was essential to properly maintain the air conditioning,” says Kondo.

Part of the Athletes' Village "Residential Zone"

There are about 15,000 room air conditioners installed in the rooms of the athletes' village. In fact, all Panasonic's "nanoe X" equipped air conditioners are used. Models equipped with "nanoe X", which suppresses pollen and mold bacteria in the air and realizes indoor deodorization, are being introduced one after another at hotels that are particular about "clean air". "When I thought about what I could do as a form of Japanese 'hospitality' and how much I could do as a top sponsor, I thought that nanoe-equipped air conditioners were the only ones." Junichi Tsujimoto, who has led the Athletes' Village Project at Panasonic's Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Promotion Headquarters since 2014, asserts so.

Ⓒ Tokyo 2020 / Shugo TAKEMI Air conditioner outdoor unit is placed in the room

The importance of air emerged from the latent needs survey of athletes

Calgary has been a top sponsor for more than 30 years since the 1988 Olympics Panasonic has been supporting the athletes, but this will be the first time for them to systematically support the athletes' village. Initially, there was little information about the Olympic Village. First, start by gathering information about what kind of equipment is installed and what the issues are. In addition to interviewing local staff who were involved in the construction of the Olympic villages for London 2012 and Rio 2016, we interviewed more than a dozen Japanese athletes and staff members who have entered the villages since the Beijing 2008 Games. As a result, it was found that many athletes spend most of their time in their rooms other than training and eating in the athletes' village, and that the environment of their rooms is extremely important.

Junichi Tsujimoto, Athletes' Village Project Manager, Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Promotion Headquarters, Panasonic Corporation Of course, it is important, but I thought that we could support the athletes by using our "nanoe" technology for areas such as smell and air." (Mr. Tsujimoto)

"Nanoe", which Panasonic began researching in 1997, is a fine particle of ions wrapped in water. It contains plenty of OH radicals (highly reactive components) that extract hydrogen from bacteria and viruses in the air and suppress their actions.

After improvements, "nanoe X", which was born in 2016, has about 10 times more OH radicals than "nanoe". "Nanoe/Nanoe X" is characterized by longer life and more moisture than general air ions. In addition to bacteria and viruses, it also suppresses mold, suppresses pollen, deodorizes five major odors in life such as cigarettes, pets, and sweat, decomposes harmful substances contained in PM2.5, and allergens (mites, animals, fungi, etc.). It is said that it is effective in suppressing skin and hair. Even if you can't see it, "clean and clean air" leads to a sense of security.

"Nanoe X" possesses about 10 times more OH radicals than "nanoe". The effect is remarkable, and as an example, the suppression of the above major allergens has been newly proven * Source: https://panasonic.jp/nanoe/effect.html Based on this, if the sponsor company could supply a product that met the specifications required by the Organizing Committee, the sponsor's product would be used preferentially. The request and budget range of the Organizing Committee was a room air conditioner that can adjust the temperature and humidity, but Panasonic's passion is to "not only adjust the temperature and humidity, but also provide cleaner air" as the best hospitality for the athletes. , while satisfying the requirements and budget of the Organizing Committee, the delivery of "nanoe X" was realized.

In supplying about 15,000 units of air conditioners equipped with "nanoe X", we overcame it by establishing a company-wide cooperative system. In addition, due to the policy of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo Organizing Committee to promote the reuse of equipment in the athletes' village from the perspective of environmental consideration, two constructions, installation and removal after the Games, are required, and all of them are outsourced to the Group's engineering company. The fact that I was able to centrally manage it by receiving it was also a great strength. Furthermore, in cooperation with the company's service department, they were able to establish a system that can respond immediately to malfunctions even during the event, which overlaps with the busy season.

"This time, it was the business department that created an easy-to-understand English version of the instruction manual for the athletes. We asked them to put it in the application for the athletes prepared by the Organizing Committee, so that the athletes could use the air conditioner. All of the 15,000 machines will be test-run in the limited time just before the competition, and the cooperation of the whole group will enable us to prepare for the competition in perfect condition. I think it's a product of the system," says Tsujimoto, emphasizing the unity of the group.

"Great reaction, free loan of 550 "Ziaino""