Japanese convenience store to save winter snow to use in summer for air conditioning, and to use sunlight for heat in winter

On November 1, Japanese convenience store chain Lawson opened a new store in Yurihonjo, a town 'with large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters.' A good spot to try out the 'rather unique features' RocketNews24 reported on this week:

In addition to solar panels, improved insulation, and LED light bulbs, this branch will also be testing out some new environmentally friendly features: Saving winter snow for summer air conditioning and using sunlight to heat the store!

The major point is that the company will be collecting and storing snow over the winter. The storage unit is nearly 100 cubic meters (about 3,531 cubic feet) in volume and apparently will be able to preserve the snow without using any electricity thanks to some miraculous insulation. [See image below.] In the summer, the snow will be used to air condition the store by running water through pipes routed through the container.

For those worried about staying warm this winter, Lawson has a rather novel way of keeping warm as well. Pipes are installed under the store floor, and water heated by the sun will be pumped through the pipes!

Both of these features are the first in the industry, giving Lawson some excellent ecological bragging rights.

If this experiment is successful, Lawson could extend it to other locations. Besides Japan, the company has shops in China, Indonesia, Thailand and in the U.S. – but only in one U.S. state – and that happens to be a state that never sees snow: Hawaii.

Maybe they can come up with an idea to harness the energy produced by all the surfers there.