OM SOLAR - The Egg of the Earth

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	The Egg of the Earth

The Egg of the Earth Project

Map The OM Solar Association's new headquarters are located on a 8.2-acre (33,000m²) plot of reclaimed land on the shores of Lake Hamana, on the central Pacific coast of Japan's main island of Honshu.

Formerly an eel farm, this reclaimed land is planted with saplings and cuttings from old wood, which will require 10 to 20 years to reach their full growth. The goal is to restore the ecosystem of this part of the lakeshore.

The OM Solar Association's new head office is housed in low, wooden structures partially supported by reinforced concrete. The lumber used in their construction was obtained locally from inland forests. The OM Solar Association was involved in every step of the lumber procurement process from culling to treatment to actual use, and also ensured that replanting was carried out wherever deforestation had taken place for the purpose of this project.

The entire "The Egg of the Earth" project has been conceived as a hands-on experimental project in environmentally sustainable technologies for homebuilding and land use, with innovative, earth-friendly technologies "incubating" and interacting together in a shared local ecosystem. On this site and in the buildings housing the Association's headquarters, new developments in the ongoing evolution of the OM Solar system will be introduced, new materials used, and alternative-energy (including solar-battery and fuel-cell) technologies applied.

Website(Japanese) :http://omsolar.jp/tamago/

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The OM Solar "The Egg of the Earth" project will be implemented
in three phases over a period of ten years.

The first phase, completed in May, 2004, involved the construction of six buildings housing the OM Solar Association's new headquarters, research operations, conference center, and cafeteria, with external corridors linking the buildings together. Shown here is a drawing of what the completed facilities will look like.

Design / Construction: OM Institute, Inc.
Mechanical: Cooling and Heating Applied Science Laboratory
Landscaping: Plantago

The "Acorn" Project

This project's objective is to restore the ecosystem on land reclaimed from Lake Hamana, where the OM Solar Association's new operational and research center are located. The project will be carried out in separate increments by OM Solar Association staff members themselves, whose activities will include those described and illustrated above.

	Timber supply for construction of the facilities: Century-old Japanese cedars from nearby inland forests are providing the lumber needed for the construction of the OM Solar Association's new facilities. The Association will also ensure that the culling of trees will be followed up by appropriate reforestation.
	Lumber drying: By constantly checking temperatures, weight, and water content ratios of the lumber being used in this project, the OM Solar Association has, at the same time, been continuously researching improved methods for drying lumber, complementing ongoing operations at its lumber-drying facility.
	Acorn collection: Growing saplings from acorns collected near the project site.
	Marsh grass collection: Extracting local marsh grass for transplantation in order to revitalize the site's shorefront.
	Transplants from cuttings: Nurturing cuttings from lakeside old wood for on-site transference into moisture-retaining soil.
	Seed trays: Growing more than 100 kinds of shrubs and other plants in seed trays.
	Transplants from seed trays: Introducing those shrubs and plants to the project site for greater biodiversity.

Examples of Plants Cultivated
at the "The Egg of the Earth" Site

Quercus serrata

Castanopsis cuspidata

Cinnamomum camphora

Salix gilgiana

Typha latifolia

Illustrations/ Kuniko Moto

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