Basic Views
The Group recognizes our corporate social responsibility, and as part of it, we strive to address environmental issues. Throughout our business, we are working to reduce negative impacts on the environment by cutting greenhouse gas emissions, recycling resources, and reducing hazardous substances. This will, we believe, lead to shape a sustainable society.
■Climate Change
The Group recognizes addressing climate change and environmental issues is a key management issue. To tackle this issue, in 2021 we entered into a business alliance agreement with afterFIT Co., Ltd (at the time). This agreement allows us to make progress in introducing green electricity with virtually zero CO2 emissions that comes with “Renewable Energy Designated Non-Fossil Certificates” for the real estate we have already owned and for new real estate we are acquiring. For the Medium-Term Management Plan, we aim to introduce green power to all of our real estate (excluding those that we cannot switch over due to the tenants' matters or other reasons).
■Resource Circulation
Shaping a recycling-oriented society is also what the Group has been striving for. In our business, for example, we properly dispose of waste based on an outsourcing contract that defines an appropriate process of waste disposal for each property we own. We use carpets made of 100% recycled nylon yarn in some of our properties, and we also adopt e-contracts instead of paper contracts.
Not only do we engage in these initiatives in our business, but also we are working within the company. We strive to reduce paper towels, paper cups by using our own cups, and plastics by using label-free bottles.
■Hazardous Substances
We operate our business mainly through the value-up of existing properties. Therefore, we do consider it important not to circulate soil contamination, asbestos, and other contaminants. For this reason, when acquiring properties, we obtain engineering reports that assess the risk of soil contamination and in principle, we only acquire properties that have no negative impact on the environment or human health.
■Certification by External Assessment Body
On February 7, 2022, we obtained DBJ Green Building Certification (*1) for the 8th to 11th floors of “Harumi Triton Square Office Tower Z,” for which Loadstar Investments K.K., a subsidiary of our company, has received mandates for asset management.
In addition, on September 14, 2023, we obtained the S rank (the highest rank) of CASBEE evaluation and certification for real estate (*2) for "Prime Takanawa Gateway", a property for which Loadstar Investments K.K. received mandates for asset management.
We are selected for S&P/JPX Carbon Efficient Index (*3).
※1 DBJ Green Building Certification is a certification system that was established by Development Bank of Japan Inc. as an initiative to support real estate that is “environmentally and socially conscious" and businesses that own and operate such real estate. The sustainability of eligible properties is evaluated in accordance with five ESG-based perspectives: environmental performance of the buildings, responsiveness to crises, cooperation with stakeholders, consideration for diversity and living environments, and comfort for tenant users.
※2 CASBEE is a tool developed by the Japan Sustainable Building Consortium to evaluate various aspects of the environment of buildings from an objective perspective. Eligible buildings for this CASBEE evaluation and certification for real estate have been in operation for at least one year since construction completion and have been evaluated by the CASBEE-Real Estate. A third-party organization reviews if the evaluation is accurate and verifies that it is correct.
※3 S&P/JPX Carbon Efficient Index is a stock market index jointly developed by S&P Dow Jones Indexes, one of the world's largest independent index companies, and the Japan Exchange Group, focusing on E (environment) among ESG factors. The index overweight or underweight companies based on the level of disclosure of environmental information and carbon efficiency (carbon emissions per unit of sales).
■Sustainable Finance
We have several banks that have recognized the Group's achievement in sustainability, and we have raised sustainable loans from them.