Eco Construction

— Latest update: April 2023 —

Japanese houses are mostly new and largely designed to last for roughly 30 years. Traditionally, the land is seen as more important than the house on it. This burdens the environment through high-energy consumption due to poor insulation as well as large amounts of wasted - often ecologically concerning - building materials.　House market is estimated to be responsible for 30% of all CO2 emissions in Japan, and almost half of this share is related to the consumption of electricity, often unnecessarily or improperly used.

Energy consumption differs greatly from that in Europe, and how to reduce emissions starting from house buying patterns, especially for pre-constructed buildings, is a matter of discussion. In 2001, a committee under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism founded Japan-specific building-rating system to evaluate the environmental performance of buildings named CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency). In some regions of the country, CASBEE scheme’s criteria were also used to establish future subsidies.

Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE)
National Institute for Environmental Studies of Japan, National GHG Inventory Report of Japan – 2022, 2022 (Japanese website)

Table of Contents

• Overview
  • Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Sustainable Building Policy
  • Solar Panels
  • Ecocement
  • Smart Housing Initiatives
• Certifications
  • CASBEE
  • LCCM housing certification
  • BELS
• Expert Reports & Webinars
• Further Reading
• Relevant Organisations and Trade Fairs