INSIGHTS

2022.04.25

R&D DISCUSSION Vol. 38

Japan's Strategy for Achieving Carbon Neutrality by 2050 [Part 2]

Takuzo Saito Director of the Evaluation and Assessment Department, Housing and Construction Center, Better Living Foundation

R&D DISCUSSION TOP

Q: Can you give us some examples of initiatives overseas toward achieving carbon neutrality?

A: There is not much difference between Japan and other countries in terms of energy-saving technology. Therefore, in order to achieve carbon neutrality, I think we will have to take the same approach as other advanced countries.
The UK, which has set out a specific strategy, is a good reference, so I would like to introduce it here. The main scenario in the building sector is the improvement of energy efficiency and the introduction of low-carbon heating and heat supply, with the aim of promoting the introduction of energy-efficient homes with EPCs (Energy Performance Certificates, energy-saving certification that classifies the energy efficiency of buildings into levels A to G) and promoting district heating. As a more advanced goal, the latest technologies will be deployed in heat pumps, hydrogen district heating, and smart heat storage, and from 2025 onwards, it will be prohibited to connect newly built homes to the gas grid. This will have a huge impact, and similar measures may be taken in Japan in the future. Many apartment buildings in Japan have floor heating using gas as a heat source, but in fact it is more efficient to use heat pump technology such as electricity. Considering the possibility that restrictions on the installation and use of gas heating will become a reality in Japan as well, I would like you to pay attention to the trends in the UK.

Energy-saving performance labeling systems such as Japan's Building-Housing Energy-efficiency Labeling System (BELS) are already being implemented at the forefront overseas. The United States has a system called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), which is a comprehensive environmental performance certification system that covers not only energy saving but also how to utilize green technologies, while the ENERGY STAR system has been in place since 1992 as a system that focuses solely on energy saving [Slide 1].
Japan also has CASBEE, a comprehensive environmental performance assessment, but BELS, which focuses only on energy-saving performance, was launched in 2014 as an assessment index for non-residential buildings, and in 2016 all buildings, including residential buildings, were included in the assessment. Looking at non-residential buildings overall, the number of buildings that have acquired the certification has been steadily increasing, and the proportion of buildings that have achieved ZEB has also been steadily increasing. We aim to increase this number even further in the future. Regarding BELS, it is highly likely that energy-saving performance labeling will become mandatory in the future [Slide 2].

[Slide 1] Energy efficiency labeling systems in each country
[Slide 2] Status of the BELS system

Q: If we were to follow in the footsteps of other countries that have already taken energy conservation measures, what impact do you think this will have on practical matters in the future?

First, policy pressure from the national government and other sources is likely to emerge. For example, many local governments in the United States are required to conduct annual benchmarking and reporting using the aforementioned ENERGY STAR. In addition, in the UK, not only is energy-saving performance labeling mandatory, but it has also been illegal to rent buildings with ratings below a certain level since 2018. In Japan, when it becomes difficult to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050, it is possible that buildings that do not meet the same standards will be prohibited from being rented. Since the global trend is to actively utilize performance labeling, Japan will probably follow suit [Slide 3].

The pressure from investment institutions on lending is one of the main reasons why the number of BELS certifications has been increasing in Japan recently. European public pension funds have introduced the idea of ESG investment, which incorporates environmental, social, and governance indicators into asset management in accordance with the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) advocated by the United Nations. Institutions that manage huge amounts of money are moving significantly in the direction of not investing in companies and businesses with low ratings for energy conservation measures. In response to this, Japanese banks and other institutions have also changed their trend to not lend to coal-fired power plants, which have high CO2 emissions. The number of real estate agents who are trying to introduce evaluation indicators such as BELS is also rapidly increasing. If these pressures become even more severe in the future, I think there will be a significant increase in renovation projects aimed at improving the energy conservation performance of existing buildings [Slide 4].

Design practice will also be affected to some extent. Based on the current energy conservation calculation method, the majority of energy consumption in an office building is accounted for by lighting and air conditioning equipment, so how to improve the energy conservation performance of these two is a major point. On the other hand, the Building Standards Act requires that even simple mini-kitchen equipment in office buildings and other buildings must have a ventilation volume of 200 m3 per hour regardless of the area. Although the energy consumption of the ventilation equipment itself is low, such excessive ventilation increases the energy load of the air conditioning. It is also necessary to revise the standards law to take into account the "balance" of this area, but in any case, I think that in the future, it will be necessary to consider lighting, air conditioning, and ventilation as a single unit in order to efficiently improve energy conservation performance [Slide 5].

I also think that the method of calculating CO2 reduction targets, that is, the energy consumption intensity, will be reviewed in the future. When calculating using the current intensity that is commonly used for all of transportation, industry, and construction, recent technological innovations have resulted in some cases in which internal combustion vehicles have better thermal efficiency figures than EVs, so I expect that intensity will be reexamined to further reduce CO2 emissions. However, if this influences the construction sector to move in the direction of "shifting all to electricity to reduce CO2 emissions," then we will need to think carefully about whether this is really a desirable thing.
The gas industry is also exploring ways to make gas itself closer to carbon-free by 2050, and personally, I think that since both electricity and gas have their advantages, the best solution is to take advantage of the good parts of each to promote energy conservation. For example, with the current calculation method for energy-saving performance, you can easily meet the ZEH standard by installing an eco-cute, but in households that use a lot of hot water, the eco-cute alone cannot cover the needs, and there are cases where the person who takes a bath last does not have enough hot water. I think the right answer is to use the good parts of electricity and gas separately. We will have to wait and see how things go in the future to see whether such things will be reflected in the calculation, or whether the priority will be given to achieving carbon neutrality in 2050. I would like you to gather a wide range of information.

[Slide 3] Increasing policy pressure around the world for environmental performance of buildings
[Slide 4] Mitsubishi Jisho Design "Realizing a Carbon-Neutral Society through Renovation" Brochure
[Slide 5] Proportion of primary energy consumption in offices

[Photos and slides: provided by Yasushi Takeuchi]

Back to Part 1

PROFILE

Head of the Evaluation and Assessment Department at the Housing and Construction Center, Better Living Foundation

Takuzo Saito

Takuzo Saito

Graduated from the Department of Architecture, School of Science and Engineering, Waseda University in 1991. Currently, he serves as the head of the Housing and Architecture Center Rating and Evaluation Department at the Better Living Foundation, and also serves as the chair of the Energy Conservation Suitability Committee and Energy Conservation Evaluation Committee at the Housing Performance Evaluation and Labeling Association, a member of the ZEB Roadmap Follow-up Committee, a member of the ZEH Roadmap Follow-up Committee, a member of the Review Committee for the Revision of the Long-Term Quality Housing Certification Standards, and a member of the Committee for Reviewing the Display of Energy Conservation Performance of Homes for Light and Light Bills.

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