Environmental impact assessment for Marunouchi 1-chome Block 1 (Marunouchi OAZO) (Tentative name)

Applicable laws and regulations: Tokyo Metropolitan Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance
Target projects: High-rise buildings (these were no longer subject to the ordinance due to an amendment to the ordinance in July 2002)
Work completed: 2005

This project was carried out at the same time as the Meiji Yasuda Life Building, following on from the Marunouchi Building and Shoji Building assessments. For the first time, greenhouse gases were included as an environmental item in Tokyo's assessment of new high-rise buildings, marking a shift from assessments that had previously focused on the local environment to ones that also took the global environment into consideration.
This assessment predicted a reduction in CO2 emissions of approximately 9% (1,771 tons/year) for the group of planned buildings receiving heat from district heating and cooling systems compared to when they adopted individual heat source systems. Furthermore, a follow-up survey (an independent survey conducted as the system was no longer applicable due to a system revision in July 2002) confirmed that the amount of heat load emissions was lower than predicted.
Following reports from the IPPC and other sources, interest in global warming is currently growing rapidly, and it is extremely important to address this issue in assessments. In particular, since reducing CO2 emissions in the civilian sector has become a major issue in complying with the Kyoto Protocol, this assessment, which examined this issue in high-rise buildings, was significant as a pioneering effort.