On 20 October 2017, Sekisui House Inc., a major Japanese housing construction firm, joined the RE100 initiative. RE100 is a global initiative of leading companies that declare that renewable energy will be the source of power for the projects they build. Their goal is to eventually have all their projects powered 100% by renewable energy. Sekisui House is the second Japanese company after Ricoh to join RE100. This will surely enhance the corporate evaluation of the firm and will partly contribute to Japan reaching its Paris Agreement pledge, or NDC.

Sekisui House is also contributing in other ways to help Japan meet its Paris Agreement pledge. As part of the effort to achieve Japan’s NDC, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and industry (METI) and Ministry of Environment (MoE), are together trying to implement policies to promote the Zero Energy House (ZEH), the house with zero or even negative net energy consumption. Sekisui House is a leading candidate to develop ZEHs.

The GHG emissions of the housing sector in Japan account for about 15% of Japan’s total emissions. This sector has great potential for contributing more to Japan’s overall effort to reduce emissions compared to other sectors such as industry or transportation. Therefore, these efforts toward renewable energy and ZEH will have a great impact on advancing Japan’s effort to meet its NDC.

As Sekisui House Inc. is one of the largest housing suppliers in Japan, its participation in RE 100 should lead to a reduction of greenhouse gas emission in the housing sector. This move could trigger the participation of other Japanese companies in RE100 and support the transition of the sector to renewable energy.

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Ask more Japanese companies, particularly housing makers, to follow Sekisui House.

Contact:
Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies (ISEP)
Senior Researcher
Mr. Noriaki Yamashita
Email: yamashita_noriaki@isep.or.jp