INSIGHTS

2022.04.25

R&D DISCUSSION Vol. 37

Japan's strategy for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 [Part 1]

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

R&D DISCUSSION TOP

Q: It's still fresh in our memory that the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) was held in Glasgow, UK in October 2021. What efforts are being made in Japan to achieve carbon neutrality?

A: In October 2020, then Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga mentioned the realization of a green society in his policy speech, declaring that Japan aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050, in other words, to achieve a carbon-neutral, decarbonized society by 2050. Japan's energy conservation standards are based on the Act on Rational Use of Energy (Energy Conservation Act), which was enacted in 1979, in the wake of the oil crisis, and were enacted to promote comprehensive energy conservation by considering construction, transportation, industry, etc. as a whole. At the time, the aim was to "use as little petroleum as possible and reduce energy consumption," but now the purpose has changed to "reducing energy consumption as one method to achieve carbon neutrality."

Considering current CO2 emissions, achieving carbon neutrality in 2050 will require fairly radical measures. Steady progress while solving each problem one by one will not be enough in time, so targets are being set using a "backcasting" method, which involves working backwards from a set goal to determine how to respond in the remaining time. As far as I know, this approach of solving problems as they arise along the way is something that has not been used much in energy conservation policies, but the government has decided to proceed with policies with this kind of goal setting toward 2050.

First of all, for the fiscal year 2030, targets have been set for promoting energy conservation in various fields such as industry, households, and transportation. In the building sector, specific CO2 reduction targets have been set for four items: improving the energy conservation performance of new buildings, energy conservation (renovation) of buildings, improving the energy conservation performance of new homes, and improving insulation of existing homes [Slide 1]. Different numerical targets have been set for the non-residential (commercial sector) and residential (domestic sector), but since the numbers are calculated backwards from the goal, I think that the numbers will probably be reviewed in the future while adjusting the balance. Currently, the proportion of "improving the energy conservation performance of new buildings" is already larger than that of "energy conservation renovation of existing buildings," but since it is quite difficult to add insulation to existing buildings, I think that the realistic goal will be to promote more energy conservation on the new construction side. In addition, since it is easier to start improving the energy conservation performance of non-residential buildings, it is expected that the proportion of "improving the energy conservation performance of new non-residential buildings" will increase further.

[Slide 1] Setting energy reduction targets using the backcasting method

Q: Do you have any specific plans to achieve your goals in the field of architecture?

A study group established in cooperation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of the Environment has created a "Roadmap for the Form and Progress of Energy-Saving Measures in Homes and Buildings Toward a Carbon-Free Society," which presents how to proceed with energy-saving measures for residential and non-residential buildings in three stages for new construction (bottom-up, level-up, top-up) and four existing items [Slides 2 and 3].

First, regarding housing, currently the requirements for compliance with energy conservation standards differ depending on the size of the house. For example, small houses are required to explain, while medium and large houses are required to notify, but the goal is to make compliance with energy conservation standards mandatory regardless of size by 2025, and the bottom-up measures are to set up support measures and preferential tax systems over the next three years, and to make it as mandatory as possible.
Measures to raise the level include raising the guidance standard to the ZEH (Net Zero Energy House) level and allowing the display of grades above the ZEH level in housing performance indication (scheduled for revision in April 2022). The aim of this is to utilize the indication system to smoothly advance the aforementioned preferential tax system, etc.
As a top-up measure, subsidy and support systems are being expanded as a mechanism to evaluate ZEH+ (homes with higher energy-saving performance than ZEH and a self-consumption rate of renewable energy) and LCCM (Life Cycle Carbon Minus / homes with a negative CO2 balance from construction to operation and disposal). For existing homes, there is a "promotion of energy-saving renovations," but I think that at the moment it is probably difficult to make progress. For example, detached houses have low airtightness to begin with, so even if you renovate the insulation of part of the house to improve its performance, the insulation performance will not improve. We need to think realistically, using the backcasting method, about how to improve the energy-saving performance of existing homes.

As with residential buildings, compliance with energy conservation standards will be mandatory for non-residential buildings as well, regardless of size, as a bottom-up measure, by 2025. However, in the case of small-scale buildings, the equipment subject to calculations is often installed as part of C-construction in accordance with the tenant's wishes, and it is necessary to solve the problem of not being able to calculate compliance with standards at the design stage. We propose creating specification standards for non-residential buildings for small-scale buildings, so that when retrofitting equipment, it is possible to guide the installation of equipment that meets the standards.
As a measure to improve the level, it is being considered to raise the guidance standard to stricter than that for residential buildings (energy saving performance index BEI = 0.6 or 0.7), and depending on the application, it is necessary to be careful as the compliance standard may be quite strict. As a top-up measure, it is said that support for the realization of ZEB (Net Zero Energy Building) will be further enhanced and energy saving renovation of existing buildings will be promoted. In the case of non-residential buildings, energy saving performance can be improved by introducing new equipment with good performance, but there are issues with the calculation method. Under the Energy Conservation Act, all equipment in a building is to be calculated, but since actual equipment renovation is often carried out in stages, such as "only lighting this time, air conditioning next time," there is also discussion that it would be better to be able to evaluate ZEB for each equipment, such as "ZEB air conditioning." In addition to homes and buildings, as a measure to promote the introduction of renewable energy, efforts are being made to establish the PPA (power purchase agreement) model, the so-called roof rental business model, to promote the installation of solar power generation, and the TR (top runner) system is strengthened to improve the performance of equipment and building materials.

The biggest problem is that if we make it mandatory too quickly, there will be an overwhelming shortage of engineers. At present, we often hear that application agents who are contracted to calculate energy-saving performance are overwhelmed. In order to establish a system that can perform the calculations properly, we must not only secure the necessary human resources, but also consider developing a method that allows for easier calculations.

[Slide 2] Outline of the New Plan for Global Warming Countermeasures (Cabinet decision on October 22, 2021)
[Slide 3] Building response to achieving energy targets

[Slides: Courtesy of Better Living]

Continued in Part 2

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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Update : 2018.09.21

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