External Certifications
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GRESB Real Estate Assessment
Launched in 2009 by a group of major European pension funds, "GRESB Real Estate Assessment" serves as a benchmark to assess environmental, social and governance considerations, as well as the performance of real estate companies and funds.
Among the ESG assessments or ratings of issuers provided by various agencies, GRESB is the only one to focus on the real estate sector, and is regarded as a global de-facto standard in the sector. With active commitment from investors in developing and operating GRESB, the benchmark covers a wide range of material issues from the viewpoint of investors and is utilized for due diligence and monitoring of real estate investments by global institutional investors.
GOR won "Green Star" designation in the GRESB Real Estate Assessment as it was highly evaluated in the aspect of "Management & Policy" which assesses sustainability policies and organizational structure, and "Implementation & Management" which evaluates data collection of energy and other performance indicators and engagement initiatives with employees and tenants, etc.
Furthermore, GOR received "3 Stars" in "GRESB Rating" which was introduced as a relative evaluation of overall GRESB Score.
CASBEE for Real Estate
CASBEE for Real Estate (formerly: CASBEE for Market Promotion) was developed with an aim of allowing the utilization of the results of CASBEE environmental assessments of buildings in the appraisal of real estate, and thus assessment standards were established for items closely related to real estate appraisal so that those engaged in real estate development and transactions could utilize CASBEE.
Assessment items are strictly selected to enhance replaceability with those for BREEAM, LEED, etc. In addition, although the assessments are made based on a point-addition system, the results are indicated in a four-level ranking system of “S,” “A,” “B+” and “B” as well as the number of stars based on the score.
DBJ Green Building Certification
DBJ Green Building Certification is a certification system established by Development Bank of Japan Inc. (“DBJ”) in April 2011, designed to connect real estate operators and financial institutions/investors by evaluating properties with high environmental and social awareness (“Green Buildings”).
It supports the ESG initiatives of existing buildings by comprehensively evaluating environmental performance of the buildings in addition to their consideration for social needs of various stakeholders, among other factors.
The certifications are given in five evaluation rankings of “★★★★★,” “★★★★,” “★★★,” “★★” and “★.”
★★★★★
Properties with the best class environmental & social awareness
★★★★
Properties with exceptionally high environmental & social awareness
★★★
Properties with excellent environmental & social awareness
BELS (Building-Housing Energy-Efficiency Labeling System)
BELS is provided under a public guideline, which evaluates the energy conservation performance of non-residential buildings, established by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Third parties evaluate the performance of the buildings and the evaluation result is shown by the number of stars assigned, from one star (★) to five stars (★★★★★).
Top-Level Facility (certified by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government) [ARK Hills Sengokuyama Mori Tower]
In fiscal 2017, certified as a “Top-Level Facility” among offices adopting excellent measures against global warming by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for its outstanding global warming countermeasure efforts.
The mandatory reduction amount for greenhouse gas emissions based on the Tokyo Metropolitan Environmental Ordinance will be halved for Top-Level Facilities.
JHEP accreditation [ARK Hills Sengokuyama Mori Tower］
Japan Habitat Evaluation and Certification Program (JHEP) is a measurement model that was built by the Ecosystem Conservation Society-Japan based on an environmental assessment method of Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP), which quantitatively assess natural environment from the perspective of habitat, originally developed by the Interior Department of the U.S.A. in the 1980s. Ecosystem Conservation Society-Japan has made some modifications to enable the evaluation of companies’ efforts, etc. in Japan. It aims to spread effective initiatives by quantitatively assessing efforts on conservation and restoration of biodiversity and awarding ranked certifications.
The property received Japan’s first AAA-rank certification with greening efforts that consider biodiversity.
(Date of Issue : 15 September 2012 Date of Renewal : 15 September 2017)
PFA21
- “Principles for Financial Action for the 21st Century” are action guidelines for financial institutions towards shaping a sustainable society.
- With the Ministry of the Environment as the secretariat, this set of Principles was drawn up in October 2011 involving a wide range of members including financial holding companies, banks, trust banks, cooperative financial institutions, securities companies, insurance companies, and asset management companies. Signatory institutions are required to implement activities based on the seven principles to the extent possible in light of their business context.
- GAR, the asset management company to which GOR entrusts the management of its assets, became a signatory in March 2020, supporting the basic thinking behind the Principles for Financial Action for the 21st Century.
〈The Principles〉
- We will recognize our roles and responsibilities, taking into account the precautionary approach, and promote those actions that contribute towards shaping a sustainable society.
- We will contribute to the formation of a sustainable global society through the development and provision of financial products and services leading to the development and increased competitiveness of “industries contributing to a sustainable society” as represented by the environmental technologies and services sector.
- From the perspective of regional development and improvement in sustainability performance, we assist the environmental programmes of small and medium enterprises. We will also back activities that will raise environmental awareness amongst citizens and support disaster readiness and community activities.
- In the formation of a sustainable society we will recognize the importance of cooperation with diverse stakeholders and will not only participate in its activities but will endeavor to take a proactive role.
- We will not be limited to complying with environmental laws and regulations but will take active steps to reduce our own environmental footprint through resource and energy savings as well as encouraging our suppliers to do likewise.
- We will recognize activities that will further profile sustainability as a business issue and will endeavor to disclose information on our activities.
- In order to implement the above actions we will aim to raise the awareness of environmental and societal issues of our own board and support them to take an active role through their normal duties.