Mitsubishi Estate Group 2030 Goals for SDGs
Making Use of Japan-grown Timber to Promote Sustainable Use of Forest Resources
Promoting Utilization of CLT to Further Expand Use of Japan-grown Timber
Making Use of Japan-grown Timber to Promote Sustainable Use of Forest Resources
- Promoting Utilization of CLT and Other Materials to Expand Use of Japan-grown Timber
- Developing Various Initiatives to Bring Out the Value of Wood
- MEC Industry Aiming to Achieve an Appropriate Forest Cycle
- Japan's First High-Rise Concrete-Wood Hybrid Hotel Using Hokkaido-Grown Timber
- Miyako Shimojishima Airport Terminal
Promoting Utilization of CLT and Other Materials to Expand Use of Japan-grown Timber
Japan’s forests account for some two-thirds of the country’s land mass, with 40% being planted forests. More than half of these planted forests are five decades old or more, having reached their harvestable age. Expanding the harvesting and use of timber sourced from these forests not only helps promote Japanese forestry, which is facing the challenges of appropriate forest conservation and shortage of workers in the industry, but also contributes to the cycle of Japan’s forestry resources, including helping to reduce CO2 emissions by fixing carbon in urban areas. Therefore, the Mitsubishi Estate Group has set out a goal to promote sustainable timber use and is promoting the utilization of Japan-grown timber and certified timber.
Developing Various Initiatives to Bring Out the Value of Wood
The Mitsubishi Estate Group is promoting a switch to the use of timber construction and wood in its business activities from the perspective of sustainability. At Japan Wood Design Award 2022 (organized by Japan Wood Design Association), seven projects by six group companies, including Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd., won awards. The MOKUWELL HOUSE, Japan’s first purely wooden prefabricated residence using cross-laminated timber (CLT)* produced by MEC Industry received the Grand Prize (the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Award).
Also, in October 2022, KIDZUKI, a platform for promoting a switch to the use of timber construction and wood developed by Mitsubishi Estate Home concluded an agreement on initiatives leveraging wood with Tamagawa Academy & University. Going forward, there will be deeper cooperation from the standpoint of environmental education to contribute to creating value for wood and solving environmental and social issues. While displaying synergies among Group companies, we will advance initiatives that utilize the appeal of wood with the aim of promoting the use of timber construction and wood in the cities of the future.
- CLT consists of wooden panels formed by laminating layers of lumber perpendicular to one another. Compared with conventional wooden panels, its strength is more stable, and it also offers outstanding heat insulation. It is gaining attention as a construction material that will expand the applications of timber to large-scale structures such as condominiums and office buildings in addition to low-rise detached housing.
MOKUWELL HOUSE exterior
CLT manufactured at MEC Indusrty's own plant
MEC Industry Aiming to Achieve an Appropriate Forest Cycle
MEC Industry’s Kagoshima Yusui Plant
MEC Industry was established in January 2020 with investment from Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd., Takenaka Corporation, Daiho Corporation, Matsuo Construction Co., Ltd., Nangoku Corporation, Kentec Corporation, and Yamasa Mokuzai Co., Ltd. with the goal of realizing a society that promotes effective use of wood. Combining the strengths of the seven companies and having its own plant enables integration of the previously fragmented business flow from manufacturing through to sales, making it possible to provide high quality products at a low cost.
MEC Industry has its own plant in Yusui, Kagoshima Prefecture, which serves as a production site to make use of Japan-grown timber.
MEC Industry handles everything at its own plant from procurement of logs to manufacturing of CLT and 2×4s as well as manufacturing of building materials using wood materials and of prefabricated housing. Expanding the use of Japan-grown timber through these products fixes carbon absorbed by forests in urban areas helping to realize a decarbonized society. In addition, it is also expected to function as green infrastructure and contribute to maintaining and enhancing biodiversity and natural capital by promoting a cycle in Japan’s planted forests, which are reaching optimum harvestable age. Moreover, the use of wood as a construction material, and particularly as the main structural material, reduces the use of steel and concrete and thereby enables the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions during construction, while making it possible to recycle materials when a building is eventually dismantled. MEC Industry is also working to reduce waste at its own plant through the use of wood scraps generated in manufacturing processes as a heat source for boilers and other measures.
In February 2023, MEC Industry and Yusui concluded an agreement on assistance and cooperation in the event of a disaster. If an earthquake, storm, flood, or other disaster occurs or is likely to occur in Yusui, MEC Industry will endeavor to ensure the safety of the people of Yusui by providing an evacuation site and building and supplying temporary emergency housing among other measures.
Developing Japan's First High-Rise Concrete-Wood Hybrid Hotel Using Hokkaido-Grown Timber
Japan's First High-Rise Concrete-Wood Hybrid Hotel Using Hokkaido-Grown Timber
A lounge furnished with Hokkaido-grown timber
Mitsubishi Estate debuted The Royal Park Canvas – Sapporo Odori Park, Japan's first high-rise hybrid hotel built of reinforced-concrete and wood using Hokkaido-grown timber, on October 1, 2021. Located in Sapporo, Hokkaido, the hotel will be operated by Royal Park Hotels and Resorts. The property features a hybrid wood building with the lower and middle floors constructed from reinforced-concrete with wooden ceilings; one floor in the mid-rise section built with a hybrid reinforced-concrete and wooden structure; and the upper floors constructed using an entirely wood-built structure. The property is a new type of hotel never seen before which brings together all the advances in wood construction made by the Mitsubishi Estate Group to date.
Approximately 80% of the wood used as a structural material is Hokkaido-grown timber. The use of Sakhalin fir, which is the most abundant resource in any of Hokkaido's plantations, in various parts of the building, including the CLT flooring, contributes to promoting local industry and recycling forest resources. The interior designs of the hotel's guest rooms and lobby also make extensive use of timber. Further, the hotel is actively promoting local production for local consumption based on the “Hokkaido Experience,” offering food and drink focusing on locally produced products. The project was selected for inclusion by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in the Fiscal 2019 2nd Pilot Projects for Sustainable Buildings (Wooden Structure).
Miyako Shimojishima Airport Terminal
Check-in lobby using CLT as structural material for the roof
Miyako Shimojishima Airport Terminal opened in March 2019 on Miyako Island, Okinawa, where there is abundant nature. It is the first airport terminal in Japan to utilize CLT as a structural material for the roof. The CLT was produced with regional wood designated by Okinawa Prefecture, thereby contributing to the vitalization of the regional forestry industry. The project has also implemented a range of energy-saving measures and earned the Net Zero Energy Building (ZEB) recognition, the first for airport terminals in Japan.
