Eco-specifications have been set under the objective of producing designs that give due consideration to such factors as reducing environmental impact over the entire life cycle of a building in each business division, including office buildings, retail properties, hotels, rental housing, for-sale condominiums and detached housing. Eco-specifications are a set of voluntary standards for environmental measures, comprised of energy conservation, greenery and other design guidelines as well as case studies for equipment and methods. Eco-specifications also contain specifications for green procurement, introducing various case examples of environmentally-friendly equipment, materials, etc. to facilitate selection in line with property attributes.
In order to boost the environmental performance of newly-built office buildings, the Office Building Division in fiscal 2008 set target values for specific CO₂ emissions, PAL (*1), ERR (*2) and CASBEE (*3) assessment rank, reflecting revisions to the Act on the Rational Use of Energy. In addition, eco-specifications were amended under the objective of creating standard eco-specifications for newly-built buildings. Moreover, lists were created of the items that are to be adopted in the design in principle and the items that the adoption of must be considered.
In April 2009, the Retail Property Division amended the “Retail Properties Design Request Form,” reflecting environmentally-friendly items at existing retail properties. At this time, a statement on the stance for reducing CO₂ emissions was added and a list of environmentally-friendly equipment, materials, etc. was added to the items of the design request form. Instructions were also given to designers and builders on such being made compulsory or to be considered.

(*1) PAL: PAL stands for Perimeter Annual Load, and is an indicator evaluating a building's thermal insulation performance against heat loss through the exterior walls, windows, etc.

(*2) ERR: ERR stands for Energy Reduction Ratio, and is an index arrived at by integrating the coefficient of energy consumption for each primary equipment, namely air-conditioning, ventilation, lighting, hot water supply and elevators.

(*3) CASBEE stands for Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency, a system recommended by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. CASBEE is a system that comprehensively assesses Building Environmental Efficiency (BEE) by simultaneously factoring in the environmental quality and performance of the building and the impact the building has on the external environment. CASBEE has four basic building assessment tools (pre-design, new construction, existing building and renovation), as well as a diverse range of assessment tools for specific purposes. The Building Environmental Efficiency (BEE) assessment results are scored with higher values indicating better assessment (the smaller the impact on the environment) and are assigned a rank out of five ranks. The Institute for Building Environment and Energy Conservation also has a certification system.

Eco-Specifications of Each Business Division

Business Division	Manuals, etc. with incorporated eco-specifications
Office Buildings	Office Building Design Manual
Retail properties	Retail Property Design Manual
Hotels	TQPM Manual: Hotel Version
Residential Leasing (condominiums)	Design and Inspection Checklist for Rental Properties Based on PAX-M (*)
For-sale condominiums	Condominium Quality Control Manual (TQPM)
Detached houses	Guidelines for Detached Housing in Harmonious Coexistence with the Environment

*PAX-M: PAX-M is the Quality control guidelines for rental housing

For office buildings, retail properties and rental condominiums, the environmental efficiency of newly-built buildings is assessed at the design stage based on the Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency (CASBEE), a system recommended by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. From fiscal 2008, this has been pursued by setting the target CASBEE assessment at A rank or higher for office buildings (S rank for large properties) and A rank for rental condominiums. CASBEE is also applied in self-assessments of hotels.
Furthermore, the decision to acquire certification of CASBEE assessment from the Institute for Building Environment and Energy Conservation is made on a property-by-property basis. Mita M-SQUARE (Minato-ku, Tokyo) acquired certification of the A rank in July 2009 and Aoyama OM-SQUARE (Minato-ku, Tokyo) acquired certification of the S rank in August 2009.

Status of Acquisition of Certification of CASBEE

Type	Building Name	Location	Date of Acquisition	Certification	Note
Office Buildings	Gate City Ohsaki	Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo	September 2005	S rank	Existing property
	Ginza Mitsui Building	Chuo-ku, Tokyo	May-06	S rank
	Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower	Chuo-ku, Tokyo	October 2006	S rank
	Mita M-SQUARE	Minato-ku, Tokyo	Jully 2009	A rank
	Aoyama OM-SQUARE	Minato-ku, Tokyo	August 2009	S rank
Retail Properties	LaLaport KASHIWANOHA	Kashiwa-shi, Chiba Prefecture	August 2006	S rank	The first retail property in Japan to have received an S rank

The Housing Performance Indication System is a system for evaluating housing performance, such as stability of the building structure, thermal environment, ventilation environment, consideration for the elderly and crime prevention, as well as for the provision of highly reliable information on housing performance. Under the System, a third party objectively checks housing performance and issues an evaluation report (certificate). There is a housing performance evaluation that takes place at the design stage and another that takes place at the construction stage.
For for-sale condominiums, we make it a rule to acquire the Housing Performance Indication System evaluation report at the design stage and construction stage. In addition, the custom-built detached houses of Mitsui Home Co., Ltd. are also made to perform up to high standards under the Housing Performance Indication System.