In Japan where buildings have been repeatedly renovated through the cycle of building and demolishing, the life of buildings are said to be shorter than those in Europe and the U.S. The construction and rebuilding of buildings requires vast amounts of resources and energy. Moreover, short cycles of rebuilding cause a massive amount of waste to be produced.
The Mitsui Fudosan Group believes that, in order to conserve resources and reduce waste throughout a building's entire life cycle and thereby minimize the environmental impact of buildings, it is important that buildings that have a long life be provided. To that end, we are creating buildings with longer lives by increasing their durability and designing them in ways that make them easier to renovate and remodel. In addition, we employ materials, etc. that consider the conservation of resources and reduction of waste in the construction.

At the retail properties LaLaport IWATA and LaLaport SHIN MISATO, stamped concrete is used to conserve resources and reduce waste in the construction. Stamped concrete is a technique in which laid concrete is patterned and/or textured on the surface by imprinting "stamps" resembling stones, bricks, wood and other patterns or textures before the concrete becomes fully dry, producing no odd scrap materials from the layout and other procedures. Furthermore, mesh formwork is employed for some formwork used in the laying of underground beams (*8) in view of conserving wood resources used in the formwork.

(*8) Underground beams: Beams that mutually join footings for the purpose of preventing movement, distortion and uneven settling of reinforced concrete individual footings. Many are underground and thus the name.

For the Whole Earth and for Everyone: “Eco Hello!” Activities Developed by Retail Properties

To extend the life of office buildings, we believe that it is of utmost importance to provide buildings that are not only highly seismic-resistant and durable but also usable over a long term despite changes in work styles that continue to change over time. Thus, we pay heed to producing designs that make them easier to renovate by taking such measures as enhancing floor load and air-conditioning capabilities, assuring space for replacing equipment and air-conditioning piping, and employing external shafts that enable easy replacement of piping and ducts.

At for-sale and rental condominiums, concrete construction materials that are highly durable, highly fire-proof and allow easy maintenance are employed in the standard design, and structures and other techniques that are highly seismic-resistant are incorporated. In addition, the buildings are designed with dual floors (except at some properties), dual ceilings and other structures that make remodeling easy in view of extending the life of buildings.

Custom-built detached houses offered by Mitsui Home Co., Ltd. are constructed using the two-by-four method, which is characterized by superior resistance to earthquakes, fire and wind. For heightened durability, full-base foundation, which applies reinforced concrete covering the entire area under the floor, and the BS base spacer construction method, which allows ventilation all around the foundation, are among the techniques employed. In addition, as appropriate maintenance is required to extend the life of buildings, a range of after-maintenance is offered. An example is a twenty-year warranty system for the structural frame on the condition that any maintenance found to be required in the tenth year is conducted at the customer's expense. Another example is "Keep Well," a sixty-year inspection system that starts immediately after completion in which the building is inspected and evaluated every ten years at the customer's request until the sixtieth year.