In February 2022, Sumitomo Forestry formed a joint venture with the U.K. real estate developer Bywater Properties Limited to participate in a six-story wooden environmentally conscious office development project in London.

For the project, CO₂ emissions during the procurement, processing and transportation of raw materials, and construction (upfront carbon) are estimated to be approximately 413kg CO₂e per square meter of floor area (m²). The property is expected to achieve a reduction of approximately 60% in CO₂ emissions against the target of 1,000 kg CO₂e/m² set by the Greater London Authority (GLA*¹) before the start of construction under the project, making it a pioneering initiative in the United Kingdom. We are also working to reduce CO₂ emissions in the use stage of a building (operational carbon) by designing an energy-saving and energy-creating building and combining this with the use of renewable energy.

In this project, we obtained the highest “A” rating for the EPC rate, the highest “Platinum” rating for the WIRED SCORE*²smart building certification, and the “Excellent” rating for the BREEAM*³environmental certification, and plan to obtain WELL health-conscious office certification.

*1The local government ranked the highest in Greater London. Composed of the mayor of London and 25 members of the London Assembly

*2An evaluation system that ranks internet connectivity in real estate. It has been introduced in 36 countries and is evaluated based on indicators such as comfort and stability of Internet connection and usage environment.

*3BRE stands for Environmental Assessment Method. A method for evaluating the environmental performance of buildings, developed in 1990 by Building Research Establishment (BRE) and ECD Energy and Environment, an energy and environment consultant.

In December 2024, Sumitomo Forestry, in collaboration with Fuyo General Lease Co., Ltd., launched a project to renovate an office building with wood in the United Kingdom. We are beginning the renovation of a five-story office building in the City of London dating from the early 1900s, as well as the construction of a wooden addition on the fifth and sixth floors.

In this project, instead of demolishing the existing steel-frame building, we plan to utilize its structure and carry out wooden extensions and alterations. Through this approach we aim to significantly reduce the building's overall life cycle CO₂ emissions compared to the case of demolition, reconstruction or steel-frame extensions and alterations.

Regarding the embodied carbon associated with material manufacturing, transportation, construction, maintenance, and demolition, preliminary estimates using the CO₂ visualization software One Click LCA indicate that this project can reduce CO₂ emissions by approximately 60% compared to a typical new office building in the UK. Also, by using wood for the extension, the total carbon storage of the building is estimated to be approximately 220 tons (CO₂e). Furthermore, by installing energy-efficient elevators and high-insulation windows, we aim to reduce operational carbon associated with energy consumption during occupancy. For the materials, procurement, construction, and other aspects, we will obtain Excellent or higher rating under the BREEAM* environmental certification system.

*BREEAM is a building environmental performance assessment system that was developed in the UK and has been operational since 1990. Under the system, environmental performance of buildings is evaluated across ten categories including energy, health and comfort, water, materials, and waste, and rated on a scale of one to five: Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent, and Outstanding

Sumitomo Forestry, together with NTT Urban Development Corporation, started initiatives to realize Net Zero Carbon Building*¹through a globally large developer Hines and completed a large-scale wooden office in Collingwood near Melbourne City, Australia in October 2023.

This property has a mixed RC and wooden structure with 15 floors above ground and two floors below ground (7 to 15 floors are wooden), and is the highest wooden office building in Melbourne, Australia*².

Through this project, in addition to obtaining the highest rating (6 stars) under the Green Star environmental certification system in Australia , we aim to acquire Net Zero Carbon certification based on the Carbon Neutral Standard for Building of Australia. The CO₂ (embodied carbon) emitted during the construction of the building (in the process of raw material procurement, manufacturing, construction, demolition, etc.) is reduced by approximately 30% compared to the case where the entire structure is made of reinforced concrete (RC).
We also estimate that approximately 3,300 m³ of wood used in the structural frame will store approximately 2,300 tons of carbon (on a CO₂ basis),

This project is an advanced development project that combines the effective use of wood, which has a carbon storage function, with energy saving, energy creation, and use of renewable energy in buildings, and realizes the WGBC*³ target of zero operational carbon in each of new buildings by 2030 five years ahead of the schedule.

*1The building is designed to save or create energy, and CO₂ (operational carbon) emissions in the use stage of the building are reduced to virtually zero through a combination of renewable energy use and offsets using carbon credits.

*2Survey by Wood Solutions, an organization affiliated with the Australian Government (March 2024)

*3WGBC: World Green Building Council, a member of the UN Global Compact and a global action network of about 70 green building councils around the world

In March 2024, Sumitomo Forestry Australia participated in a Build-to-Rent (BTR)*¹rental housing project developed by Australia’s Cedar Pacific.

This project involves the development of a 31-story commercial RC real estate complex with a total of 475 units in Brisbane, Queensland. It is part of a government-supported initiative to promote affordable housing*²in the state. Of the total 475 units, 250 will be offered as affordable housing. Through the project we also aim to contribute to decarbonization by achieving net-zero operational carbon in accordance with Australia’s Green Star*³certification and Net Carbon Neutral*⁴standards.

*1Build to Rent (BTR) refers to residential properties developed specifically for rental purposes. It is gaining attention as one of the fastest-growing asset classes in Australia.

*2Affordable housing refers to rental properties offered at below-market rates through government subsidies.

*3Green Star is a rating system developed and administered by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA). Rated on a scale from 4 to 6 Stars.

*4Operational carbon emissions are minimized through measures such as enhancing the building's environmental performance with solar power generation and entering into green power agreements using renewable energy. Any remaining emissions are carbon-offset, achieving net-zero operational carbon from the first day of operations

Sumitomo Forestry Australia will participate in the project to build a wooden Co-Living type*¹rental apartment house to be developed by Cedar Pacific of Australia.

This project will be the second partnership project that we will implement with Cedar Pacific, following the development project in Brisbane. In the suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, we will develop a nine-story rental apartment house composed of a total of 217 residential units, with the RC construction method adopted for the first basement and first floors and the mass timber construction method for the second to ninth floors. By adopting the mass timber construction method, we aim to reduce CO₂ emissions from construction (embodied carbon) by 30% relative to the general RC construction method, and the use of about 1,800 m³ of wood will store about 1,500 tons of carbon. Also, we aim to acquire the five-star rating under the Australian Green Star certification system to provide a residential building that is environmentally friendly and is also comfortable for living.

We will continue to develop rental buildings with low environmental impact by using wood as the main material, thereby contributing to resolving the shortage of houses and to the affordability of houses in Australia.

*1Rental housing that provides a lounge, kitchen, co-working space and other facilities for shared use in addition to simple furnished housing units for exclusive use by respective residents

Sumitomo Forestry and Kumagai Gumi launched the “with TREE” Akihabara Wooden Office Building Construction Project (temporary name) in March 2025. In the project implemented under the “with TREE” brand for medium- to large-scale wooden buildings, we will construct a wooden and steel hybrid building by adopting the KS timber buckling-restrained brace and CLT floor that we have developed jointly with Kumagai Gumi, as well as environmentally friendly λ‑WOODⅡ® and various other advanced fireproof technologies for wood. The building is planned to be completed at the end of May 2026 to provide a next generation urban forest office by making carbon storage and energy conservation compatible through the use of wooden materials.

In March 2025, Sumitomo Forestry launched the Yatsugatake Hotel Building Construction Project (temporary name) to build 55 wooden villas in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture. In this project, we adopted our unique beam-through type wood moment-resisting frame to realize a large opening for guests to enjoy the panoramic view of Yatsugatake from inside the villas. We aim to provide guests of the hotel with comfortable space in harmony with nature and also contribute to reducing the environmental impact of the hotel by construction with wood.

In March 2025, we launched the “Tokyu Harvest VIALA Kusatsu Retreat green” Project to construct 10 accommodation buildings and one lounge building on the site adjacent to Tokyu Harvest Club Kusatsu & VIALA. By adopting an environmentally friendly design that makes use of wind for cooling in summer and sunshine and hot spring heat for warming in winter, we will provide a comfortable accommodation space with low environmental impact.

In May 2025, we started to construct two wooden commercial buildings under the Project to Utilize Real Properties around the Old Japanese House of the Ikegaya Family (temporary name). This project is intended for regional revitalization, in which a historical 168-years-old Japanese house will be refurbished for maintenance, and purely wooden two-story commercial facilities will be newly constructed. Sumitomo Forestry adopted the wood frame construction method and a design in harmony with traditional design for Japanese houses in this project, while also calculating embodied carbon by using One Click LCA software to construct low-carbon, environmentally friendly buildings.

In March 2025, we completed the construction of a three-story hybrid timber building for Kasugai High School, which is a public high school in Aichi, as the first of its kind in the prefecture. We adopted a hybrid structure composed a central wooden part and RC parts on the right and left sides. It is an educational facility that is both highly seismic resistant and cost effective. We used about 453 m³ of wood, 65% of which was produced in the prefecture. For the building we calculated embodied carbon by using the One Click LCA software and achieved the fixation of about 384 t-CO₂e. The wooden building will help improve the educational environment and also contribute to the creation of a decarbonized society.

In May 2025, we completed the construction of a six-story hybrid timber company house “Midorino-no-Niwa” in Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture. It is a fireproof hybrid timber building composed of an RC central part and wooden right and left parts. The wooden structural materials used for the building were all made in Japan. We used 322 m³ of wood for the building and stored 267.239 tons of carbon in CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e bio) according to the results of the calculation that we made by using One Click LCA. The fixation amount is equivalent to the amount stored by about 878 40-year-old cedar trees. For this building, we obtained “Nearly ZEH-M” (reduction of energy use by 75% or more), six-star rating under the BELS energy conservation labeling system for buildings, the highest CASBEE-S rating under the Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE), which comprehensively evaluates the quality of a building including indoor comfort and environmental impact.

In June 2025, we completed the construction of Yamato Denki’s new head office building. For the building we adopted our own developed hybrid timber-steel beams with service holes to create a space that is made of steel but has a woody atmosphere, while contributing to the fixation of carbon by the use of wood. We completed an environmentally friendly, sustainable office building despite the restrictions imposed on the construction of the building as it is located in an urban area.

In March 2026, we completed the construction of Wellness Building on Tsuda University’s premises as a wooden one-story health management facility by making maximum use of the healing effect of wood. Sumitomo Forestry serves as designer and constructor of this facility, for which we will use about 127 m³ of wood, including structural materials, interior materials and wooden artworks, and realize the fixation of about 103 t-CO₂e. Through the provision of an opening part that harmonizes with nature and a physically and mentally comfortable space, we will contribute to the well-being of users and the spread use of low-carbon buildings.