As Sumitomo Forestry Group, our manufacturing facilities account for about 30% of our total greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve RE100, it is vital that we conserve energy and expand the use of renewable energy in our factories.

In September 2020, Sumitomo Forestry Crest Kashima Plant, which manufactures interior materials for houses, introduced solar power generation under the PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) model^*. In addition, since April 2021, Kashima Plant procured the renewable energy menu electricity and replaced all the electricity with renewable energy and achieved RE100. Following this, the Shizuoka Plant of the same Sumitomo Forestry Crest is also expected to procure renewable energy menu electricity from April 2021 and achieve RE50. In the Mid-Term Sustainability Targets 2024 up to 2024, we plan to expand the procurement of renewable energy menu electricity at the Shizuoka and Imari plants to achieve RE100. Sumitomo Forestry Group’s overseas factories will also promote introduction of the solar power generation, and by 2024, we plan to procure about 20% of renewable energy from both domestic and overseas factories and aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26,000 tCO2 compared to fiscal 2017.

Both in Japan and overseas, Sumitomo Forestry Group is considering the installation and expansion of solar power panels in our manufacturing sites in an ongoing effort to increase the ratio of renewable energy.

* PPA Model: A system whereby a host loans out factory rooftop space to a power generation company to install solar power generation panels and then purchases the electricity generated from these panels for its own use

The Sumitomo Forestry Group operates wood biomass power generation facilities that are fueled by recycled chips primarily using leftover from construction as raw materials, wood not suitable as a building material, and thinning leftover in forests and other unused forest resource.

The CO₂ emitted by burning wood does not contribute to CO₂ in the atmosphere as part of the life cycle of the trees because the CO₂ in the atmosphere is absorbed through photosynthesis as the trees grow (concept of carbon neutrality). Therefore, the Group has been engaged in wood biomass power generation as a type of business that contributes greatly to the advancement of forestry, such as the effective use of wood, mitigation of CO₂ emission and furthermore, the maintenance of local forest environments.

In February 2011, the Sumitomo Forestry Group entered this sector with the operation of the urban-oriented Kawasaki Biomass Electric Power (generation capacity: 33 MW), which primarily uses scrap construction wood as fuel. The Mombetsu Biomass Electric Power Co., Ltd. with a power generation scale of 50 MW utilizing unused wood from domestic forests as its main fuels commenced operation in December 2016, the 6.2 MW Tomakomai Biomass Power Co., Ltd. in April 2017, and 12.4 MW Hachinohe Biomass Electric Power Co., Ltd. in April 2018, and the 75MW Kanda Biomass Energy K.K. in June 2021, respectively.

When the 75 MW Morinomiyako Biomass Energy K.K. commences operation in November 2023, the total power generation scale of the Sumitomo Forestry Group related facilities will be approximately 251.6 MW, which is equivalent to electricity supply for approximately 555,000 households.

Drawing on past experience in the wood biomass power generation business, the Group will continue to expand renewable energy business operations suited to local conditions and other requirements.

Sumitomo Forestry owns a solar power generation facility that can generates 3.4 MW in Kashima City, Ibaraki Prefecture.

For some solar panel mounts, we have adopted original wooden mounts mainly made of domestically produced cedar wood to reduce the environmental load of power generation facilities and expand the use of wood.

In fiscal 2021, the combined output of power generation was 4,440MWh.

Unused forest resource is left-over wood biomass generated from logging or thinning of standing trees in forests. Wood biomass power generation plants are operating in each area and the demand for wood biomass is growing following the adoption of the FIT law (Feed-in Tariff for Renewable Energy). By using unused forest resource, we can expect an effective increase in the value of forests while also promoting renewable energy. In fiscal 2021, the Group used 371,000 tons of unused forest resource. We will continue to work on building up systems for the efficient, stable collection of unused forest resource.

Effectively Extracting Unused Forest Resource

Mombetsu Forestry Office introduced Scandinavian harvesters and forwarders able to turn in small circles in 2015 to begin efforts to deliver log harvest/thinning (unused forest resource) as Mombetsu Biomass Electric Power fuels.

Moreover, by selecting forestry equipment with high-level driving performance in narrow forest areas, operators are able to execute all harvesting and transport operations while on the machine. We consider this is an initiative that improves safety and will play a role even in eliminating occupational injuries.

*1 Self-propelled high-performance forestry machine that brings together each operation to cut, de-limb, and vertically cross-cut^*3 timber, which had traditionally been done with a chainsaw

*2 Self-propelled high-performance forestry machine that collects and feeds vertically cross-cut timber on a cargo bed

*3 To cut crude wood to a standard length

The household sector in Japan still has high level emission of CO₂ although the trend has slowed down. In the Plan for Global Warming Countermeasures and the Sixth Strategic Energy Plan approved by the Cabinet in October 2021, the Japanese government declared that “the government will raise energy conservation standards in stages and raise inducement standards and top-runner standards for Housing and Construction to ensure the level of energy conservation performance of ZEH and ZEB standards^*1 for new Housing and Construction to be built in fiscal 2030 and after”, and "the government will ensure the level of energy conservation of ZEH and ZEB standards for the stock average of housing and buildings by 2050".

ZEH is a scheme for housing to provide less than zero annual net primary energy consumption by combining equipment to generate energy such as high thermal insulation efficiency, energy-saving equipment, and solar energy creation.

This standard responds to many of the Sustainable Development Goals, including not only Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all and Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts but also Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages and Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. The standardization of ZEH will contribute to building a sustainable society.

Sumitomo Forestry has long used "wood," which are renewable natural resources and absorb and fix CO₂ in the process of growth, as the principal structural members, and adopted a unique design method, "Ryoonbo," that utilizes the blessings of nature such as the wind and the sun and provided housing where people can live comfortably throughout the year. The Company's expertise in utilizing these unique characteristics of wood and blessings of nature together with its technologies for the reduction of energy consumption, such as improvements in thermal insulation as well as the adoption of energy-saving equipment, and its technologies for the smart use of energy, such as equipment for generating and storing energy and HEMS^*2.

The Mid-Term Sustainability Targets has set a target for the ZEH order ratio for newly built custom-built homes, which was 67.4% in fiscal 2021.
With respect to new custom-built detached houses, we will promote the spread of ZEH with the basic specifications of further strengthening heat insulation performance of buildings and its openings and installing a solar power generation system.

*1 Compliant with reinforced hull standards and 20% reduction from the current energy conservation standards excluding renewable energy.

*2 Home Energy Management System. A system whereby residents can visualize the amounts of energy they generate and use

*3 Including Nearly ZEH, Small ZEH Oriented, Heavy Snow ZEH Oriented

Windows cause the greatest loss of heat in living spaces. Shielding interior spaces from heat in the summer and preventing heat from escaping in the winter is vital. As windows cause the largest heat loss, Sumitomo Forestry uses low-E multi-layered glass with argon gas inside. Argon gas is injected between the multi-layers of glass to mitigate heat transfer to the air while the panes are coated with special metal film. The superior thermal insulation and insulation properties shield interior spaces from heat in the summer and prevent heat from escaping in the winter.

Trees retain CO₂ as carbon even after they are turned into products. Constructing wooden houses can therefore be likened to building forests in the city. The total domestic carbon stocks^*1 in timber that was used in construction of the houses in the MOCCA (timber solutions) business in fiscal 2021 reached 193,000 t-CO2. Sumitomo Forestry Group is contributing to a decarbonized society by increasing carbon stock in forests and cities.

*1 CO₂ fixation is calculated by categorizing the actual amounts of timber used per tree species for new custom-build detached houses, rental properties, and MOCCA business, and calculating carbon content from the specific gravity of each tree species.