ESG Initiatives
Our Commitment
In October 2023, ESCON REIT changed its investment policy and expanded its investment target to include commercial facilities, residence, and assets aimed at creating a sustainable society (hereinafter collectively referred to as "lifestyle-focused assets").
ESCON REIT believes that these assets in which ESCON REIT invests are social infrastructures that are deeply related to people's lifestyles and contribute to solving social issues, such as being rooted in local communities and carrying the function of infrastructure in the event that a natural disaster occurs.
ESCON REIT believes that if ESCON REIT contributes to solving social issues through investment in these lifestyle-focused assets, ESCON REIT will play a major role in realizing a sustainable society and also contribute to maximizing unitholder value.
With ES-CON ASSET MANAGEMENT, which is the asset manager of ESCON REIT, ESCON REIT will strive to realize a sustainable society by addressing the materiality (key issues) such as environmental considerations, social contributions, and governance enhancement.
ESCON REIT would appreciate the continued support and guidance of our stakeholders.
Tadashi Ebihara
Executive Director, ESCON JAPAN REIT Investment Corporation
Formulation of materiality (Key Issues)
| Key Issues | Policy | Relevant SDGs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| EEnvironment | Reduce environmental impact | Aim to improve the efficiency of energy consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the portfolio |
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| Acquire external certifications | Strive to reduce environmental impact by obtaining environmental certifications and evaluations |
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| Take environmental issues into consideration through collaboration with tenants | Aim to introduce green lease clauses in cooperation with tenants |
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| SSocial | Coexist and cooperate with the local community | Through contributions to the local community, aim to solve social issues and enhance local value |
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| Improve safety and comfort for customers and tenants | Aim to contribute to the local community by creating and maintaining safe and secure spaces |
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| Create a comfortable work environment | Promote the creation of a favorable work environment to ensure employees' health and a fulfilling social life |
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| GGovernance | Further strengthen governance | To prevent fraud and corruption as an organization, promote clarification of governance structure and reinforcement of the system |
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| Disclose information to stakeholders | Foster a relationship of trust with stakeholders through proactive information disclosure and dialogue |
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ESG Promotion Structure
In order to implement the approaches based on the ESG policy described above, ES-CON ASSET MANAGEMENT(hereinafter, the "Asset Manager") will cooperate not only with relevant internal departments but also with the sponsor company, ES-CON JAPAN Ltd.
ESCON REIT will continue its positive ESG initiatives.
Environmental initiatives
Example of Environmental initiatives
Installation of LED lighting
ESCON REIT is pursuing the reduction of electricity consumption by introducing LED lighting systems in the communal areas of four tonarie commercial facilities (Yamatotakada, Minami-senri, Toga・Mikita and Seiwadai), Asumigaoka Brand-New Mall and SUROY MALL Nagamine.
tonarie Yamatotakada
tonarie Minami-senri
tonarie Toga・Mikita
tonarie Seiwadai
Asumigaoka Brand-New Mall
SUROY MALL Nagamine
Introducing a groundwater membrane filtration system
A groundwater membrane filtration system has been introduced in Asumigaoka Brand-New Mall, contributing to the reduction of environmental burdens and towards the achievement of a sustainable society.
- Securing a water supply channel in the event of a disaster to improve business continuity
- Offering drinking water to local inhabitants for free in the event of a disaster (scheduled)
- Reducing public water supply consumption using the groundwater membrane filtration system
Take environmental issues into consideration through collaboration with tenants
The introduction of green lease clauses
A green lease refers to a voluntary agreement between a real estate owner and a tenant to reduce the environmental impact of real estate, such as energy conservation, and improve the workplace environment through a contract or memorandum of understanding, and refers to putting the agreed upon details into practice. Not only will both parties gain benefits such as cost reduction, improvement of the working environment, and enhancement of real estate value, but also the global environmental burden can be reduced through energy savings. ESCON REIT works with tenants going forward to promote the introduction of green lease clauses.
Records of Energy consumption, CO2 emmisions and Water consumption(Note1)
Record of Energy consumption
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy consumption(kWh) | 34,899,782 | 33,533,838 | - | - |
| Intensity(kWh/㎡) | 174.55 | 167.71 | - | - |
Record of CO2 emmisions
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CO2 emmisions(t-CO2) | 11,767 | 12,106 | - | - |
| Scope1(t-CO2)（Note2） | 433 | 375 | - | - |
| Scope2(t-CO2)（Note2） | 2,259 | 2,186 | - | - |
| Scope3(t-CO2)（Note2） | 9,075 | 9,544 | - | - |
| Intensity(t-CO2/㎡) | 0.06 | 0.06 | - | - |
Record of Water consumption
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water consumption(㎥) | 146,419 | 153,178 | - | - |
| Intensity(㎥/㎡) | 0.73 | 0.77 | - | - |
- The survey was conducted on assets owned by ESCON REIT as of December 31 of each year (excluding leasehold land assets). And it was not verified or certified by a third-party organization.
- Definition of each scope follows.
Scope1: GHG emissions from fuel consumption in common areas and other office operations of each owned asset.
Scope2: GHG emissions from the consumption of externally procured electricity in the common areas and other office operations of each assets.
Scope3: GHG emissions from energy (fuel and electricity) consumption in the tenant-operated portion of each assets.
Social initiatives
By holding a variety of events in lifestyle-focused commercial facilities, including “tonarie”, in which members of the local communities and tenants can participate, and implementing community-based activities that contribute to society, ESCON REIT aims to contribute to the revitalization of local areas and the creation of local communities.
〈Brand Concept〉
Close to the community in order to develop together with the community. Always a good neighbor.
Contributions for communities
Handmade workshops
(tonarie Seiwadai)
Christmas Concert
(tonarie Minami-senri)
Noto Support Project
(tonarie Yamatotakada)
Fire Fighting Fair & Trial Session
(Asumigaoka Brand-New Mall)
Cerezo Osaka Soccer School for Parents and Children
(tonarie Toga・Mikita)
Certified as dementia-friendly shopping center
ESCON REIT is working to create age-friendly communities, including older people with dementia. All tenants in tonarie Seiwadai have taken dementia supporter training courses and this commercial facility was certified as a dementia-friendly shopping center by Hyogo Prefectural Government.
Social contribution activities
Old clothes Collection Activities
(tonarie Toga・Mikita, tonarie Yamatotakada)
Campaign to eradicate remittance fraud
(tonarie Seiwadai)
Dementia supporter training course
(tonarie Minami-Senri)
Blood donation campaign
(tonarie Seiwadai)
Dementia Prevention Awareness Activities
(tonarie Minami-Senri, tonarie Seiwadai)
Unused Food Collection Activities
(tonarie Yamatotakada)
Participation in the “Child-raising Support Passport Project”
ESCON REIT is participating in the “Child-raising Support Passport Project,”which provides support for outings with infants and offers various discounts and other services for households with children, operated mainly by local governments with support from businesses and stores.(tonarie Minami-senri, tonarie Seiwadai, tonarie Toga・Mikita, tonarie Yamatotakada)
Initiatives for improving employees’ work environment
ESCON REIT is promoting the following initiatives with the aim of improving the working environment for employees of tenants and the asset management company.
- Operation of employee lounges for tenants (tonarie Minami-senri, tonarie Seiwadai, tonarie Toga・Mikita, tonarie Yamatotakada, Asumigaoka Brand-New Mall)
- Asset Manager is promoting the creation of a workplace environment that gives work-life balance. (Conducting employee satisfaction surveys, no overtime days, stress checks, the introduction of health consultations by industrial physicians and holding dementia supporter courses, etc.)
Governance initiatives
ESCON REIT regards the strengthening of the governance system of the Asset Manager as an important management issue, and is taking the following initiatives.
Certifications
Acquisition of certifications
GRESB Evaluation
GRESB is an annual benchmarking assessment to measure ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) integration of real estate companies and funds, as well as the name of organization which runs the assessment. It was founded in 2009 by a group of major European pension funds who played leading roles in launching Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).
Currently, about 150 Investor Members use GRESB data for their investment decision-making and engagement with investees, and several institutions from Japan including Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) utilize GRESB Assessment results. In 2024, 2,223 listed or private real estate companies/funds participated in GRESB Real Estate Assessment.
In the 2024 GRESB Real Estate Assessment, ESCON REIT received a “1 Star” in GRESB Rating, which is based on GRESB Overall Score and its quintile position relative to global participants. It also won a “Green Star” designation by achieving high performance both in “Management Component” that evaluates policies and organizational structure for ESG promotion, and “Performance Component” that assesses environmental performance and tenant engagement of properties owned.
DBJ Green Building Certifications
DBJ Green Building is a certification system that was newly established in April 2011 by Development Bank of Japan Inc. (DBJ) as an initiative to support its customers’ environmentally and socially conscious management of their real estate (“Green Building”). DBJ evaluates and certifies properties that are socially and economically sought through comprehensive assessment of the measures taken for various stakeholders, including disaster prevention and community-conscious initiatives.
There are five levels of certification ranks as follows.
| Certification rank | Criterion | |
|---|---|---|
| ★★★★★ | （five stars） | Properties with the best class environmental and social awareness |
| ★★★★ | （four stars） | Properties with exceptionally high environmental and social awareness |
| ★★★ | （three stars） | Properties with excellent environmental and social awareness |
| ★★ | （two stars） | Properties with high environmental and social awareness |
| ★ | （one star） | Properties with satisfactory environmental and social awareness |
We have received DBJ Green Building Certification for the following properties.
| Certified properties | Certification rank | Certified date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| tonarie Toga・Mikita |  |
（three stars） | July 27, 2023 |
| tonarie Yamatotakada | |
（three stars） | July 27, 2023 |
| tonarie Minami-senri | |
（three stars） | February 2, 2024 |
| tonarie Seiwadai | |
（three stars） | February 2, 2024 |
| Asumigaoka Brand-New Mall |  |
（three stars） | July 9, 2024 |