Acquisition of External Certification

Ⅶ. Acquisition of External Certification

A. DBJ Green Building Certification* Awarded

ADR has 10 properties which was awarded the DBJ Green Building Certificate. (6.9% of total floor space, 3.6% of total number of property as of January 2023)

* DBJ Green Building Certification is a certificate developed by Development Bank of Japan Inc. (DBJ) to identify and certify real estate properties that satisfy various social needs including environmental quality. Please refer to the following sites for details.
Development Bank of Japan Inc.
DBJ GREENBUILING

** Certification Rank of the 14 properties are as follows. (As of July 31, 2022)

Four Stars ★★★★ Properties with exceptionally high environmental and social awareness

Three Stars ★★★ Properties with excellent environmental and social awareness

B. Awarded “ CASBEE” Certification

ADR has 13 properties which was awarded the  CASBEE Certificate. (21.7% of total floor space, 4.7% of total number of property as of January 2023)

* Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE) is a method for evaluating and rating the environmental performance of buildings. It is a comprehensive assessment regarding the reduction of environmental loads such as conservation of energy and resources as well as the quality of a building including interior comfort and scenic aesthetics. The CASBEE rankings include “S”, “A”, “B+”, and “B,” in descending order.
** Certification Rank of the 9 properties are as follows. (As of July 31, 2022)

S Rank ★★★★★

A Rank ★★★★ 

C. Awarded “Building-Housing Energy-efficiency Labeling System (BELS)” Certification

RESIDIA Ochanomizu Ⅱ was awarded the BELS Certification for in March 2019.
For further information on the “BELS”, please refer to their website.
https://www.hyoukakyoukai.or.jp/bels/info.html (Japanese Only)

D. Participation in GRESB Assessment

In 2014 ADR became the first residential J-REIT* to participate in the GRESB** Assessment.

ADR is selected as a “Sector Leader” in the Listed Residential sector in Asia in the FY2022 GRESB Real Estate Assessment for the third consecutive year, following FY2020 and FY2021. In addition, in the GRESB rating, which indicates a relative evaluation based on the global ranking of the overall score, ADR received a “4 Star” rating, the higher rank out of five levels. ADR is the first residential J-REIT to receive a “4 Star” rating.

In addition, ADR has been awarded the “Green Star” rating, which is given to operators that are evaluated as excellent in both the “Management Component,” which evaluates ESG promotion policies and organizational structure, and the “Performance Component,” which evaluates the environmental performance of properties owned and initiatives for tenants, for the seventh consecutive year, and the highest rating of “A” in the ESG disclosure component (“GRESB Disclosure Assessment”) for five consecutive years.

By continuing to participate in the assessment ADR and its asset manager ITOCHU REIT Management Co., Ltd. (IRM) will strive to improve their quality of the measures they will take in regards of sustainability and score higher in the assessment.

*Residential J-REIT is an investment corporation listed on the Real Estate Investment Trust Securities Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange whose principal investment is in residential properties and whose portfolio investment ratio in residential properties is 50% or more.

**GRESB is an industry-driven organization established by European pension funds committed to assessing the sustainability performance of real estate portfolios (public, private and direct) around the globe. The dynamic benchmark is used by institutional leading investors in Europe, the U.S. and Asia to engage with their investments in an aim to improve the sustainability performance of their investment portfolio, and the global property sector at large.

E. Acquisition of SBT Certification

ADR obtained SBT* certification in March 2023 for our GHG emissions reduction target by FY2030 (reducing the total amount by 51% from the FY 2018 level), as Science Based Targets, which is consistent with the level required by the Paris Agreement.

*SBT (Science Based Targets: emission reduction targets based on scientific evidence) is GHG emission reduction targets set by companies that are consistent with the levels required by the Paris Agreement (which aims to limit the global temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C). The SBT Initiative is an international initiative of CDP, the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the World Resources Institute (WRI), and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to certify companies that set SBT.

F. MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index

Advance Residence Investment Corporation (ADR) was the only residential J-REIT to be selected as a constituent of “MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index*” by MSCI** on the launch of the index in 2017.

Although in 2018 ADR was excluded from the index, IRM were able to improve ADR’s ESG rating for this index from BB to A since 2021..

The index selects companies in the “MSCI Japan IMI Top 500 Index” that have high “Environmental,” “Social” and “Governance” (ESG) profile relative to their sector peers.

Furthermore, the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) announced that it has selected the index for their ESG investment strategy.

ADR has been managing its assets with ESG performance in mind, and it will endeavor to further increase its value by improving its long-term ESG performance.

For further information on the “MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index”, please refer to the website listed below.
https://www.msci.com/msci-japan-esg-select-leaders-index

MSCI is one of the largest investment information provider and has been providing investment information to institutional investors for more than 40 years.