Reduce CO₂ from our business processes, products and services to net zero

LIXIL Corporation

Outline

LIXIL aims to achieve netzero CO₂ emissions through its business activities, products and services by 2050. 32% of the energy consumption in the world is consumed in buildings. LIXIL contributes to energy conservation through its business activities and our responsibility to be an important role in the transition to a decarbonized society. We are committed to minimizing the environmental impact of our business activities and providing environmentally friendly products and services by making the most of our advanced technologies and expertise in residential life. We will also cooperate with various stakeholders to contribute to the future of a sustainable global environment.

Description

Under LIXIL's Environmental Vision 2050, LIXIL aims to achieve netzero CO₂ emissions through its business activities and products and services by 2050. By 2030, compared with fiscal year 2015, LIXIL aims to reduce scope 1 and 2 ^{* 1} by 30% and, of scope 3 * ^2, 15% of emissions from product use. This target was approved as a scientifically based by the international initiative "Science Based Targets (SBT) Initiative" in 2017.

^{* 1} Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Fuel and Electricity Used by the Company

^{* 2} GHG emissions in the supply chain

To achieve this goal, we will promote the efficient use of energy, the introduction of renewable energy, and the spread of products and services with excellent environmental performance and ZEH (Net Zero Energy House).

1. Initiatives through Business Activities

Each business organization sets targets and measures in accordance with the Medium-Term Environmental Targets and promotes initiatives which lead to climate change mitigation, such as energy conservation and energy creation, in order to reduce energy consumption in all processes of the supply chain.

For example, we are promoting the switch to LED lighting, and have already completed switching lighting by more than 95% at our plants in Japan, thereby reducing CO₂ emissions. In addition, with the aim of increasing energy efficiency in the production process, we are promoting improvement activities through visualization of energy consumption and the introduction of highly efficient production facilities, thereby reducing power consumption. At the same time, we are also promoting the operation of mega solar power generation facilities and switching to renewable energy in factories and offices, realizing switching without increasing costs. All plants and distribution centers of GROHE, a group company, have achieved 100% renewable energy, and we plan to gradually increase the number of renewable energy introduction bases as plants, distribution centers, sales offices and showrooms in Japan.

2. Initiatives through Products and Services

In our products and services, we not only mitigate climate change by saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but also adapt to climate change by providing products that keep living spaces healthy and comfortable even in a society with serious climate change.

For example, LIXIL's high-insulation window and shades installed outside the windows control heat flow, and contribute to reduce CO₂ emissions by conserving energy consumption by air conditioning while keeping health and comfortableness. We are also providing products that allow customers to easily renovate existing windows into highly insulated windows, and are promoting insulation in their homes. Water circulation products such as kitchen faucets and shower heads contribute to save energy to supply hot water by water-saving technology.

The home delivery box, which can be installed at home, has a function linked to a smartphone, enabling the receipt of multiple packages as well as notification of receipt of packages, thereby reducing CO₂ emissions through redelivery. In 2018, 4.3 million packages were delivered annually and 420 thousnad ton CO₂ emitted by redelivery trucks. From 2019, in order to contribute to solving social problems such as a decrease in labor productivity due to redelivery and an increase in CO₂ emissions, a home delivery box that makes full use of IoT will be used free of charge by families of 100 households, and a demonstration experiment will be conducted. As a result, the redelivery rate decreased from 41.7% to 14.9%. There is also a tendency for more than half of users to increase their behavior with awareness of social and environmental issues such as saving electricity and using eco-bags. We aim to provide products and services that contribute to healthy, comfortable, and safe living even in the New Normal era.

The key to reducing household energy consumption is the spread of the Net Zero Energy House (ZEH), but it has not progressed. Therefore, a joint venture company “LIXIL TEPCO Smart Partners” established together with TEPCO Energy Partner Co., Ltd., provides a service for customers who use LIXIL’s ZEH building materials to reduce monthly installment payments to substantially zero, thereby contributing to the promotion of ZEH.

3. Working with Stakeholders

Since 2018, in order to achieve a balance between “Energy conservation” and “Health and comfort” living in our homes, we have focused on “room temperature”. We have been promoting activities ‘THINK HEAT’to raise the environmental awareness of a wide range of stakeholders, including customers, local communities, business partners and employees. We are spreading the idea of encouraging behavior modification throughout society by “learning and experience”.

In the original ‘healthy and environmentally friendly way of living’ class for elementary school students, in which the employees themselves to be as lecturers, workshops are held to think about ways to spend time comfortably without using electricity, and experiments are conducted using a model of a house to understand the movement of the wind and air in the house.

In cooperation with local governments that promote mitigation and adaptation, we are conducting awareness-raising activities ‘Cool de Peace Project’ to prevent indoor heatstroke and sharing the value of sunshade, and ‘Eco Share Project from the Window’ program, in which we donate sunshades to local nursery schools and kindergartens as part of the sales of insulated windows purchased by customers.

In addition, original thermometers were distributed to employees and customers in order to create an opportunity for them to be aware of “room temperature”. In addition, we have opened a facility called “Housing Studio” where visitors can experience the temperature difference in their homes and learn what is necessary to live a comfortable life throughout the year.