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Improved Energy Efficiency

Last Updated: 2024.03.22
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Fast Retailing promotes greater efficiency in the use of energy in our stores and throughout the supply chain. We also promote the development and production of functional apparel that reduces energy used when worn by our customers.

Policies for Greater Energy Efficiency

Fast Retailing uses a variety of energy sources for store lighting and climate control, product manufacturing and transport, and other purposes. We work with our partners to encourage energy savings and increase efficiency in our business activities, while respecting the energy reduction targets in every region and country where we conduct business. Fast Retailing also plans and develops functional apparel designed to possibly support the reduction of the amount of energy customers consume, simply by wearing our clothing.

Targets

Fast Retailing

e promote energy saving in our stores and offices in every country and region where we conduct business. By changing the way we operate our stores, Fast Retailing introduces energy saving measures in lighting, heating, and temperature control. We have adopted new technologies, including LED lighting and automatic temperature control systems. We are also changing the way we design our stores to make effective use of natural light. We also save energy in our Yamaguchi office through LED lighting and improving air-conditioning efficiency and in Ariake and Roppongi offices through systems that shut down lighting and temperature control systems automatically at the end of the normal workday. At our Ariake Office, we save energy through the use of natural light.

In addition, aiming at 100% sourcing of renewable electricity by the fiscal year ending August 2030, we have introduced renewable energy at stores and offices through initiatives such as an on-site installation* of solar power generation equipment, purchasing green electricity products provided by energy suppliers, and renewable energy certificates.
*Sourcing through PPA (Power Purchase Agreement)

Supply Chain

We identify every business associated with the Fast Retailing Group to improve energy efficiency throughout our supply chain including our production partners and logistics partners. We collaborate with our partners to improve productivity and promote the installation of energy-saving equipment.

To reduce environmental impact throughout the supply chain, Fast Retailing uses the Higg Index and other apparel industry indices at our core garment factories and fabric mills to measure and reduce their environmental impact. Based on strong relationships with partner factories, we are working to achieve our GHG emissions reduction target by the fiscal year ending August 2030 in our supply chain through reducing energy usage and improving energy efficiency.
Our aim is to reduce energy usage with logistics partners by consolidating shipments and improving loading efficiency.

Fast Retailing Initiatives

Stores and offices

・Reductions in energy consumption through energy saving at stores
We strive to reduce GHG emissions by promoting energy savings and reducing electricity usage at stores. As of February 2024, we have installed LED lighting in 810 out of 812 UNIQLO stores (99.8%) and all 434 GU stores (100.0%) in Japan. We are also moving forward to use LED lighting systems at UNIQLO stores globally. In addition, we will gradually switch to more energy efficient lighting in our stores, even those stores where LED lighting is already installed.

  • Currently, we are striving to achieve our emissions reduction target by the fiscal year ending August 2030 and further promoting energy efficiency by installing an air conditioning operation control system that controls overtime use and automatically adjusts to a preset temperature. As of the fiscal year ending August 2023, UNIQLO has acquired Gold Level LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification in the Building Operations & Maintenance (O+M) category at eight main roadside stores in Japan. In addition to implementing measures such as adjusting lighting and air conditioning, we are developing new, highly energy-efficient roadside store formats at the stage of designing stores. In April 2023, UNIQLO opened the UNIQLO Maebashi Minami IC Store with energy-saving features. Through the integration of various types of energy-saving lighting fixtures and other technologies, the UNIQLO Maebashi store is expected to use around 40% less electricity compared to conventional UNIQLO roadside stores*1. Energy generated from solar panels is also estimated to offset around 15% of the total power consumption (based on a calculation by UNIQLO). Together, these elements have earned the building accreditation including:


  • UNIQLO Maebashi Minami IC Store
  1. a)BELS*2 top five-star rating.*3
  2. b)Building Energy Index (BEI) value*3 of 0.33.
    (under the BELS evaluation index, this means that the store design has the potential for a 67% reduction in primary energy consumption)
  3. c)ZEB Ready*4 certification (building conforms to primary energy consumption reduction of 50% or higher from standard primary energy consumption, excluding renewable energy)

Notes

  1. *1Comparison assuming the same area for the UNIQLO Tomioka Store (opened in October 2018) in the same prefecture.
  2. *2The Building-Housing Energy-efficiency Labeling System (BELS) is a third-party certification based on guidelines from Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT).
  3. *3The BEI value (primary energy consumption standard) is calculated from primary energy consumption based on building energy consumption performance standards prescribed by the Japanese government. The BELS evaluation is the basis for ZEB (Net Zero Energy Building), and determines the ZEB certification level.
  4. *4ZEB Ready certification was received on March 17, 2023, based on guidelines from Japan's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), as a "Building that aims to achieve net zero primary energy consumption throughout the year by limiting the energy load through advanced architectural design, proactive utilization of natural energy through the adoption of passive technologies (construction techniques that use natural energy to the greatest extent possible), and the introduction of high-efficiency equipment systems, to achieve significant energy savings while maintaining the quality of the indoor environment, while also enhancing energy independence as much as possible through the use of renewable energy."

・Introducing renewable energy
We have introduced renewable energy at stores and offices through initiatives such as an on-site installation* of solar power generation equipment, purchasing green electricity products provided by energy suppliers and renewable energy certificates. We have achieved 42.4% sourcing of renewable electricity as of the fiscal year ending August 2022.
*Sourcing through PPA (Power Purchase Agreement)

・Respecting the environment by acquiring LEED certification
UNIQLO has been working towards reducing its environmental burden through its store designs and operations. UNIQLO has standardized the specifications for roadside stores, utilizing high-quality materials, heat insulation, LED lighting and simple store designs to create durable, energy-efficient retail spaces. The Gold Level LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification in the Building Operations & Maintenance (O+M) category was awarded in recognition of this store design and its operating procedures. By the fiscal year ending August 2023, UNIQLO has acquired LEED O+M Gold certification at eight main roadside stores in Japan including the Kawagoe store. We continue to apply the knowledge gained through these efforts to further lower the environmental impact of its stores.

Related Links

Supply Chain Initiatives

Logistics

・Reducing energy usage
We are taking steps to reduce energy consumption and environmental impacts related to logistics through improved transportation efficiencies.

InitiativesAreasDescription

Visualization of greenhouse
gas emissions

Global

  • We are a member of the Smart Freight Centre (SFC), an international non-profit organization dedicated to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from freight transportation, and we promote efforts to visualize and reduce greenhouse gas emissions across logistics, in collaboration with the SFC and its member companies, as well as other organizations, and experts.

Buyer Consolidation

Global

  • By consolidating goods shipped from UNIQLO and GU factories having similar delivery dates, we reduce our global shipping volume by nearly 10,000 containers annually.

Container Round Use

UNIQLO
in Japan

  • Container Round Use (CRU) consists of unloading a container used for import and loading it with items for export, instead of returning the container to the port empty. By reducing the number of empty containers in transit, it becomes possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and alleviate congestion at ports. UNIQLO is promoting CRU initiatives, such as using the same container to import products and export store materials.

Improving Truck Shipping
Efficiency

UNIQLO and GU
in Japan

  • In March 2016, we began improving truck shipping efficiency by expanding the hours when goods can be delivered to stores and by using the same truck to deliver goods to UNIQLO and GU stores located in close proximity.

Initiatives to
Improve Loading
Efficiency

UNIQLO and GU
in Japan

  • At UNIQLO and GU, we set minimum orders per item for each store in order to prevent inefficient small shipments from warehouses to stores.
  • In response to the problem of inefficient loading when cardboard boxes of various sizes are used, starting in September 2017 we reduced the number of shipping cartons used by UNIQLO to improving loading efficiency.
  • In slower periods, we improve loading efficiency by further consolidating the deliveries.

Initiatives to
Improve
E-commerce Shipping
Efficiencies

UNIQLO
in Japan

  • We are improving shipping efficiency at the Ariake warehouse (e-commerce sales) with systems that automatically adjust the height of the carton according to the quantity of products the carton contains to minimize the carton size.

Production partners

・Reducing environmental impact
To reduce environmental impact throughout the supply chain, Fast Retailing uses the Higg Index and other apparel industry indices at our core garment factories and fabric mills to measure and reduce their environmental impact. In addition, based on strong relationships with partner factories, we are working to achieve our GHG emissions reduction target by the fiscal year ending August 2030 in our supply chain. By November 2021, we defined the specific conditions and issues across countries and regions, and at each of the core partner factories jointly accounting for 90% of UNIQLO and GU manufacturing. We then formulated plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency, decarbonization, and renewable energy initiatives. To implement these plans, we work closely with partner factories to track progress, conducting reviews every three months, providing guidance and support to resolve issues.

Related Links

Energy Usage

Third-party verification of energy usage data

The data on energy usage has been verified by SGS Japan Co., Ltd.*
* The verification scope up to the fiscal year ending August 2020 is for main offices and UNIQLO and GU stores in Japan. From the fiscal year ending August 2021, the scope covers global operations of Fast Retailing.

Fast Retailing

Items Units Fiscal 2019 Fiscal 2020 Fiscal 2021 Fiscal 2022
Energy usage Gas m3 7,669,159 3,142,323 1,923,305 2,072,231
Electricity kWh 561,629,357 560,308,048 524,276,267 565,145,093
Renewable energy sourced kWh - - 13,391,707 239,842,665
Proportion of electricity sourced for own operations from renewable energy % - - 2.6 42.4
Scope Fast Retailing Fast Retailing Fast Retailing Fast Retailing

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