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Project to Take on the Challenge of Decarbonizing the Construction Industry Receives Grant from Mitsui & Co. Co-creation Fund

Dec. 17, 2024


Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui", Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Kenichi Hori) has selected as the third recipient of a grant from the Mitsui & Co. Co-creation Fund a project that is taking on the challenge of reducing CO2 emissions and construction material leftover.

Project name Taking on the Challenge of Decarbonization through the Reduction of Construction Material Leftover and CO2 Emissions in the Construction Industry
Grant amount ¥98 million
Recipient NewNorm Design, Inc. ("NND", Head Office: Tokyo)
Issue finder Fara Taraie (CEO)
Social issue targeted Mitigation of high environmental loads in the construction industry through the reduction of construction material leftover and CO2 emissions

In recent years, investors have been increasingly focusing on sustainability impacts, including environmental factors, as criteria when investing in businesses or selecting building projects to invest in. According to a World Bank report, the quantity of urban solid waste, including construction waste, is expected to rise from a global total of approximately 1.3 billion tons in 2012 to 2.2 billion tons by 2025.

NND is helping to reduce CO2 emissions throughout the lifecycles of buildings, from design, construction, and renovation through to demolition, by promoting the sustainable use of construction materials. It has established "matinno", a software service (SaaS) platform to prevent wastage through the sharing of information about surplus construction materials from manufacturing processes and construction sites, so that materials that would otherwise have been scrapped can be recycled and reused. NND contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions by promoting the recycling and reuse of surplus construction materials leftover through "matinno".

This grant from the Mitsui & Co. Co-creation Fund will allow Mitsui to work with NND to realize a decarbonized society by supporting efforts to recycle surplus construction materials leftover and accelerate the reduction of CO2 emissions. Mitsui will use its construction industry networks and link NND's "matinno" platform with its own platforms, such as the "steelnavi" building information modeling (BIM) platform for steel frame buildings, and the "LCA Plus" platform, which visualizes greenhouse gas emissions at the individual product level.

Company Profile

Official name NewNorm Design, Inc.
Head office location Chuo City, Tokyo
Established 2021
Representative Fara Taraie
Number of employees 6
Business activities Conceptual design, innovation design, sustainable design, universal/urban design, design consultation, etc., for the construction industry
Website

https://www.newnormdesign.com/

Mitsui & Co. Co-creation Fund

Mitsui & Co. Co-creation Fund was established in March 2023 to provide grants and support for initiatives to solve social issues and realize a sustainable society through collaboration between issue finders (NPOs, researchers, social entrepreneurs, etc.) working to solve various social issues, and Mitsui officers and employees.

The NewNorm Design team (Back row center: CEO Fara Taraie)The NewNorm Design team (Back row center: CEO Fara Taraie)
A recycled sushi restaurant counter used in a caféA recycled sushi restaurant counter used in a café

Mitsui’s Materiality

“Build brighter futures, everywhere” as our corporate mission, and to gain the trust and expectations of our stakeholders to realize a better tomorrow for earth and for people around the world, we have identified five material issues (“Materiality”) for Mitsui’s sustainable growth. We anticipate this particular project/ business to contribute especially to the realization of “Enhance quality of life” and “Develop talent leading to value creation”

  • Secure sustainable supply of essential products

    Secure sustainable supply of essential products

  • Enhance quality of life

    Enhance quality of life

  • Create an eco-friendly society

    Create an eco-friendly society

  • Develop talent leading to value creation

    Develop talent leading to value creation

  • Build an organization with integrity

    Build an organization with integrity