JP Amended Building Energy Efficiency Act — Mandatory Energy Conservation Standard Compliance from April 2025

Under the amended Act on the Improvement of Energy Consumption Performance of Buildings (Building Energy Efficiency Act), from April 1, 2025, all newly constructed buildings, whether residential or non-residential and regardless of scale, are required to comply with energy conservation standards. The change was introduced to dramatically strengthen energy conservation measures in the building sector, in support of Japan's goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 and its 2030 greenhouse gas reduction target (a 46% cut from fiscal 2013 levels). Previously, the mandatory requirement applied only to buildings of a certain scale (300 square meters or more), but the amendment extends the obligation in principle to essentially all new buildings. Building owners must design new buildings to comply with the energy conservation standards, covering both primary energy consumption and building envelope performance, and must undergo an energy conservation compliance review as part of the building confirmation application process; a building that does not meet the standard cannot receive a building confirmation certificate and construction cannot begin.