Kawasaki City, a Japanese city with a population of 1.3 million situated to the south of Tokyo, introduced its own version of Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency (CASBEE) on October 1, 2006, with the aim of building a market where environment friendly condominiums are highly evaluated. To support Kawasaki's CASBEE, the Sumitomo Trust & Banking Company and Bank of Yokohama started to offer favorable interest rates on housing loans for environmentally friendly condominiums on the same day.
Kawasaki's CASBEE intends to encourage condominium builders to consider the environment in the hope of reducing environmental burdens. Under the Kawasaki's system, builders and renovators of condominiums with gross floor areas of more than 5,000 square meters are obliged to submit a green plan to the city and to display information on the environmental efficiency of condominiums when advertising their sale.
The information to be shown to purchasers includes ratings on six items: (1) function and durability; (2) greenery and streetscape; (3) care for the surroundings; (4) resource saving and recycling; (5) energy savings; and (6) livability. Ratings are indicated with one to five stars.
Sumitomo offers interest rates at 0.8 percent lower than its over-the-counter rate for condominiums with three stars, 1.0 percent lower for those with four stars and 1.2 percent lower for those with five stars. Yokohama offers interest rates at 1.0 percent lower than its ordinary rate for those with three stars or more.
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