RQR Japon KK
Starts Asset Management Co.,Ltd.
Starts Research Institute, Ltd.

Tokyo, May 31st 2024

RQR Japon K.K. (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Taiji Shiroyama), in cooperation with Starts Asset Management Co.,Ltd. (Head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Kazuya Hiraide) and Starts Research Institute, Ltd. (Head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Kazuya Hiraide) jointly conducted Japan’s first sustainable value rating of an office building in Tokyo, using the real estate quality scoring services developed by RQR Japon K.K.

Context and objectives

In Europe, real estate investment decisions aim to consider not only economic factors such as location and marketability, but also the quality of the workspace, of the built structure and sustainability, the quality and safety of the immediate environment, etc. RQR has proven track records in Europe in supporting valuations, development and investment decisions through its real estate quality rating that takes into account the multifaceted and intrinsic value of real estate properties.

When launching the service in Japan, RQR Japon assessed an approximately 10,000 m2 office building in Tokyo, in collaboration with Starts Asset Management and Starts Research Institute, in order to verify service applicability to the uniqueness of the Japanese property market.

Starts Asset Management and Starts Research Institute are aware that existing Japanese property valuation and environmental certification systems do not fully account for the true value of real estate, and are also keen to utilise BIM (Building Information Modelling) data for various solutions across the entire building lifecycle.

The BIM-FM Platform, which utilises BIM (Building Information Modelling) data for a variety of solutions across the entire building lifecycle, is being promoted by Starts Research Institute. Using a BIM model of an office building, the potential for integration with RQR’s assessment model was examined.

Results Overview

• The assessment was conducted based on the following three aspects:
  1. Workspace (‘floor efficiency, ‘health and comfort of office workers’, etc.)
  2. Built structure (‘durability’, ‘sustainability’, ‘risk prevention’, etc.)
  3. Location (‘accessibility’, ‘immediate environment’, ‘neighbourhood’)
• Based on the scoring results, the potential to increase the value of the office building in question was examined, and improvement proposals were discussed and presented.
• It was shown that the sustainable value rating based on European standards can also be applied to Japanese real estate, and that it is useful for decision-making with regard to development and investment decisions, by clarifying the impact of each quality dimension on real estate valuation.

Linking BIM and RQR assessment models.

• Using a BIM model of an office building, it was confirmed that of the 122 building-related items in the RQR rating system, around 70-80 items could potentially be automatically captured by BIM model.
• It was also confirmed that linking BIM data to the RQR scoring model can be expected to make the process more reliable, save time, and speed up the valuation through automation.

RQR evaluation system

Based on the results and issues raised in this study, we will further investigate the applicability of the RQR sustainable valuation model to the real estate market in Japan. In addition, we will further work on developing the linkage between BIM and scoring, including the development of a software to automate RQR scoring using BIM data. Through these efforts, we aim to achieve more efficient and sustainable real estate valuations, which we believe is highly needed by market participants.