Obtaining SBT certification to deepen response to climate change measures

--Please tell us about your company's Service and the department you both work in.

Yoshiko Kato (hereinafter referred to as Ms. Kato): Infronia Holdings (hereinafter referred to as Infronia) was established in October 2021 as a joint holding Company of Maeda Construction, Maeda Road, and Maeda Manufacturing, and Japan Wind Development joined in 2024, forming a group of 4 major business Company . At Infronia, we aim to realize a new business model as a "comprehensive infrastructure Service company" to solve social Issue related to infrastructure and infrastructure Service . We are engaged in business in various infrastructure fields such as construction, paving, machinery Manufacturing, and renewable Energy businesses. In addition, we have the strength of being able to provide Service from upstream to downstream in a seamless manner, and we aim to solve social Issue through infrastructure and Service by focusing on planning proposals and investment fields.

We belong to the Sustainability Promotion Office of the Corporate Strategy Department, where we plan and implement sustainability measures across the entire group. In particular, our team focuses on the environmental field, and is responsible for supporting the group's decarbonized management through the use of renewable Energy and the promotion of climate change countermeasures.

Masaaki Hayashi (hereinafter referred to as Mr. Hayashi): From April 2025, we have evolved into an integrated sustainability promotion system aimed at improving our internal and external evaluations. In addition to our expertise in the environmental field, we are also focusing on the disclosure of integrated sustainability information and responding to external evaluations.

--Please tell us about the background and Issue you faced in working to obtain SBT.

Kato: The biggest reason is to deepen our response to climate change measures. We wanted to consolidate the environmental measures that had previously been implemented by individual operating Company into a single policy for the holding company, and present it both inside and outside the company as a persuasive goal.

Maeda Construction had already obtained SBT, but with the establishment of a holding company structure, Infronia was required to apply for it again. However, there were high practical hurdles to overcome, such as submitting the application in English, providing supporting numerical evidence, and Settings boundaries, and they had particular difficulty in collecting and classifying past data.

--What aspects of the work did you find particularly difficult?

Hayashi: The most difficult part was collecting data from each operating Company. We had to unify the various formats, including those for our 30 to 40 subsidiaries, and manually compile and analyze the data. We also needed to ensure consistency with the boundaries set out in the integrated report. Kato was in charge of the practical aspects and handled the detailed communication with each group company.

Mr. Kato: The people in charge at each group company were very helpful. We made sure to communicate frequently and discuss together so that the goals would not just be for show. We also introduced the GHG emissions calculation / Visualization solution"Zeroboard " to further deepen collaboration with group Company and work on more effective goal management through data collection and visualization.

Mr. Hayashi: The Dashboard 's high customizability, such as displaying the aggregated results for the entire holdings or switching between individual business Company , was a point of evaluation for the introduction. We would like to make good use of it with the support of Zeroboard.

SBTHow to overcome these hurdles? The importance of consulting Service

──Please tell us why you chose Zeroboard and what was the deciding factor.

Mr. Kato: I first encountered Zeroboard when I was consulting about the introduction of a calculation system. As we talked, I learned that they also provide support for SBT applications, and I felt that they had sufficient expertise. Therefore, I felt at ease when I requested their consulting Service.

We thought it would be difficult to obtain SBT certification on our own, so we were looking for a company that could support us from the beginning. Zeroboard not only offered us an appropriate price based on the support Contents, but also had a strong track record of implementing and supporting general contractors, so we expected they had a deep understanding of the industry and would be able to provide support that suited the characteristics of our business.

──What is your impression of Zeroboard's consulting Service?

Mr. Kato: They were indeed a strong partner in the English language barrier and in our interactions with the SBT Secretariat. It wasn't just the language barrier, but we were able to consult them freely when we didn't understand the SBT Secretariat's intentions or finer nuances. In particular, the knowledge and advice they gained when applying for other companies was extremely helpful, and they helped us to recognize differences in interpretation that we would not have noticed on our own. Also, we were sometimes required to meet a tight schedule when communicating with overseas parties with time differences, but we are grateful that they were able to respond flexibly.

Since SBT applications are not made every year, it would be difficult for a non-specialist company to have the knowledge and expertise, so I was grateful to have the support of a trusted partner.

Mr. Hayashi: I am very satisfied with the support from Zeroboard. I especially appreciated the detailed feedback from the SBT office and the accurate support for the gaps in understanding due to differences in business practices and culture.

--What changes have occurred both inside and outside the company as a result of obtaining SBT?

Kato: Although we have not yet been able to conduct a detailed analysis, it was great to see the clear effects on the external evaluations we had hoped for, such as CDPs score, the global standard for climate change information disclosure, rising by 2 levels (to the highest rating, A list) while we were still in the SBT application stage. As we aim to be a company that is trusted by all stakeholders, we believe that this has been an opportunity to have our efforts recognized, especially by institutional investors. We have also received a certain degree of praise from within the company.

Mr. Hayashi: In terms of the specific timeline, we started applying for SBT in May 2024, and in our response to the CDPs questionnaire in September of the same year, we stated that we were "applying for SBT". We obtained SBT certification in December 2024, and CDPs score was announced in February 2025, which resulted in an increase in CDPs score. We have been continuously responding to questionnaires from various rating agencies, and in fiscal 2024, our environmental scores, including the Nikkei Sustainable Comprehensive Survey, Sompo Japan ESG Survey, and S&P, all increased across the board. In addition, we have received more requests for related contributions, which has expanded our opportunities to disseminate information and has also led to PR effects.

Sustainability Promotion Office, Corporate Strategy Department Mr. Masaaki, Mr. Kato Dear Jiko

Group-wide decarbonization and future prospects

--Please tell us about your future strategies regarding sustainability.

Mr. Hayashi: In March 2025, we announced a new medium-term management plan (2025-2027). In it, we aim to achieve both "solving social Issue" and "sustainable corporate growth". We are also strengthening our business by collaborating with Japan Wind Development and Maeda Construction, which have recently joined our group, to build renewable energy power plants. 1 and 2 will be an opportunity to develop technology to reduce our own emission amount , which may in turn be useful to our customers. Our two pillars are to reduce CO2 emission amount in our own business activity while making profits from our business and contributing to solving social Issue.

Mr. Kato: We announced along with our mid-term management plan that we will accelerate our goal of achieving the international initiative "RE100," which aims for companies to cover 100% of the electricity used in their business activity with renewable Energy . Specifically, we have Settings to accelerate our goal of achieving 50 % by fiscal 2030 and 100% by fiscal 2050 to fiscal 2030. We hope to contribute to society as a leading company that promotes the use of renewable Energy. In the future, we believe that it is necessary to consider not only climate change measures but also environmental issues in a broader framework, and we plan to focus on areas such as circular economy and nature positivity. We believe that this will definitely lead to business opportunities for our company.

--Finally, what advice would you give to other companies considering SBT?

Mr. Kato: Keeping in mind that the application process, including preparation, takes a lot of time, it's important to plan your schedule well and to use a consulting Service with specialized knowledge. The SBT Secretariat's requests and confirmations are detailed, so the accurate response based on the Zeroboard experience was very reassuring.

I think things will go smoothly if you seek the cooperation of trusted partners, deepen understanding within the company, and value company-wide collaboration.

Hayashi: I think it's important to create a system for collecting data, which is the basis of everything. Collecting data on a daily basis will lead to a smoother application. SBT is certainly a high hurdle, but I feel that there are many rewards ahead, so I recommend taking on the challenge.

*The support Contents will vary depending on the plan and options you choose.
Zeroboard offers consulting Service to support SBT applications, as well as various options to suit customer needs, including holding study sessions and data entry services.