January 27, 2006—Teikoku Databank Ltd., a major Japanese credit research company, has announced the results of an opinion poll on corporate attitudes toward climate-friendly office wear.
“Warm Biz” is a government media campaign to encourage a new style of dress for business in autumn and winter, which allows offices to maintain room temperatures lower than usual (at 20 degrees Celsius), with the aim of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from office heating in winter. The campaign follows the success of “Cool Biz,” a summertime dress code that encourages more casual fashion in the office, allowing companies to set their air conditioners at 28 degrees Celsius, higher than usual in summer.
The “Warm Biz” fashions were announced by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment in August 2005. During the research period, from September 21 to 30, valid responses were received from 10,436 out of 21,342 companies across the nation.
In all, 5.3% of respondents said they “plan to implement” Warm Biz this year, and 24.6% said they were “still considering,” bringing to 29.8% the number of respondents with a positive attitude to Warm Biz. Opinions expressed included one that said, “When considering environmental issues, this approach is attractive, as it is something people can relate to directly, and is easy to do.”
Meanwhile, 52.8% of corporations had “no plans to introduce Warm Biz.” One reason presented was that “Work efficiency will suffer, if we reduce office temperatures any further.” Many of these corporations gave more positive comments, such as “For now we are watching to see what other companies do,” and “Warm Biz might be easier to implement than Cool Biz.”
For more information, visit the Teikoku Web site.
