The Carbon Footprint of Clothing Considering the Relationship Between Clothing Layering and Heating Usage

Toshiro Semba (), Atsushi Inaba, Ryuzo Furukawa and Norihiro Itsubo
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Toshiro Semba: Graduate School of Environmental and Information Studies, Tokyo City University, Yokohama 224-0015, Japan
Atsushi Inaba: Japan Life Cycle Assessment Facilitation Centre, Tokyo 170-0013, Japan
Ryuzo Furukawa: Graduate School of Environmental and Information Studies, Tokyo City University, Yokohama 224-0015, Japan
Norihiro Itsubo: Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 2, 1-25

Abstract: Approximately 20% of CO 2 emissions from Japanese households are attributed to heating usage. Consequently, as part of its climate change policy, the Ministry of the Environment has promoted the “WARM BIZ” campaign, which encourages setting room temperatures to about 20 °C during heating, through practices such as layering clothing. However, according to the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of clothing, the environmental impacts of clothing production, washing, and drying are significant. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate heating usage within the clothing lifecycle to assess the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction effect of practicing WARM BIZ. In this study, we calculated the household heating energy consumption in four regions of Japan, and, by incorporating these data, estimated the GHG emissions over the clothing’s lifecycle, from production and use to disposal. The results showed that those practicing WARM BIZ had approximately 9 to 26% lower GHG emissions over the entire lifecycle than those who were not. Furthermore, by using the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) index, it was shown that by adding a light long-sleeved shirt (0.18 clo), light long pants (0.18 clo), and a cardigan (0.37 clo) to the standard clothing scenario, the room temperature could be set 3.1 °C lower than the current setting, potentially reducing GHG emissions over the entire lifecycle by approximately 18%.

Keywords: clo value; clothing layering; consumer behavior; GHG emissions; heating energy; LCA; PMV; WARM BIZ (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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