What is GRESB?
GRESB (Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark) is an international sustainability assessment organisation that is transforming the way that the real estate and infrastructure sectors evaluate, compare and improve the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of their investments. GRESB provides a comprehensive framework for assessing and measuring the ESG performance of real estate and infrastructure portfolios and provides investors with the data and benchmarking tools they need to make better-informed investment decisions.
Why is GRESB important?
GRESB is significant because it offers a thorough and uniform global standard for evaluating and monitoring the sustainability performance of real estate assets. It makes it possible for owners, managers, and investors to gauge, comprehend, and enhance their portfolios' sustainability performance. With more than 1,000 investors and $5 trillion in assets under management, GRESB is acknowledged as the most popular sustainability benchmark for the real estate industry.
The benefits of having GRESB are numerous. GRESB helps investors assess the ESG performance of their real estate and infrastructure portfolios and identify areas of improvement. Through the GRESB assessment, investors can identify risks, opportunities and areas of improvement, and can compare their performance to peers.
What are the GRESB Real Estate Benchmarks?
Real estate investors and asset managers can compare the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of their portfolio assets using the GRESB Real Estate Benchmarks, which are sustainability performance measures and benchmarking tools. The benchmarks offer an open and comparable evaluation of ESG performance across various real estate asset classes and geographical regions.
Who is GRESB applicable to?
GRESB is relevant to real estate and infrastructure portfolios, including listed and non-listed funds, REITs, private equity, and direct investments. GRESB assessment is the most widely used sustainability assessment tool in the real estate and infrastructure industry and is used by more than 900 investors representing over $22 trillion in assets.
The GRESB Real Estate Evaluation
The Assessment consists of two parts:
1. The GRESB Real Estate Assessment: This is a survey-based assessment designed to measure the sustainability performance of a real estate portfolio or company. The survey covers the ESG topics that are most relevant to the real estate sector such as energy and water consumption, waste management, occupational health and safety, and tenant engagement. The survey is completed by the portfolio or company and is then evaluated by GRESB.
2. GRESB Real Estate Benchmark: This is a comprehensive benchmarking tool that allows real estate investors to compare their performance against the industry, region, and peers. The Benchmark is based on the results from the GRESB Real Estate Assessment and provides investors with an overview of their sustainability performance and insights into areas for improvement
When is the GRESB evaluation performed?
Each year, the real estate assessment cycle for GRESB runs from 1 April to 1 July. Assessment submissions outside of these dates won't be allowed because this cycle is fixed. On September 1, preliminary results are made accessible to participants. There is subsequently a month-long review period during which participants can ask GRESB for a review. On October 1st, the final results are released.
A GRESB green star is what?
Real estate enterprises who receive a score of more than 50% on the pertinent assessment criteria from three categories—management, performance, and development—are awarded a GRESB green star. The green star is based on absolute performance and is only available to real estate participants—not infrastructure.