Our industry is engaged in an important dialogue to improve sustainability through ESG transparency and industry collaboration. This article is a contribution to this larger conversation and does not necessarily reflect GRESB’s position.
ESG reporting requirements tighten across Europe, and the need for high-quality, third party-assured data increases. Because of this, many property investors find themselves wrestling with the question of data. No longer can anyone lean on averages that gloss over asset-level details. Now, the demands reach down into the wiring and pipework of each building. But getting hold of accurate, consistent data at an asset level is no small task—especially when working with global portfolios.
Data availability is an uneven playing field
In some geographies, collecting utility data is a fairly direct process, helped along by established bodies that gives everyone a single hub to work with. In other regions, however, the path to meter-level insights can be a tangled mess of multiple suppliers and data protection laws with no central authority. Where one market might allow anonymized energy use, another may impose strict barriers to data sharing.
This unevenness makes it hard to put every building in a portfolio on the same spreadsheet. Without reliable numbers from every corner of the map, it’s tough to report on or even compare asset performance worldwide, even within a single fund.
A warehouse in one country might be simple to measure while an office block elsewhere offers little more than guesswork. Owners aiming for consistency—whether reporting to GRESB or meeting local legislation—end up spending endless hours chasing scattered data.
Without a common standard, apples-to-apples comparisons slip through the cracks. The result? Uncertainty over which buildings need upgrades, which ones should be sold, and where future acquisitions might pay off.
Turning raw data into portfolio-wide strategies
Asset-level data puts the spotlight on each property’s true operating profile, clearing away the fog that broad averages tend to create. Instead of guessing which buildings need retrofits, managers have the numbers to compare upgrade costs against the long-term savings they might yield.
But understanding performance at the asset level is a matter of assuring the bigger picture; identifying which buildings align with the whole portfolio’s long-term strategy, and which could become liabilities.
As mandates for energy efficiency ramp up, managers need an easy way to spot properties that will require significant investment or may even become obsolete if they fail to meet future standards. By using data to drive these decisions, investors can make smarter acquisitions, prioritize upgrades, or know when to offload an asset before it loses value.
Meaning you’re not just reacting to the latest rule or rushing to patch problems—you’re steering your whole portfolio toward long-term resilience, by identifying which buildings may no longer fit into a balanced, future-ready portfolio.
Bringing diverse data under one lens
No one doubts that accessing detailed asset-level data across geographies raises the bar, but how does one go about solving it?
Well, you could keep wrangling the numbers by hand: chasing emails, calling suppliers, and juggling spreadsheets. This approach eats up time, is inherently messy and unreliable, and can lead to gaps in data you’ll only notice later.
Another route is a digital solution that collects raw data straight from the source, then sorts and translates it into a clear set of numbers anyone can trust. This method helps cut down on errors, reduces the need to double-check every figure, and delivers a picture of each asset that’s easy to compare and act upon-regardless of geography or asset type. With an ESG data management platform (like EVORA’s SIERA), what once felt chaotic becomes a steady supply of data, ready when you need it.
By automating your data collection, you will be armed with information that can guide smarter moves, meet reporting obligations, and answer tough questions from stakeholders, it’s just a matter of finding the right tool to help you.
This article was written by Maja Christenson, Marketing Manager, EVORA Global. Learn more about EVORA here.