Led by a Foundation Board composed of representatives from GRESB Members and Partners, the GRESB Foundation is the primary platform for GRESB to engage with the industry, owning and governing the standards upon which GRESB BV – a separate profit-for-purpose benefit corporation – performs its assessments.
The GRESB Foundation, GRESB BV and GRESB Members work as one to deliver a shared vision of an investment community that plays a central role in creating a more sustainable world, one where society can meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.
The Role of the GRESB Foundation
As an independent standards-setting body, the GRESB Foundation works to develop, maintain, improve and publish GRESB Standards annually, in time for GRESB BV to perform its assessments.
Specifically, the GRESB Foundation:
- Facilitates active industry engagement and consensus on the GRESB Standards
- Ensures that the standards are feasible and can be practically implemented
- Provides inclusive representation across GRESB Members and Partners
- Ensures that the standards continually evolve to advance the foundation’s mission
The GRESB Standards
The GRESB Standards are a set of guidelines to assess and benchmark ESG and related performance of real and other assets. As such, the GRESB Standards will provide a globally recognized and consistent means of assessing and benchmarking the ESG performance of assets and portfolios. The Standards include the questions, evidence and indicators to assess ESG performance, including the weighting of the indicators.
The GRESB Foundation focuses on the development and approval of the GRESB Standards. GRESB BV uses the Standards to assess the ESG performance of participants, including applying quality validation, scoring, and benchmarking.
GRESB Foundation Roadmap & Standards Changes
The GRESB Foundation has worked closely with the real assets industry to create a shared vision for future GRESB Standards and Assessments. The Strategic Roadmap 2025 for the GRESB Standards was released in December 2024.
The GRESB Foundation Board
The GRESB Foundation’s formal decision-making body, the GRESB Foundation Board is composed of the following GRESB Members and Partners:
- Esther An, City Developments Limited. View Board Member Profile
- Vincent Felteau, PSP Investments. View Board Member Profile
- Maarten Jennen, PGGM (Deputy Chair). View Board Member Profile
- Kathleen Jowett, LaSalle Global Solutions (Chair). View Board Member Profile
- Kristina Kloberdanz, Macquarie Asset Management.
- Dominique Moerenhout, EPRA. View Board Member Profile
- Shama Naqushbandi , AIMCo. View Board Member Profile
- Stéphane Villemain, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ). View Board Member Profile
- Dianna Russo, JP Morgan Asset Management.
Supporting the GRESB Foundation
The work of the GRESB Foundation is supported by a number of committees and working groups.
-
The Real Estate Standards Committee works to oversee the development and maintenance of the GRESB Real Estate Standard, reporting directly to the Foundation Board.
Real Estate Standards Committee
- Jorge Chapa, Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA)
- Abigail Dean, Nuveen Real Estate
- Helen Gurfel, CBRE
- Ryuichi Horie, CSR Design
- Grace Kwok, AEC Group
- Juliette Lefébure, AXA
- Olivia Muir, UBS (Deputy Chair)
- Darryl Neate, Real Property Association of Canada
- Georgie Nelson, abrdn
- Aleksandra Njagulj, DWS Group (Chair)
- Clementine Pacitti, Klepierre
- Andrea Palmer, PGGM
- Rob Simpson, Ivanhoé Cambridge
- Benjamin Thomas, Property Council of Australia (PCA)
- Peter van den Tol, MN
- Nicole Wilson, KKR
The committee’s secretary is Charles van Thiel, GRESB’s Director of Real Estate.
-
The Infrastructure Standards Committee works to oversee the development and maintenance of the standards, reporting directly to the GRESB Foundation Board.
Infrastructure Standards Committee
- Jane Baseby, PATRIZIA Infrastructure
- Lucinda Callow, DWS
- Olta Cibuku, Sosteneo Infrastructure Partners
- Jon Collinge, Morrison & Co
- Gerry Connelly, Amey Investment Management Services Limited
- Sean Kahn, Rest Super
- Neil Krawitz, Arcus Infrastructure Partners
- Jochen Krippner, IFM Investors
- Shali Lingaretnam, Victorian Funds Management Corporation
- Ruairi Revell, abrdn
- Manuel Rodríguez, AINDA Energia & Infraestructura (Deputy Chair)
- Mitch Seider, PSP
- Katherine Sherwin, BlackRock (Chair)
- Cassie Winn, JP Morgan
The committee’s secretary is Joss Blamire, GRESB’s Director of Infrastructure.
-
The Real Estate and Infrastructure Expert Resource Groups support the work of the GRESB Foundation by providing technical expertise, industry resources and guidance through various Working Groups, called as they are needed.
Real Estate Expert Resource Group
- Matthew Aberant, WSP
- Mari Aanesen, CBRE Investment Management
- Daniel Baldauf, Schneider Electric
- Stephanie Barr, Harrison Street
- René Barownick, Caleus
- Michèle Bolliger, Credit Suisse Asset Management (Switzerland) Ltd
- Claire Bradbury, Carbon Intelligence
- Tsilah Burman, CBRE Investment Management
- Marine Calmettes, Frasers Property Industrial
- Michael Chang, Host Hotels & Resorts
- Sabine Chalopin, Denham Capital
- Annie Feng, Arcadis
- Eli Faid, Goodman
- Mary Farag, Keyton
- James Fisher, BRE Group
- Joanna Frank, Center for Active Design
- Bob Fynan, QIC GRE
- Franceso Gasperi, Habitech – Distretto Tecnologico Trentino S.c. a r.l.
- Ethan Gilbert, Prologis, Inc.
- Evangelia Gklezakou, DIMAND S.A.
- Steve Goossens, APG Asset Management
- Tatiana Gutierrez, Pretium Partners
- Iris Hagdorn, HIH Invest Real Estate GmbH
- Jacqueline Hart, International Living Future Institute
- Stephane Hedont, MoZaiC Asset Management
- Shawn Hesse, JLL
- David Hodgins, Sustento Group LLC
- Sophia Holighaus, Frasers Property Industrial
- Ali Hoss, Triovest
- Yixin Huang, CBRE IM
- Harry Etra, Morrow Sodali
- Juliette Lefébure, AXA IM
- Oliver Light, Carbon Intelligence
- Valmond Liew, ESR Group
- Sophie de Malefette, AXA IM
- Hanae Maed, CSR Design Green Investment Advisory, Co, Ltd.
- Ridhima Nayyar, RioCan
- Susanne Marttila, KGAL GmbH & Co. KG
- Jacqueline Hart, International Living Future Institute
- Nikolas Mirando, Kayne Capital
- Mitch Seider, PSP Investments
- Megan Saunders, Kayne Capital
- Lissa Engle, Berkeley Capital Group [BCG]
- Andy Smith, S2 Partnership
- Melissa Smith, Sun Communities
- Tim Simopoulos, Colliers
- Oliver Light, Carbon Intelligence
- Robert Moore, JLL
- Greg Munford, Guardians of New Zealand Superfund
- David Natt, Avanath Capital
- Georgie Nelson, abrdn
- Ridhima Nayyar, RioCan
- Phil Jonckheer, Keepfactor
- Christopher Maddern, Schneider Electric
- Michiel Moll, NN Group
- Wietse de Vries, Almazara
- Jagannathan Ramaswamy, Sobha Realty
- Sanjaya Ranasinghe, WiredScore
- Josh Richards, Bridge Industrial
- Alejandro Romero, BRE
- Brigid Rooney, JLL
- Ruth Rózpide, Mace Group
- Kieran Seal, CBRE
- Sara Karerat, Center for Active Design
- Mitch Seider, PSP Investments
- Shubha Shanbhag, IndoSpace Capital Asia
- Toni-Marie Trombley, JLL
- Anna Maria Pacini, DeA Capital Real Estate SGR
- Anna Packard, CodeGreen Solutions
- Christine Pout, BRE
- Stephen Penstone, Quinn & Partners
- Daniele Pronestì, CDP – Cassa Depositi e Prestiti
- Anggie Rahma Pratiwi, BuildingMinds
- Joanna Tomlinson, EVORA Global
- Justyna Tobolska, Carbon Intelligence (Accenture)
- Tomoko Takagi, CSR Design Green Investment Advisory, Co, Ltd.
- Brian Trainor, Heitman
- Dirk Van Buggenhout, Montea
- Vincent van Bijleveld, Global Real Estate Engagement Network
- Bethan Phillips, Verco
- Zeina Elali, Canadian Urban Limited
- Karen Hill, abrdn
- Kieran Seal, CBRE
- James Lee, Chongbang Holdings International Ltd
- Sean Kahn, Rest Super
- Violet Yang, LaSalle Investment Management
- Kelly Worden, IWBI
- Miles Wu, State Super
Infrastructure Expert Resource Group
- Ioannis Armaos, BlackRock
- Kaj Bakker, Arcus Infrastructure Partners LLP
- Sabine Chalopin, Denham Capital
- Mark Edwards, Gatwick Airport Ltd
- Cederik Engel, CCE Holding GmbH
- Kerry Griffiths, Infrastructure Sustainability Council
- Karen Hill, abrdn
- Sean Kahn, Rest Super
- Saki Nagita, CSR Design Green Investment Advisory, Co., Ltd.
- Susanne Marttila, KGAL GmbH & Co. KG
- Ridhima Nayyar, RioCan
- Francesca Pezzoli, Snam
- Ruairi Revell, abrdn
- Mitch Seider, PSP Investments
- Natalie Sinha, UBS Asset Management
- Kirk Stafford, Harbert Management Corporation
- Amanda Wallace, J.P. Morgan Investment Management
- Miles Wu, State Super
-
The Net Zero Working Group focuses on reviewing the various perspectives relating to net zero in order to facilitate convergence towards a definition for the GRESB Standards and to explore the core assumptions and beliefs that drive divergence in what net zero means and what constitutes a valid journey to achieve it.
Real Estate
- Joey Aoun, Savills Investment Management LLP
- Silje Njå Bertelsen, Grieg Investor
- Eric Bradley, Taurus Investment Holdings, LLC
- Ayla Dinçay, Science Based Targets Initative
- Rebecca Fitzgerald, Investa Property Group
- Katie Fluence, RE Tech Advisors
- Carlos Flores, NABERS
- Karen Frizzell, Minto
- Lee Hodgkinson, Dream REIT
- Rachel Horwat, Ivanhoé Cambridge
- Mark Hutchinson, Canada Green Building Council
- Sagar Kapadia, Equity Residential
- Hideki Kobayashi, Mitsubishi Estate Co
- Calvin Lee Kwan, Link Asset Management Ltd
- James Lee, Chongbang Holdings
- Juliette Lefebure, AXA IM
- Lina Makrodimtri, Schroders REIM
- Brendan McCarthy, Calvert Research and Management
- Kelly Meissner, Ventas, Inc
- Brady Mills, Partner Energy
- Brett Ormrod, LaSalle Investment Management
- Joe Smith, UBS Asset Management
- Ben Thomas, The GPT Group
Infrastructure
- Jane Baseby, PATRIZIA AG
- Olta Cibuku, Amp Energy
- Mark Edwards, Gatwick Airport Ltd
- John Gerrard Connelly, Albany SPC Services Limited
- Lena Hörnlein, B Capital Partners
- Nicole Jullian Sahr, Endeavour Energy
- Sean Kahn, Rest Super
- Grace Kwok, Allied Sustainability and Environmental Consultants Group Limited
- Sandra Lauterbach, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners
- Helen Murphy, Cory
- Carol O’Sullivan, Powerco
- Ruairi Revell, abrdn Core Infrastructure
- Tim Robinson, Quinn+Partners
- Mitch Seider, PSP Investments
- Vere Shaba, Greendesign Africa
- Cameron Talbot-Stern, APG Asset Management
- Cassie Winn, JPMorgan Asset Management
-
The Senior Fellows offer their expertise to inform the development of the GRESB Standards:
- Alison Schneider is an emerging markets and infrastructure expert and will serve as a subject matter expert to inform the ongoing evolution of the GRESB Standards. Previously, she served on the Interim GRESB Foundation Council and the GRESB Foundation Board.
- Matthew Trowbridge is a physician and public health researcher, and will serve as a social sustainability subject matter expert for the GRESB Standard. Matt was instrumental in the development and successful operation of the GRESB Health & Well-being Module, which was a multi-year effort to understand health-promotion practices among GRESB real estate participants.
The Foundation Board, Standards Committees, and Expert Resource Groups accept applications on a rolling basis. Applicants must be GRESB members to join the Foundation Board, Standards Committees, and Expert Resource Groups.
Learn more about the application process to the GRESB Foundation Board here.
For information on roles within the GRESB Foundation, please see the terms of reference for:
Watch this video to learn more about the GRESB Foundation.
Please find the latest information on joining the GRESB Foundation Standards Committees.