April newsletter | 2024 GRESB Assessments now live; get your GRESB AP credential today

We are pleased to share that GRESB has received a majority investment from General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm, through the firm’s BeyondNetZero climate growth fund.

General Atlantic will acquire its stake from existing shareholder Summit Partners, which will retain a minority position in GRESB following close of the transaction. GRESB intends to partner with General Atlantic to support its next phase of growth through strategic expansion and product innovation and to accelerate impact across financial markets.

Sebastien Roussotte, Chief Executive Officer, GRESB, commented,

GRESB looks forward to contributing to BeyondNetZero’s vision for climate action powered by technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. This vision underpins GRESB’s industry-led approach to creating global standards that increase market transparency and accelerate the clean energy transition.

Read the full press release here.

Launched earlier this month, REAL Benchmarks provides deep, actionable insights into the energy and GHG performance of the individual assets in your real estate portfolio. Use this tool today to fill in data gaps with industry-leading estimations and benchmark assets against peers, decarbonization pathways, and your other assets. Interested in learning how the tool works?

Check out the latest episode of The Pulse by GRESB, our new content series. Christina Djambazca, Product Manager, REAL, joins host Parag Cameron-Rastogi, Director, Real Asset Analytics, to discuss how REAL Benchmarks delves into the energy and GHG emissions data of all assets within your portfolio, allowing for detailed analysis of how each asset contributes to the portfolio’s overall performance.

You can also join us online on May 22 for “REAL Solutions – Unlocking real value from asset-level data,” a dedicated webinar that explores the capabilities of the new product suite. During the webinar, you’ll learn more about how REAL Benchmarks can enhance decision-making, improve ESG performance, and bolster portfolio resilience.

Join us online on May 6 for the How Water Efficiency Drives Environmental Excellence webinar, the latest installment of the GRESB Inside ESG series hosted in collaboration with GRESB Partners HydroPoint and Smartvatten.

During the event, we will focus on the crucial role of water data management in driving sustainability and improving GRESB Scores, shedding light on why water data matters and why it plays a lynchpin role in improving the overall ESG performance of assets.

The webinar will conclude with a Q&A session where you can ask specific questions on how to propel your organization toward achieving its sustainability goals and elevating your GRESB Scores.

Register for the webinar here.

Foundation Board call for applicants

The GRESB Foundation is seeking applications to fill up to two vacancies on the Board, starting as soon as possible.

The Foundation Board leads the GRESB Foundation, is responsible for advancing the objectives of the GRESB Foundation, and has ultimate responsibility for the scope and content of each GRESB Standard. The current Foundation Board members can be found on the Foundation’s webpage as well as in the Foundation Roadmap.

We encourage qualified candidates to apply before May 24, 2024. The Foundation Board’s selection criteria, as well as its responsibilities, are outlined in the terms of reference.

Standards Committee membership update

The Foundation Board recently voted to add new members to the Standards Committees: Juliette Lefebure (AXA), Georgie Nelson (abrdn), and Nicole Wilson (KKR) joined the Real Estate Standards Committee (RESC) and Mitch Seider (PSP Investments), Cassie Winn (JP Morgan), and Sean Kahn (Rest Super) joined the Infrastructure Standards Committee (ISC). Both the RESC and ISC represent a diversity of organizations, sectors, and geographies and new members are joining just in time to offer their perspective on the updates proposed to the 2024 Standards. We are grateful for their commitment to advance the GRESB Standards and on behalf of the GRESB Foundation Board Chair, Katie Jowett, the RESC and ISC Chairs, and the entire Foundation Board, we are excited to welcome them to the Foundation!

The Board’s selection decision was very difficult as we received numerous applications from highly qualified applicants. The Foundation will continue to accept applications on a rolling basis, and will review applications in the fall to fill several vacancies. We truly appreciate the enthusiasm to support the growth of the GRESB Standards and we will work to engage with all of you as GRESB continues to evolve.

Nareit Leader in the Light Update

Since 2012, Nareit has awarded REITs across several property sectors a Leader in the Light Award based on their GRESB Scores from the Real Estate Assessment, and a supplemental submission evaluating their organizational strategies and performance. The GRESB Real Estate Assessment will continue to be the basis for the annual Leader in the Light Award. However, this year, the supplemental submission will be completed separately from the GRESB Assessment.

To participate in the Leader in the Light Award program, Nareit members must complete both the GRESB Real Estate Assessment and the separate supplement, administered by Nareit. Once all sections of the GRESB Real Estate Assessment are completed and the supplement submitted to Nareit, participants will automatically be included in the Leader in the Light Award competition. Leader in the Light Awards will be presented in November at REITworld.

GRESB case studies explore the many ways our community uses GRESB, looking at how our Investor Members and Participants engage with our data and integrate GRESB into their investment processes and decision-making. View our latest case studies:

• Fostering infrastructure sustainability: abrdn’s stewardship in ESG reporting and asset management | Infrastructure manager
• URBICSA’s journey to ESG integration with GRESB | Infrastructure asset
• Embracing responsible business practices with GRESB | Infrastructure asset