GRESB Quarterly, Americas | Arcadis on the SEC climate rule; new GRESB products & updates

Sponsoring Partner: Arcadis

Greetings to our GRESB Americas community

The GRESB Assessment season is well underway, and all our participants and their consultants are heads down gathering consumption data, finalizing responses, and uploading their 2023 data into the GRESB Portal. GRESB stands ready to help in any way we can, and our Member Success team ([email protected]) includes a wide and dedicated group of staff waiting to provide answers to your questions.

This year we have added additional resources based here in the Americas to further extend our ability to respond and support members across the western hemisphere! In addition, GRESB is proud to promote a vast network of Partners, who are incredibly experienced in helping organizations of all sizes complete the GRESB Assessment. If you are interested in leveraging the help of a GRESB Partner, visit our Partner Directory or contact us for any recommendations we may have based on your situation.

As a reminder, the Assessment period closes on July 1. While the effort is significant, the payoff is incredible and so very important. We expect another record year for growth in the GRESB Benchmark, demonstrating that our members are pushing ahead at breakneck speed. GRESB has also delivered several new and exciting product offerings in the past six months. Read more below or reach out to Reid Morgan at [email protected] for more information.

For now, let me wish everyone a smooth and productive GRESB reporting period.

Regards,

Tom Idzal
GRESB Head of Americas

Arcadis on SEC climate rule & ESG regulatory evolution

While the SEC’s climate-related reporting rule, The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors, was put on hold just days after it was published last month, it remains an important regulatory milestone in the US, signaling that more – rather than less – regulatory pressure is on the horizon for US-based reporters of all types.

Globally, regulation like the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is rapidly taking hold, and many organizations are seeking to align with CSRD and other frameworks like it to ensure consistent disclosure to stakeholders, regardless of geography.

At Arcadis, we expect the SEC rule to follow a similar trajectory. While scaled back from its original ambition, and currently facing legal challenges, it remains an indicator of what is to come for reporting organizations on this side of the Atlantic.

Read Arcadis’ summary of the SEC rule here.

GRESB Accredited Professional

GRESB is pleased to announce the release of the GRESB Accredited Professional (GRESB AP) program, designed to empower professionals with the knowledge and skills needed to excel in sustainability reporting within the real assets industry.

Open to GRESB Members, Participants, Partners, and individuals seeking to expand their knowledge in sustainability reporting, the GRESB AP credential will equip you with the expertise to understand, report, and manage sustainability data and performance within the GRESB Real Estate Assessment.

Take the GRESB AP exam to qualify for the credential and make sure to renew it annually to keep your knowledge current. The AP certificate is valid for 12 months, and you can start your AP journey here.

GRESB REAL Benchmarks

Launched earlier this month, REAL Benchmarks is the first tool from the REAL Solutions product family. Designed for real estate managers and listed companies, REAL Benchmarks provides deep, actionable insights into the energy and GHG performance of the individual assets in your real estate portfolio. Through a customizable dashboard, users can securely analyze the contribution of each individual asset to portfolio performance and compare all or a filtered set of assets against a series of performance benchmarks derived from the GRESB database.

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? Learn more and watch a demo here.

Want to learn more about the REAL Solutions suite of tools?

Look no further than our useful webinar, GRESB Inside ESG: REAL Solutions – Unlocking real value from asset-level data, on May 22.

The Pulse by GRESB

Check out the latest episodes of The Pulse by GRESB, our new content series:

Or you can find the whole series on Spotify and YouTube.

GRESB Americas Institutional Investor Forum 2024

Join us on October 1 in New York for the 2nd annual GRESB Americas Institutional Investor Forum, in partnership with RELPI.

Featuring 25 institutional investors and consultants, this day-long conference will delve into best practices in sustainability and real estate investment and will highlight significant and accelerating industry changes.

View the agenda and register today with an exclusive 20% discount for GRESB Community Members.