Happy New Year from all of us at GRESB!
As we dive into 2024, we are thrilled to share some exciting updates and initiatives that mark the beginning of what already looks like a promising year. In this edition, you can expect to read about:
- GRESB’s new Carbon Footprint Dashboard for real estate investors
- A new investor webinar on navigating sustainable investments with GRESB
- The release of our 2024 Standards & Reference Guides
- Our newly opened London office
- GRESB’s strategic partnership with IWBI
Find out more below.
GRESB’s Carbon Footprint Dashboard
Powered by asset-level data, GRESB’s newly launched Carbon Footprint Dashboard offers real estate investors a comprehensive view of the energy usage and GHG emissions within their portfolios, enabling them to make informed decisions that benefit both their investments and the planet.
This interactive tool allows investors to visualize and analyze data on a country and property sector basis, filling in any data gaps through GRESB’s industry-leading estimation model. By estimating energy usage and GHG emissions based on real-world data provided to GRESB, the Carbon Footprint Dashboard ensures that real estate investors have complete data coverage and a holistic view of their portfolio’s environmental impact.
Navigating Sustainable Investments with GRESB
Join us online on February 27, 28, or 29 to gain a deeper understanding of how you can benefit from GRESB as an investor member and explore the latest advancements in sustainable investing, including the newly launched GRESB Carbon Footprint Dashboard.
Today, the portfolios of more than 2,000 real estate companies, REITs, funds, and developers – and more than 800 infrastructure funds and asset operators – participate in GRESB Assessments. This broad market coverage provides investors with ESG data and benchmarks for more than USD 8.8 trillion worth of assets under management.
During the webinar, we will cover key updates and improvements that were rolled out for GRESB’s investor members in recent months, including a demonstration of the Carbon Footprint Dashboard.
To accommodate time zones, the event will feature three sessions taking place on three consecutive days for in-depth regional overviews to investors in APAC, EMEA, and the Americas.
2024 Standards & Reference Guides
We’re pleased to share our 2024 Real Estate and Infrastructure Standards & Reference Guides. These resources will help you prepare for the 2024 GRESB Assessments and get familiar with the changes introduced this year. Please see the documents below, including a new Standard and Reference Guide for our newly launched GRESB Infrastructure Development Asset Assessment:
GRESB’s London Office
GRESB is excited to announce that it has opened a new office location in London, United Kingdom. The new location further expands GRESB’s global footprint, enabling us to better serve members in the United Kingdom and the wider EMEA region.
The London office, located in the City of London at 68 King William Street, will allow GRESB to increase its support to UK-based investment managers and investors. The location is well-positioned for the London team to meet its members in person, facilitating engagement and assistance. The office space is operated by London-focused service office provider Halkin.
In 2023, GRESB expanded its London-based team, bolstering significant representation of the Member Relations function in the UK. These changes aim to enhance GRESB’s customer support and member engagement through dedicated resources.
Learn more about our new office and how to get in touch with our London-based staff here.
GRESB’s Infrastructure Development Asset Assessment webinar
GRESB recently hosted a webinar introducing the brand-new GRESB Infrastructure Development Asset Assessment.
Launching in April 2024, the Assessment was developed in coordination with infrastructure representatives sitting on the GRESB Foundation. It will provide companies with assets in construction or pre-construction with a way to accurately reflect their overall sustainability efforts using dynamic materiality.
The webinar delved into the specifics of the Infrastructure Development Asset Assessment, explaining how it fits within the wider GRESB Infrastructure Assessments and diving into its customized methodology and approach to materiality. The event also featured Sabine Chalopin, Head of ESG, Sustainable Infrastructure at Denham, a GRESB participant gearing up for the 2024 development assessment, sharing firsthand insights into the challenges and opportunities of ESG during the development phase. The webinar was followed by a live Q&A session.
You can now watch a recording of the webinar by signing up here.
GRESB’s partnership with IWBI
In December 2023, GRESB and the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) announced a strategic partnership to accelerate social sustainability by elevating reporting and disclosure capacities related to crucial social indicators, such as health, well-being, and equity.
The IWBI-GRESB partnership aims to assist investors, fund managers, and companies in advancing social sustainability by:
- Pioneering resources to aid investors, companies, and asset operators embed social performance into the investment engagement process
- Co-producing a social sustainability dashboard with performance measures utilizing data from the GRESB Real Estate Assessment
- Convening key stakeholders to delve into the best practices and reporting frameworks addressing the social components relevant to social sustainability
- Supplying accompanying materials to aid investors in leveraging information and key insights from the GRESB and IWBI social sustainability reports and tools
Foundation update
2025 Standards workplan
The Real Estate and Infrastructure Standards Committees recently hosted their first meeting of the year. They have already begun executing their work plans to update the 2025 Standards, which have been reviewed by the Foundation Board. As highlighted in the GRESB Foundation 2024 Roadmap, the real estate topics include building certifications, biodiversity, diversity, equity and inclusion, embodied carbon, net zero, physical climate risk, and sector specificity. The infrastructure topics include a solution for infrastructure under development, biodiversity, data coverage, diversity, equity and inclusion, net zero, physical climate risk, supply chain, and verification and assurance.
An updated Foundation Roadmap will be published later this year.
Foundation roundtables
Both the real estate and infrastructure work plans include data coverage and social sustainability as priority topics. As such, the Foundation has continued to host roundtables on these topics this month. One will be hosted in New York City and another is slated to be hosted in London on Tuesday, February 13 just before the 2023 Regional Insights – London event. As highlighted in the GRESB Foundation 2024 Roadmap, the Foundation recognizes the importance of collecting market feedback from participants and other stakeholders, so we will continue to plan these regional events around the world to ensure the evolution of the GRESB Standards is informed by the industries’ perspectives.
Standards Committees call for applicants
The Foundation Board is currently reviewing applications for the Standards Committee members and is looking forward to welcoming several new members! We encourage new applicants to complete this nomination form for either (or both) the Real Estate and Infrastructure Standards Committees as we will be looking for new members later this year.
The Foundation also welcomes GRESB members to apply to join one of the Expert Resource Groups for which we accept new members on a rolling basis.
Case studies
GRESB case studies explore the many ways our community uses GRESB, looking at how our investor members and managers engage with our data and integrate GRESB into their investment processes and decision-making.
View our latest case studies below:
- DTCP | GRESB first-year participant Q&A
- Understanding Climate Impacts with Asset-Based Data | Asset Impact white paper
Contribute to GRESB Insights
The theme this month was “Infrastructure in Development.” Below are the latest GRESB Insights on this and other rolling topics:
- The complexity of defining and measuring social value | GRESB
- A critical time for decarbonization: Bridging opportunities and challenges | MACE Group
See all of our GRESB Insights here. Next month’s topic is “Residential Real Estate.”
See the 2024 GRESB editorial calendar and submit an article here.
Upcoming industry events
World Built Environment Forum Week 2024 | Jan 29 – Feb 1 | Online
Join the 7th edition of the WBEF Week to engage in crucial conversations about reshaping the built and natural environment. Discover practical solutions spanning energy, infrastructure, and the building life cycle.
Real Estate’s Green Certification Challenge: A Critical Discussion | January 29 | Online
This thought-provoking conversation with Chris Pyke, Chief Innovation Officer at GRESB, explores the question of whether buliding certifications catalyze economic growth or divert attention from environmental concerns.
Solar Without the Suffering: From Feasibility to Financing to GRESB Reporting | January 30 | Online
Join GRESB’s Dan Winters, Senior Director of Market Development & Strategic Initiatives as he provides valuable insights into how the commercial real estate sector can achieve both economic prosperity and environmental sustainability with greater ease.
The 2nd Annual ESG and Decarbonizing Real Estate Forum (Winter) | February 8–9 | Nashville, TN, USA
Delve into the integration of ESG principles within worldwide policymaking and institutional investments. Attendees will have the chance to examine the social factors that have propelled ESG into the spotlight, particularly as the urgency of addressing climate change intensifies.
PEI Responsible Investment Forum 2024 | February 20-21 | New York, NY, USA
In its eighth year, this event explores opportunities in the North American market, sharing insights into private equity allocation preferences and shaping responsible investment strategies. Dan Winters will be speaking at the forum.
IREM Advocacy Impact Day + ESG Summit | February 27-28 | Washington, D.C., USA & online
Experience a comprehensive day of ESG programming, networking, and advocacy orientation at this event. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore the challenges facing the real estate management industry and discover ways to influence them.
NAREIM Sustainability 2024 | March 5-6 | Atlanta, GA, USA
Participate in the NAREIM Sustainability meeting to gain insights into the challenges and implementation of ESG priorities within contemporary real estate investment management firms.
GRESB Roundtable | March 12 | Sydney, Australia & online
The GRESB Foundation is hosting a roundtable session with Chief Innovation Officer Chris Pyke. Join us for a constructive discussion on the GRESB Foundation. Overseas team members will join the event virtually to offer updates on ongoing projects.
TRANSFORM | March 13-14 | Sydney, Australia & online
GBC Australia’s TRANSFORM conference is a critical platform for sustainability thought leadership, featuring keynotes, panels, and networking, attracting industry leaders who shape Australia’s built environment agenda. Chris Pyke will be speaking at the event.
KangaNews Sustainable Debt Summit | March 19 | Sydney, Australia
Participants will gain insights into the Australian sustainable debt sector and benefit from valuable perspectives shared by a diverse array of issuers, investors, and intermediaries.
See our events calendar for a full overview of upcoming events.
Careers
GRESB is growing and looking for new people! Please feel free to share with your network.
Our most recently added open positions:
- Junior Financial Controller | Amsterdam
- Climate Data Analyst – Intern (Asset Impact) | Paris
- Marketing and Communications Intern (Sustainability) | Amsterdam
- Marketing Operations Intern (Sustainability) | Amsterdam
What we are reading
- Doing well and feeling good: The complexity of defining social value | Institutional Real Estate Inc. Asia Pacific (paywalled)
- GRESB, IWBI join forces to accelerate social sustainability | Sustainable Biz Canada
- Ways Kenya’s real estate sector can tap ESG opportunities | Business Daily Africa