November newsletter | GRESB Foundation Town Hall events; new Infrastructure Development Asset Assessment; investor access to GRESB reports

As November comes to an end, we hope that our investor members, participants, and partners are capitalizing on the newly released GRESB data and the ongoing regional GRESB events taking place around the world.

Upcoming 2023 in-region events will be taking place in Kuala Lumpur, Orange County, Tokyo, London, Mumbai, and Seoul. Learn more and save your spot here.

Following the release of the GRESB Foundation 2024 Roadmap and the 2024 Standards changes in October, we are excited to share our updated summary tables showcasing the changes ahead for the GRESB Standards. See the documents below to start preparing for your 2024 submission:

• Real Estate Standard
• Infrastructure Fund Standard
• Infrastructure Asset Standard

For any questions on the 2024 Standards and the 2024 Roadmap, make sure to join us for the upcoming GRESB Foundation Town Hall: 2024 Roadmap & Standards events on November 29.

The event will feature a global presentation and live Q&A on the recently released Roadmap and the 2024 Standards changes. This will be a unique opportunity for attendees to have their most pressing questions answered. You can submit your questions during the registration process and our team will compile them for the Q&A session.

View the event sessions and register here.

As part of the 2024 Standards changes, GRESB is also launching a brand-new GRESB Infrastructure Development Asset Assessment.

Focused on greenfield development and pre-operational assets, this new assessment is designed to provide companies with assets in construction or pre-construction with a way to accurately reflect their sustainability efforts.

The Infrastructure Development Asset Assessment will launch in 2024 and supplements GRESB’s existing fund and operational asset assessments.

Learn more on our website or contact us with any questions or to discuss participation discounts.

As of November 1, non-listed investors can request access to managers’ Transition Risk Report and TCFD Alignment Report. As a reminder, non-listed investors can also request access to SFDR reports as of mid-October and to SFDR data (via the Data Exporter) since May.

By engaging with managers on transition risk, TCFD alignment, and SDFR compliance, investors can future-proof their portfolio and receive additional timely insights to inform their investment decisions.

Read more on investor access and see step-by-step instructions here.

Please take a moment to participate in our 2023 GRESB Participant Survey. Your insights and feedback are crucial in helping us enhance our services and drive sustainability improvements across the industry.

• Participant survey for real estate and infrastructure funds
• Participant survey for infrastructure assets

Ahead of COP28, Climate Action caught up with Chris Pyke, GRESB Chief Innovation Officer, to discuss the role GRESB plays in supporting the investment industry to create a sustainable world.

Read the interview here.

The Q4 edition of our “GRESB Quarterly, Americas” newsletter is out!

Supported by GRESB Global Partner Measurabl, this newsletter shares some important updates and helpful resources, including 2023 milestones, our forward-looking GRESB Foundation 2024 Roadmap, and an article by Measurabl on taking politics out of ESG.

Read the newsletter and sign up here.

GRESB Standards update

The Foundation just released the changes to the 2024 Real Estate and Infrastructure Standards and we are already looking ahead to 2025!

The GRESB Foundation 2024 Roadmap captures the high-level considerations that influence GRESB Standard Development, including distinguishing market leaders and innovators, recognizing measured, operational performance, improving segmentation and specificity, aligning with public policy and regulation, and improving data quality and interoperability.

It also lays out the short-term workplan for both the Real Estate and Infrastructure Standards. The real estate workplan includes building certification, biodiversity, diversity, equity, and inclusion, embodied carbon, net zero, physical climate risk, and sector specificity. The infrastructure workplan includes assets in development, biodiversity, data coverage, diversity, equity, and inclusion, net zero, physical climate risk, supply chain, and verification and assurance.

Standards Committees call for applicants

In addition to the GRESB Foundation Town Hall events mentioned in this newsletter, there are a variety of ways for GRESB stakeholders to become involved with the continuing development of the Standards and to support GRESB’s continual development. In the coming weeks, the Foundation Board will begin reviewing applications to join the Real Estate and Infrastructure Standards Committees. We invite you to express your interest by completing this nomination form.

Additionally, we welcome you to apply to join one of the Expert Resource Groups and you can also always email us at [email protected].

The Pension Real Estate Association (PREA), a non-profit trade association for the global institutional real estate investment industry, has named APG Asset Management the winner of the prestigious PREA Institutional Investor ESG Award 2023.

APG, one of the world’s largest pension investors, played a pivotal role in the founding of GRESB. We would like to congratulate APG for their continued and outstanding commitment to sustainability, and for this well-deserved award.

Read more about APG and the award.

New research recently published in the Journal of Portfolio Management leverages GRESB’s reporting framework to support conclusions that REITs outperform private real estate on various sustainability measures.

Read more about this study on our website.

Through GRESB Insights, we seek to highlight case studies on ESG integration in real assets, data-driven analyses into how the industry is responding to sustainability challenges, and educational articles exploring topics covered in the GRESB Assessments.

The theme this month was “Tackling Climate Risk.” Below are the latest GRESB Insights on this and other rolling topics:

• Protect properties from climate risks with smart water management | HydroPoint
• Navigating climate risk: Essential strategies for success | Stok
• Green infrastructure: A strategic investment for climate resilience | Verdani Partners
• You will not be starting from zero when navigating climate risk for your organization | Arcadis
• The brick and mortar of tackling climate risk for the built sector | Schneider Electric
• Navigating sustainable financing in commercial real estate debt | EVORA Global
• The transition risks of climate change for corporate real estate: Compliance and litigation | WatchWire

See all of our GRESB Insights here. Next month’s topic is “Reflections on 2023.”

Submit an article here.

Infrastructure Investor Network: America Forum | November 29-30 | New York, USA

Join influential investors, fund managers, and policymakers for two days of networking and to discuss trends in the North American infrastructure landscape

CMS Round Table Event | December 5 | London, UK

Join GRESB’s Alexander Steel for an in-person roundtable event on benchmarking, aligning GRESB assessment indicators with regulatory requirements, tips on data collection across different asset types, and market trends.

How to engage tenants for smarter ESG data collection | December 8 | Online

Hear about strategies from thought leaders at CRREM, GRESB, and Patrizia on how to align tenant and owner interests for ESG data sharing. GRESB’s Max Maywald, Associate, Member Relations, DACH will be speaking at the event.

Customer Experience & ESG Seminar | December 12 | London, UK

Hear insights on why customer experience should be at the heart of real estate ESG strategies. GRESB’s Alexander Steel, Manager, Member Relations, EMEA, will speak at the event.

Insights into ESG and examining investor trends | December 13 | Online

Join this exclusive session to discover how organizations can elevate their ESG strategies, ensuring they not only meet market expectations but also add substantial value to their assets.

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
• UX/UI Designer Intern | Amsterdam

From awareness to action: Embodied carbon in real estate | Climate Action

BlackRock study finds gender-balanced companies outperform peers | Financial Times

Status check: Unpacking SFDR compliance in infrastructure, one year in | Institutional Investing in Infrastructure (paywalled)

GRESB Unpacked: Exploring Real Estate Sustainability Reporting and Performance | Schneider Electric (Podcast)