This year, the changes to the Real Estate Standards include the following points:
That’s the top line. Let’s take a deeper dive into the changes and explain what they mean.
Previously, RM5 only covered climate-related risks and did not address climate-related opportunities (CROs). However, CROs are an important aspect of the TCFD (Task Force on Climate-Related Disclosures) and will therefore be included in the assessment from now on.
In addition, the "Shared Socioeconomic Pathways" (SSP) were included in the list of options for physical and transition scenarios. RM5 was not previously assessed, but
now has a score of 0.5.
Work is underway to integrate the assessment of energy efficiency into the GRESB assessment model in future. This will have no impact on reporting for 2024 but will be continuously incorporated into the GRESB assessment over time.
A new data entry field at asset level (via the GRESB portal) will be introduced with the aim of integrating types of energy consumption that are not considered operational separately into the assessment (this primarily refers to EV charging stations). The change will have no impact on the scoring, but the consumption of EV charging stations must be entered separately in the Asset Portal under indicator EN1 from now on.
The validity of a new certification was previously based on the date of issue of the certification. In future, the BC1.1, BC1.2 and DBC1.2 indicators will be based on the actual performance or assessment period instead of the certification issue date. The change has no
impact on scoring, however, building certifications awarded after the end of the reporting year can now be submitted for indicators BC1.1, BC1.2 and DBC1.2 if:
Building certifications are becoming more relevant and are to be more closely integrated into the GRESB standard. From now on, the year of expiry for determining the validity of the indicators BC1.1: Building certifications at the time of design/construction and BC1.2
Operational building certifications of the three types of building certification: Design / Construction (BC1.1), Operational (BC1.2) and Interior (BC1.1) is to be included. The metrics previously assessed in indicators BC1.1 and BC1.2 are now multiplied by a "time factor" to
take into account the age of the building certifications. For all building certifications reported under the GRESB standard, participants are now required to report their corresponding building certification year in indicators BC1.1 and BC1.2 (via the GRESB Asset Portal), which
are subsequently used in the GRESB assessment model.
The option "General sustainability" will be removed from the list of existing ESG objectives in indicator LE2. General sustainability will also be removed as an option from the general business strategy. The weighting of the removed option will be distributed across the remaining list of ESG objectives, the overall weighting of indicator LE2 will remain unchanged. Participants are no longer required to report on general sustainability targets and the integration of ESG objectives into the general business strategy.
The fund/portfolio manager option is removed from the list of senior functions for indicator LE5. The standard no longer rewards participants for reporting fund/portfolio managers as senior decision makers of the company. The overall scoring weight of the LE5 indicator remains unchanged. Fund and portfolio managers can no longer be reported in indicator LE5.
ESG factors with non-financial consequences will be removed from the LE6 indicator. Overall, the weighting of the indicator remains unchanged and non-financial impacts no longer need to be reported.
The option "ESG as part of the company's reporting to investors" is removed from indicator RP1. The overall weighting of the RP1 indicator remains unchanged. Participants are no longer required to report on this option or provide evidence of this.
The indicator RP2.1 ESG incident monitoring will be weighted to incentivise companies to communicate a process for monitoring potential misconduct and communicating risks to stakeholders. In addition, the reference to ESG misconduct as a type of misconduct is
deleted, because any misconduct can be ESG-related. A weighting of 0.25 points is introduced for the indicator RP2.1, which is based on the relevance of the stakeholder types. From now on, procedures for monitoring controversies, misconduct etc. and communication to stakeholders will be rewarded.
The allocation of points for the RM1 indicator has been revised to take better account of environmental management systems (EMS) that are adapted or certified to a standard. Participants no longer benefit from an EMS that is neither standardised nor certified. In addition, the weighting of the RM1 indicator will be reduced by 0.25 points, to now 1.25 points. There is no impact on reporting.
Indicator T1.2 receives one point from indicator T1.1 (which is downgraded from 2 to one point). Participants will now be rewarded for demonstrating a net zero target in indicator T1.2. The full score for this indicator is achieved regardless of the characteristics underlying the net zero target. There is no impact on reporting.
The property subtype "Medical Office" is now reclassified from the office sector to the healthcare sector, sector in Appendix 3a - Classification of property types. The definition of "Medical Office" is now expanded to include buildings used for the diagnosis and treatment of outpatient medical, dental or psychiatric treatment. There is only an impact on scoring if benchmarking, scoring and scored metrics at the property sub-type level occur at a higher level (e.g. at the property type or sector level), - due to insufficient number of observations. There is no impact on reporting.
The following change applies from
2025 on: previously, not all options under indicator SE4 had to be specified in order to receive the total score. This will change from 2025 on: to achieve the full score, all four options must be specified. The weighting of the points is reduced from ½ to ¼ for each option. The total number of points remains unchanged.
Extension of the data input field at the asset level (via the GRESB Asset Portal) allowing multiple energy indicators to be reported per asset, together with the adjustment of the aggregation model (asset to portfolio) to take account of these new scenarios. In addition, the reporting guidelines (GRESB Asset Spreadsheet) for energy ratings, building certificates and year of construction have been clarified. There is no impact on the valuation.
Country as a geographical factor will be included in the following metrics that are currently benchmarked and assessed. These include:
GRESB participants benefit from more detailed benchmarking and ratings, which are now awarded at country level. Participants are now required to report the %GAV
per property subtype at country level, through a new table that combines the previous indicators
R1.1 The entity's standing investments portfolio during the reporting year and R1.2 Countries/states included in the entity's standing investments portfolio. The same applies to the indicators DR1.1 Composition of the entity's development projects portfolio during the reporting year and DR1.2 Countries/states included in the entity's development projects portfolio, which cover assets under development.
In order to increase the portfolio representativeness of intensity values in the GRESB output, the threshold for data coverage was changed to > 50% data coverage. As such, a separate intensity value is added to the GRESB output, in addition to the previously calculated intensities in the energy, greenhouse gas emissions, water and waste sections. The change has no impact on the assessment and reporting.
Considering the many changes in the GRESB standard this year, it is important to prepare in good time and have the relevant data ready. ES helps you to complete the GRESB questionnaire and supports you throughout the entire process. Get in touch today.
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