On your mark, get set, gresb! The season has started for the next round of sustainability rating for real estate funds
Are you ready for take-off? The new GRESB season has just started!
For five years now, EnviroSustain has been part of the GRESB movement, which is becoming increasingly important – also in Germany. GRESB (Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark) compares similar funds with each other in their respective home markets on the basis of a comprehensive questionnaire and evaluates them with regard to their holistic approach to sustainability.
With perseverance, patience and a great deal of knowledge transfer, more customers were gradually won over to the sense and added value of this competition. ES has also changed during this time. Our expertise in GRESB consulting and support has considerably grown year after year. Today we are a strong partner to our customers and achieve excellent results. This makes us optimistic for a common design of healthy and sustainable places for everyone.
Since 1 March 2019, the annual Reference Guide for property valuation – the GRESB Real Estate Assessment – is available as a pre-release at www.gresb.com. In addition to the separate assessments for infrastructure (GRESB Infrastructure Assessment), project developments (GRESB Developer Assessment) and publications (GRESB Public Disclosure), it once again includes an appendix for property valuation. This annex is a comprehensive questionnaire about the measures that have been implemented to ensure the resilience of real estate to climate change-related, social and physical environmental events.
From 1 April 2019, the GRESB Portal will open its doors and invite all participants to complete the questionnaire. It will make clear who is well prepared and who still has some catching up to do. In order to make sure that the answers are comprehensible and that the supporting documents provided are accepted, there is the possibility of a Response Check. This preliminary examination is highly recommended and will be offered between 1 April 2019 and 1 June 2019. It is already included in the registration fee.
For optimal preparation, a GRESB Assessment Training is offered to all participants, which is divided into two levels – introductory and advanced. Participation is possible in 2019 at the following locations in Europe:
| Location | Date |
|---|---|
| London | 8 March and 27 March |
| Amsterdam | 18 March and 26 March |
| Stockholm | 25 March |
| Paris | 13 April |
In the meantime, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and “get to the boulettes”, as they say in Berlin. From fund management through asset management to property management and finally facility management – all are integrated into the process at various levels. Policies are created, extended, maintained, and sometimes discarded. Consumption data is also collected, analysed and verified, and contracts are trimmed for sustainability. Furthermore, networks are formed, knowledge transfer made possible and much more. The final submission is eagerly awaiting.
The GRESB Portal will finally close on 1 July 2019. After this, GRESB will be working at full speed to compare the numerous funds worldwide. The valuation is divided into two dimensions and seven aspects and compared with the corresponding peer group and GRESB average. Only those who achieve more than 50 points in each dimension (Management & Policy, Implementation & Measurement) are awarded the GREEN STAR. Up to 5 stars can be achieved in total in the GRESB quintile system. But be careful! Those who think they can rest on their laurels are mistaken – this is a dynamic system! If the competition gets better, then your own fund must also get better in order to stay ahead.
Policies only are no longer sufficient to be able to perform successfully. Reducing the ecological footprint requires a consistent sustainability strategy that follows the annual GRESB cycle and the idea of continuous improvement. Collecting reliable data is the core task here, in order to define a building without gaps. Ultimately, this is the key to tackling change and making your success measurable. Only those who know the cause can lastingly eliminate the symptoms.
The results will be published on 4 September 2019. They will reveal who did their homework. ESG Committees then meet and discuss the results, action plans are drawn up, and by the end of the year the gaps shown in the assessment must be filled.
Please contact us for a successful start of the GRESB season. We would be happy to support you!
