ESG Performance in Australia and New Zealand: the Heat Is on
Looking at the 2016 GRESB results, Australia and New Zealand again are leading the pack in terms of outperforming the other regions on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) aspects. Besides strong government support, this is a direct result of a unique approach by the region’s property market. On one hand, the market has shown a […]
Can the Marriage of Big Data and Sustainability Help Bankers Avoid Another CRE Debacle?
Banks are using big data to stress test and manage credit risk associated with commercial mortgages. A recent article in American Banker highlighted that even community banks, with under $5 billion in assets, are using market and tenant data software to inform commercial real estate (CRE) lending decisions and to monitor exposures. In light of recent warnings from regulators about growing […]
September marked the release of the 2016 GRESB Debt Assessment results which were simultaneously released alongside the GRESB Real Estate Assessment results [see results presentation]. The 2016 global snapshot of the lending market results reflects GRESB’s improved Debt Assessment framework. This resulted in increasing the number of participants from 10 to 18, including two primary lenders which underlines the […]
What Obama, the Real Estate Sector, and 130 Investors Have in Common
While a typical summer is characterized by a lack of real news, leading the press to cover anything that’s even remotely newsworthy—or not – (we have a word for it in Dutch, “cucumber time”), the past two month have yielded enough stories to keep the average journalist busy: the Olympics, flooding in Louisiana, the ongoing […]
Hold Your Horses – 3 More Days until the Release of the 2016 GRESB Data
For most people, the first week of September means the end of summer and returning to work, but for the real estate industry, the first week of September means the release of the GRESB data – how does the industry stack up when it comes to sustainability performance? With only three days to go until […]
Purpose of the project: British Land’s 30-year involvement at Regent’s Place in London’s West End has seen the campus double in size, providing accommodation and amenities for around 15,000 workers and residents, as well as the local community. It is a great example of how we are able to create outstanding work environments by […]
Tips and Tricks for GRESB Infrastructure Participants: Understanding Evidence & References
This is the first year for the new GRESB Infrastructure Assessment. The Assessment is not a pilot – it’s the real deal – but we also have a lot to learn about how to create an effective assessment for the diverse infrastructure asset class. Part of the learning process involves creating a practical vocabulary for […]
GRESB and WELL: Complementary Tools to Promote Transparency and Leadership on Health and Well-being
Health and well-being has emerged as an important issue for real estate companies and funds. Investors and tenants have expressed interest and there is increasing recognition that the promotion of health and well-being can contribute to competitive differentiation, value creation, and risk management. GRESB and its partners explored this with a series of events in […]
In a blog post earlier this year about ESG and Real Estate, GRESB CEO Nils Kok mentioned the “GRESB Six Stages of Grief.” I can imagine that a month and a half into the 2016 Assessment some of our property company and fund manager participants are deep in stage 2: Anger. Does this sound like you? […]
The Value of an Integrated Sustainability Strategy for Real Estate Companies and Funds
Last week was time for the 2016 installment of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Better Building Summit. As in prior years, the Summit was full of friends and leaders from across the real estate industry. I had the opportunity to participate in a session moderated by Dr. Jason Hartke (DOE), David deVos (Prudential Real […]
GRESB Green Bond Working Group, March 2016 The fourth meeting of the GRESB Green Bond Working Group addressed the constructs, protocols and benefits of a green bond roadshow. Speakers included Victoria Clarke from HSBC’s green bond investment banking group, Christophe Garot representing two-time green bond issuer Unibail-Rodamco and Viktor Stunnenberg who serves as Senior Portfolio […]
GRESB started back in 2009 with three founding institutional investors looking to assess the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of their real estate portfolios and their investment managers. The first assessment was performed in 2010, and saw nearly one hundred property companies and funds reporting on their ESG efforts and achievements. Fast forward to […]
Last week I spent a couple of days in sunny Vermont with our great IT partner Greenriver, who together with the GRESB Data Analytics team— have been working hard on building out the GRESB Portal for the 2016 data collection on real estate, debt and infrastructure. One of the exciting developments is that GRESB is […]
While investor interest in infrastructure was increasing, investors in other types of real assets were focusing on the importance of environmental, social, and governance(ESG) performance as a source of value and risk. The catch is that ESG considerations for infrastructure are different from assets like real estate. Infrastructure projects are typically big, long-lived and, critically, […]
Investors Seek Diversification and Stable Income from Infrastructure
Infrastructure is a relatively young asset class with a developing investor base. Increasing interest in this sector reflects wide-spread recognition for a large gap between infrastructure needs and investment, as well as the prospect for relatively stable income streams and diversification. Australian pension funds were among the first private investors in infrastructure followed by pension […]
Green Bonds: Costs and Benefits of Issuance and Investment
GRESB Green Bond Working Group, January 2016 The third meeting of the GRESB Green Bond Working Group (GBWG) addressed the costs and benefits of green bond issuance and investment. GRESB presented original research on the performance of corporate real estate green bonds, sharing its findings on the quantitative costs and benefits identified, to date. Speakers, […]
Green Bonds: Metrics—Identifying Eligible Green Projects and Reporting
The Green Bond Principles (GBPs) require clear environmentally sustainable benefits and where feasible, these should be quantified or assessed by issuers. The GRESB Green Bond Guidelines for the Real Estate Sector take this suggestion one step further by recommending use of: Rigorous green building certification systems (e.g. BREEAM, Green Star, LEED) and/or Energy ratings (e.g. […]
…is high returns at low risk (volatility). Sure, that’s the starting point and so-called fiduciary duty of pension funds, insurance companies, and the investment managers that invest their capital. But increasingly, investors also want the companies and funds that they invest in to show what these investments do when it comes to environmental, social and […]
