EN1: Renewable Energy
Assessment Instructions
Participants must report this metric at the asset level.
GRESB automatically populates this indicator in the assessment response once participants have aggregated asset-level data from the Asset Portal.
When using the Asset Spreadsheet to upload asset-level data, GRESB recommends reviewing the instructions below in conjunction with the corresponding spreadsheet tab. The Cell Code column in the Input section indicates where to report each metric in the spreadsheet.
Asset Portal Guide Click here to download a read-only version of the Asset Spreadsheet.
Generated and consumed on-site by landlord
(kWh)
Generated on-site and exported by landlord
(kWh)
Generated and consumed on-site by third party or tenant
(kWh)
Generated off-site and exported by landlord
(kWh)
Generated off-site and procured by tenant
(kWh)
Procurement Type
Drop-down
Market-based Claim
Drop-down
Proximity
Drop-down
Vintage of Generation
Drop-down
Input: How do I complete this metric?
Data
Cell Code
Instructions
Renewable Energy
BK4-BO4
Report absolute renewable energy generation and consumption based on all electricity and/or district heating and cooling consumption reported for each asset.
Include renewable energy used to power outdoor areas (regardless of how outdoor space is metered) in these fields. Exclude carbon offsets or renewable energy consumed or generated for the purpose of powering EV charging stations in these fields. Guidance to report geothermal energy generated by heat pumps or similar energy sources:
Electricity used to run the heat pump systems → report as Electricity field
Heating energy generated in the process → report as District Heating & Cooling field
Corresponding amount of energy generated as renewable energy → report as On-site generated and consumed by landlord/tenant (depending on the control type)
Generated Off-site and procured
BN5-BO5
Use these fields to reflect the renewable energy procured by the reporting entity through RECs and/or PPA Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Participants can also report RECs that have been retired on their behalf by a third party, such as local governments and/or utility companies. The renewable energy reported must comply with the Scope 2 Quality Criteria of the GHG Protocol, i.e. the contractual instruments must have been retired and the energy must have been generated within the same geographical boundary as the reporting entity.
Quality of Renewable Energy Procurement
BP-BS
Use these fields to provide further details on the renewable energy procured by the landlord of the reporting entity. The data here aligns with RE100 definitions and guidance. See RE100 Technical Criteria (2022) here. See definitions of each procurement listed in the drop-down below:
Procurement Type: Renewable energy procurement type classification scheme maps to that of the RE100 Technical Criteria (2022) (https://www.there100.org/). Note: GRESB has disaggregated the RE100 procurement type into (1) procurement type, to describe how electricity is procured by the asset, and (2) market-based claim, to describe how renewable energy attribute claims are made using a market-based mechanism.
Self-generation from facilities owned by the company: Self-generation from facilities owned by the company.
Physical Power Purchase Agreement (Physical PPA): A contract for the physical delivery of (or title to) renewable electricity through the grid.
Financial Power Purchase Agreement (financial/virtual PPA): A contract for the financial settlement of renewable electricity at a fixed price, without physical delivery. The buyer receives the associated Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs).
Project-specific supply contract with electricity supplier: Project-specific supply contract with electricity supplier.
Retail supply contract with electricity supplier: Retail supply contract with electricity supplier.
Default delivered renewable electricity from the grid: Default delivered renewable energy (i.e., renewables in the supplier utility mix that have not been voluntarily procured by the corporate buyer) when an equivalent amount of EACs is retired by the utility/supplier.
RE100 Passive Procurement type 5.2: Default delivered renewable electricity from the grid in a market with at least a 95% renewable generation mix and where there is no mechanism for specifically allocating renewable electricity.
Unbundled procurement of Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs): Purchase of renewable energy certificates (e.g., RECs, GOs, I-RECs) separate from electricity supply, used to make market-based renewable energy claims.
Mixed: Refers to having a mix of the stated procurement mechanisms for the individual asset
Market-based claim: A "market-based claim" refers to the method by which renewable energy attributes are attributed and communicated, typically through mechanisms such as renewable energy certificates or contractual agreements.
Bundled: Reflects the situation in which the purchase of physical electricity and the associated environmental attributes (EACs) are sold together as part of the same transaction or contract. This creates a clear link between the Renewable Energy being consumed and its environmental benefits.
Unbundled: Refers to a situation where Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs) are separated from the physical electricity they represent and sold or traded independently of the actual energy. The “Unbundled” option should be selected if EACs are acquired via virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) or to reflect the use of “replacement Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)” or “REC arbitrage” in which the original EACs of a particular energy procurement contract are substituted for others on an EAC market.
No market-based claim: Reflects when no EACs are retired in correspondence with the energy consumption. Importantly, this option must be selected if the EACs corresponding with the energy consumption are sold as opposed to being retired.
Mixed: Reflects that status that there is a known combination of “bundled” and “unbundled”. This does not include situations for which a portion of the reported Renewable Energy exhibits no market-based claim – i.e., did not retire the associated EACs.
Unknown: Reflects the situation in which it is unknown if EACs were retired for any portion of the reported Renewable Energy.
Proximity: Proximity refers to the geographic and systemic closeness between renewable energy generation, as attributed through market-based mechanisms, and the point of consumption. Generally, greater proximity is considered indicative of higher quality, as it reflects the likelihood that the renewable energy generation could have meaningfully influenced the same energy system that supplies the point of consumption.
Same market: GRESB will align to the RE100 Technical Criteria (2022), Appendix B: Market Boundaries, regarding what constitutes a “market”.
Different market: GRESB will align to the RE100 Technical Criteria (2022), Appendix B: Market Boundaries, regarding what constitutes a “market”.
Mixed: Reflects if there is a known proportion between EACs from the “same market” as the reported consumption and EACs from a “different market” as the reported consumption. GRESB will align with the RE100’s Technical Criteria regarding what constitutes a “market”.
Unknown: Reflects uncertainty, for any portion of the market-based Renewable Energy claim, if the EACs retired pertain to the “same” or a “different” market as the market in which the energy was consumed.
Vintage of Generation: "Vintage" refers to the specific time period during which renewable energy was generated, as determined by the associated attributes or certificates. This concept is important for aligning renewable energy generation with the timing of its claimed use or consumption. In general, more recent vintages are considered higher quality, as they better reflect contemporaneity between the production and consumption of renewable energy, ensuring relevance to current energy needs and market dynamics. Vintage plays a critical role in maintaining the credibility and temporal integrity of renewable energy claims. Note: This does not refer to the vintage of the generation asset itself (e.g., the age of the solar farm).
Performance year: The vintage of the retired EAC falls within either the "performance year” (i.e., the year in which the energy consumption occurred) or within a relevant certification/regulation-backed eligibility” window“ (e.g., Green-e's 21-month eligibility window, or the European Energy Certificate System’s country-specific Domain Protocols). Such windows must be designed for EACs of voluntary retail markets and not for the compliance of national or regional government commitments (e.g., renewable portfolio standards, or the Australian Government Clean Energy Regulator’s ’Renewable Energy Target’, which sometimes have larger eligibility windows.
Not performance year: Not performance year/period
Mixed: Reflects if there is a known proportion between EACs from the “performance year/period” as the reported consumption and EACs not from the performance year/period as the reported consumption.
Unknown: Reflects uncertainty, for any portion of the market-based Renewable Energy claim, as to whether the EACs retired correspond or not to the performance year/period in which the energy was consumed.
Validation: What evidence is required?
This indicator is subject to automatic validation. No evidence is required. Refer to the page below for guidance on how to resolve automatic validation errors and warnings. Validation Basics
Scoring
Renewable energy influences the renewable energy (3 points total) score calculation.
Renewable Energy
Step 1: Calculate Asset Level Scores
The Renewable Energy score is split into two parts.
Part One: Renewable Energy Generation
The first part assesses whether any renewable energy was generated by every asset within the same property sub-type and country in the portfolio during the reporting year. It can result in up to 1/3 of the maximum score (i.e., 1 point).
1 point (full points) is achieved if each asset generated on-site renewable energy.
0.5 points (half points) are achieved if each asset did not generate on-site renewable energy, but did generate off-site renewable energy.
Part Two: Renewable Energy Performance Improvement
The second part assesses the percentage improvement in renewable energy generation compared to the previous year, contributing up to two points (2/3 of the metric's maximum score). Each asset's performance score is based on two elements:
First, GRESB calculates the percentage of renewable energy (p) for the current reporting year for each asset. Assets with no renewable energy are assigned a % renewable energy of 0, resulting in a score of 0.
Second, GRESB determines the improvement score by comparing the asset's year-on-year improvement (i) in % renewable energy to a benchmark group based on the improvement of other assets within the same property sub-type and country. Only positive improvements are considered; values ≤ 0 are ignored.
These two elements are combined using the following formula, where p is the percentage of renewable energy, and i is the improvement score:
Score = (100 + p) / 200 * p / 100 + (100 - p) / 200 * i
Step 2: Aggregate to the Property Subtype | Country Level
GRESB aggregates the asset-level scores to each property sub-type and country combination, using a weighted mean calculated by multiplying floor area by the percentage of ownership and the length of ownership period in the reporting year.
Step 3: Aggregate to the Portfolio Level
GRESB aggregates the scores for each property sub-type and country into a single portfolio score, weighted by the gross asset value (GAV) for each property sub-type and country.
Scoring Example: Renewable Energy
Consider 10 Residential: Multi-family Mid-rise USA assets that with identical square footage (GFA) and 100% ownership throughout the entire reporting year. All assets have identical energy consumption.
In the previous year, two assets were entirely powered by renewable energy, and 8eightassets did not have any renewable energy.
In the current year, one additional asset is half powered by renewable energy, and seven assets do not have any renewable energy.
Step 1: Calculate the % renewable energy for all assets for both the current year and the previous year, resulting in the following values:
Pervious year: 100%, 100%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%.
Current year: 100%, 100%, 50%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%.
Step 2: Calculate the year-on-year improvement for all assets, resulting in the following values:
0%, 0%, 50%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%,
Step 3: Compare asset-level year-on-year improvement values against a relevant benchmark distribution of assets within the same property sub-type and country to achieve an improvement score.
Out of the 10 assets, one achieves an improvement score of ~90%; nine achieve an improvement score of 0. The performance score for each asset is then calculated by applying the formula below. For the one asset subject to a positive improvement score, GRESB calculates it as:
[((100 + p) / 200 ) * (p / 100) ] + [(100 - p) / 200] * i =
[((100 + 50) / 200) * 50% ] + [(100 – 50) / 200] *90% = 0.375 + 0.225 = 0.6
As a result, that asset earns 1.2 points (0.6 * 2) for this section. Other assets fully powered by renewable energy in the current year achieve a performance score of 2 points, and assets with no renewable energy achieve a performance score of 0.
Step 4: Aggregate all asset-level performance scores to the property sub-type / country (using assets’ floor area, ownership %, and ownership duration as weighting factors):
(1.2p * (1/10)) + (2p * (2/10)) + (0p * (7/10)) = 0.52 points.
Frequently Asked Questions
How should I report renewable energy procurement through RECs (Renewable Energy Certificates) in GRESB, considering the RE100 criteria and the distinction between procurement type and market-based claim?
RECs are the US equivalent of EACs (Energy Attribute Certificates) and are treated the same for GRESB purposes. When reporting RECs, you need to specify both:
Procurement Type: This describes how you obtain your electricity (e.g., direct purchase from a grid mix, green tariff, on-site generation). This is independent of your REC purchase.
Market-Based Claim: This indicates whether the RECs were bundled with your electricity purchase or purchased separately (unbundled).
For green tariffs, it's crucial to confirm that your supplier isn't using "replacement RECs" or "REC arbitrage." If they are, the RECs should be classified as 'unbundled'. Only if your supplier directly contracts with renewable energy generation and retires those specific RECs for your use can they be classified as 'bundled'.
How should I report unbundled RECs?
Unbundled RECs are not a procurement type but a market-based claim. If an entity purchases unbundled RECs, they should select a procurement type that reflects how the electricity itself is procured (e.g., a standard retail contract or another applicable category).
How should I classify the procurement of renewable energy through the retirement of RECs in the ‘Quality of Renewable Energy Procurement’ section?
This procurement should be classified as 'Default delivered renewable electricity from the grid.'
Can I purchase Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) in one year to cover usage from a previous year?
Yes, you can purchase RECs in a later year to cover electricity consumption from a previous reporting year, and report those RECs for the earlier year. The key is that the RECs must match the consumption of the reporting year for which you are claiming them.
If I lease my rooftops for solar panels, and I have no control over the energy generated, can I report it as part of my submission?
No. In this case, the entity cannot report this portion of renewable energy, as the reporting entity is only leasing its rooftops and is not directly involved in the energy generation process.
Last updated
Was this helpful?