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Standard Origin & Evolution

The GRESB Foundation

GRESB

GRESB started in 2009 as a research project at Maastricht University. The academic effort evolved into GRESB B.V., headquartered in Amsterdam, and subsequently grew to become the preeminent global benchmark for real asset efficiency, resilience, and sustainability. In 2021, GRESB B.V. created the GRESB Foundation to guide the development of GRESB Standards and focus on stakeholder engagement. The Foundation embodies the spirit of “by industry, for industry” governance that has energized GRESB since its inception.

The Foundation independently governs the GRESB Standards. GRESB B.V. uses the Standards as the basis for Assessments used by GRESB Members around the world. The Foundation is led by volunteers and is supported by the GRESB Foundation Secretariat, which is composed of a group of GRESB B.V. employees, including the Chief Innovation Officer, Director of the Foundation, Director of Real Estate Standard, Director of Infrastructure Standards, Director of Real Asset Analytics, and Director of Climate Change.

Mission & Vision

The Foundation and GRESB B.V. work together to facilitate communication between institutional investors and their real asset investments through the GRESB Standards, which provide a globally recognized and consistent means of assessing and benchmarking the efficiency, resilience, and sustainability of assets and portfolios. They allow asset managers, listed companies, developers, asset operators, and investors to take a central role in creating a more sustainable world through financial markets.

To facilitate an effective and efficient conversation between these stakeholders, GRESB must provide transparency about sustainability performance and compare this information to absolute and relative benchmarks. This is rooted in the belief that engaged, responsible investment drives positive change and superior risk-adjusted investment returns. Investors receive information needed to develop and apply informed investment strategies, while participating asset managers identify strengths and weaknesses relative to their peers. The result is a cycle of iterative engagement and continuous improvement.

Structure & Function

The Foundation guides the development of the GRESB Standards, which underpin the GRESB Benchmarks for real estate and infrastructure. The Foundation acts to:

  • Lead the evolution of GRESB Standards in support of the Foundation’s mission

  • Facilitate industry engagement in Standards development

  • Seek input from industry experts to inform and evaluate the significance of new and emerging issues

  • Ensure that the GRESB Standards are feasible and can be practically implemented

The Foundation advances the GRESB Standards through a hierarchy of advisory groups, including the Foundation Board, Real Estate Standard Committee (RESC), Infrastructure Standards Committee (ISC), Technical Working Groups, and Expert Resource Groups (ERG). The Foundation can also solicit decision-useful information through independent market research and stakeholder feedback, such as expert interviews, survey responses, and thought leadership content. Volunteer leaders use this information to govern the structure and content of the Standards. The volunteers recommend, review, and approve annual changes to the Standards, along with setting long-term development priorities.

The Foundation Board

The Foundation Board was established in January 2022, and it has ultimate responsibility for the scope and content of each GRESB Standard. The Board acts to:

  • Advance the objectives of the GRESB Foundation

  • Safeguard the GRESB Standards to ensure they remain independent, mission-driven, investor-led, and reflective of the industries and members

  • Develop and maintain the vision for Standards Development

  • Set, improve, review, and approve annual updates to the GRESB Standards.

  • Oversee the activities of the Standards Committees

The Board comprises representatives of GRESB Investor and Participant Members and Partners, each of whom serves a three-year term with up to two one-year extensions (as long as they remain affiliated with a GRESB Member).

Any representative of a GRESB Member is eligible to join the Board via selection by the Foundation Board, based on multiple criteria, including their current role and previous work experience, and education. There is a concerted effort to ensure diversity within the Board’s membership, including geographic, gender, sector, and member type representation.

The Board Members (as of September 2025) include:

Standards Committees

The Foundation Board delegates authority to the RESC and ISC. These volunteer bodies serve the Foundation by acting to:

  • Promote widespread adoption and impact of the GRESB Standards

  • Provide recommendations for improvements to the GRESB Standards

  • Solicit and review stakeholder feedback

  • Report on progress to the Foundation Board

  • Promote research on sustainability topics relevant to real estate and infrastructure

  • Provide input to the vision and strategy for the GRESB Standards

  • Establish scopes of work and appoint members to Technical Working Groups

  • Oversee the activity of the Expert Resource Group and Technical Working Groups

Like the Board, the RESC and ISC comprise representatives from GRESB Investor and Participant Members and Partners, each of whom serves a two-year term with three potential one-year extensions (as long as they remain affiliated with a GRESB Member). Any representative of a GRESB Member is eligible to join the Standards Committees via selection by the Board based on several criteria, including their current role and previous work experience and education. There is a similar effort to ensure diversity within the Committees, including geographic, gender, sector, and member type representation.

RESC Members

As of September 2025:

  • Jorge Chapa, Green Building Council of Australia

  • Abigail Dean, Nuveen Real Estate

  • Helen Gurfel, CBRE Investment Management

  • Ryuichi Horie, CSR Design

  • Grace Kwok, AEC Group

  • Juliette Lefébure, Observatoire de L’Immobilier Durable

  • Olivia Muir, UBS (Deputy Chair)

  • Darryl Neate, Real Property Association of Canada

  • Georgie Nelson, Aberdeen

  • Aleksandra (Sasha) Njagulj, DWS Group (Chair)

  • Rob Simpson, Le Caisse

  • Benjamin Thomas, Property Council of Australia

  • Peter van den Tol, MN

  • Nicole Wilson, KKR

ISC Members

As of September 2025:

  • Madelaine Broad, TCorp (Deputy Chair)

  • Lucinda Callow, DWS Group

  • Olta Cibuku, Sosteneo Infrastructure Partners

  • Jon Collinge, Morrison & Co

  • Gerry Connelly, Amey Investments Management Services Limited

  • Matthew Han, Macquarie Asset Management

  • Sean Kahn, Rest Super

  • Neil Krawitz, Arcus Infrastructure Partners (Chair)

  • Jochen Krippner, IFM Investors

  • Ruairi Revell, Aberdeen

  • Manuel Rodríguez, AINDA Energia & Infraestructura

  • Mitch Seider, PSP

  • Gioia Torresi, CBRE Investment Management

  • Cassie Winn, JP Morgan

Learn more about the Standards Committees and apply to join the RESC or ISC via the nomination form.

Technical Working Groups

Technical Working Groups are formed to review and recommend improvements to the GRESB Standards in relation to a specific aspect of sectors, industries, and topics, including indicators and metrics. Working Groups comprise representatives of GRESB Investor and Participant Members and Partners, each of whom serves for the duration of the Working Group, which is usually a few months (as long as they remain affiliated with a GRESB Member). Any representative of a GRESB Member is eligible to join a Working Group and is selected by the Foundation Board based on several criteria, including their current role, previous work experience, and education. Like the other advisory groups, the GRESB Foundation makes a concerted effort to ensure diversity within Working Groups, including geographic, gender, sector, and member type representation.

View the list of Working Group members at gresb.com/foundation.

Highlight: Change Management Working Group

As the Foundation Board evaluates changes to the Standards each year, they understand that the Standards must respond to investors’ demands for improved performance while offering managers forward-looking information about these changes and their scoring impacts. In response to this need for progress and predictability, the Board commissioned the Change Management Working Group—comprised of members of the Foundation Board, Standards Committees, and Expert Resource Groups—to develop the Principles for Governing Standards Development as a critical step in formalizing a more transparent and effective Standards development process.

The Working Group met five times over the course of approximately six months, including one in-person meeting, which also included the RESC and ISC. Working Group members discussed the challenges contributing to and resulting from the 2024 results period to fully understand how to improve the Foundation’s grassroots governance. They also considered the need for GRESB to evolve in a way that provides stakeholders with confidence and predictability in the long-term direction of the Standards. Finally, the Working Group sought to ensure the Standards remain relevant in a changing marketplace so the Assessments can continue to serve as a market transformation tool.

Ultimately, the Working Group devised Principles for Governing the Standards Development, which are further discussed in the next section of the Roadmap.

Expert Resource Groups

The Expert Resource Groups (ERG) provide diverse industry perspectives and experience on a wide variety of material topics to support the development of the Standards. The Foundation aspires to engage ERG community members on a regular basis to solicit their input on the state of the industry, best practices, and other topics.

The ERG comprises GRESB Investor and Participant Members and Partners, each of whom serves for an indefinite period (as long as they remain employed by a GRESB Member). Any employee of a GRESB Member is eligible to join the ERG to contribute their specific area of expertise, with participation determined by the Foundation Board.

View the list of ERG members at gresb.com/foundation.

Highlight: Expert Resource Group Survey

To gain insight into global sustainability sentiment, the Foundation solicited input from nearly 50 Foundation Board and ERG members, as well as GRESB Accredited Professionals from around the world in 2025. Members with both regional and international mandates provided feedback.

A strong consensus emerged on the prevailing uncertainty of sustainability across markets. Agreement also centered on the lack of certainty and clarity concerning both public and private sector priorities, as well as a collective desire to avoid greenwashing and politicalization. Perceptions about specific sustainability issues, however, varied significantly between regions.

For example, members highlighted enthusiasm for biodiversity restoration in Australia and a greater focus on transition risk across EMEA.

Perception of Sustainability Sentiment Today

Future sentiment was consistent across survey participants, with most members expecting investors’ focus on sustainability efforts to remain unchanged over the next year. Members recognized the crucial role of investors, citing investor demand as a key driver of future sustainability, along with due diligence, risk management, and mitigation, and emerging issues such as resilience and embodied carbon.

Perception of Sustainability Sentiment in the Future

Environmental issues emerged as the most critical for sustainability engagement, while fiduciary responsibility and due diligence are key drivers of sustainability decisions.

Primary Motivation for Investors to Engage on Sustainability-Related Topics

Lastly, the respondents encouraged the Foundation to continue empowering investors by:

  • Supporting fiduciary responsibility: Identify material issues and demonstrate sustainable value creation and risk mitigation through case studies

  • Reducing reporting burden: Align with and help managers navigate regulatory requirements.

  • Providing decision-useful information for investment: Further increase standardization and comparability for investors to make capital allocations.

  • Informing transition finance decision-making: Engage, educate, and enable investors to have meaningful discussions with asset managers

The Foundation intends to use these insights to guide further development of the Standards to continue reflecting investor demand and enabling investment decisions that drive real-world outcomes.

We are grateful for the feedback offered by members and welcome further input from our global stakeholders via [email protected].

GRESB Foundation at a Glance

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