Asset portal guide

Seamlessly report your environmental performance data

As part of the Performance component of the GRESB Real Estate Assessment, participants are required to report information at both portfolio and asset level.

The GRESB Asset Portal enables participants in the GRESB Real Estate Assessment to report environmental performance data at the asset level either via the GRESB Asset Spreadsheet or by connecting to the GRESB Asset API.

The indicators are then aggregated to complete the Performance Indicators aspect in the GRESB Real Estate Assessment.

How to use the GRESB Asset Portal

To help you make the most of the GRESB Asset Portal, we have provided the most important steps for your submission:

  • 1. Visit https://portal.gresb.com/ and login with your user credentials, or create an account by clicking “Sign up for GRESB“.

    2. Visit your Assessment Portal and select the entity for which you would like to manage assets.

    3. Select “Assets” in the right hand navigation.

    If you have opted to connect your data management system to the GRESB Asset Portal via the API, or you are working with a GRESB Data Partner, steps 4 and 5 will be taken care of automatically.

    4. Download the GRESB Asset Spreadsheet and enter your data. See guidance on using the GRESB Asset Spreadsheet

    Important! If you entered data in a previous year and wish to edit your existing assets. Please click “Export Data to Excel“. This will provide you a pre-populated GRESB Asset Spreadsheet with your entity’s assets.

    5. Click “Upload Assets in Excel” to upload your spreadsheet.

    Important! To create a new asset in the GRESB Asset Portal, leave the field GRESB Asset ID empty. To update an existing asset, enter the asset’s ID into the column GRESB Asset ID. Assets with a duplicate or non-existent ID will be rejected.

    6. You will receive an email once the import has been processed. You may leave or refresh the page at any time. Please note, if you upload a new spreadsheet while we are processing an import for you, your import will be overwritten with the latest upload.

Asset data validation

  • There is a comprehensive set of validation rules implemented for asset-level reporting. These rules consist of logical checks on the relationships between different data fields in the Asset Portal. These errors appear in red around the relevant fields in the Asset Portal Data Editor, along with a message explaining the error. Participants cannot aggregate their asset data to the portfolio level, and therefore cannot submit their Performance Component, until all validation errors are resolved. See the Asset Portal Validation Rules diagram for an overview of the validation checks.

    The Data Editor is designed to help participants report on their assets correctly. Certain fields are grayed out when they are not relevant for reporting. For instance, all landlord-controlled fields are grayed out if the option “Whole Building is Tenant Controlled” is selected. Any data in grayed-out fields will be ignored by the Portal on aggregation to the portfolio level.

    Types of validation checks

    Checks for existence

    • All fields marked “mandatory” in the asset spreadsheet must be present.
    • If the building is owned and operational for any part of the reporting year, the Floor Area Covered and the Maximum Floor Area corresponding to this building’s performance data are expected to be reported for Energy, GHG, Water, and Waste. Data Availability and Vacancy Rate must also be present.

    Checks on dates against the reporting year

    • Dates must be within the reporting year (either fiscal or calendar, set in EC4)

    Logical checks on operational control

    • If the option “Whole building is Tenant Controlled” in Reporting Characteristics is selected, then “Whole Building” in the Energy tab cannot be unselected
    • If “Whole building is Tenant Controlled” is selected, then only the data in the corresponding Whole Building fields for energy and water are relevant for reporting. Any data in the Base Building + Tenant Space fields will be ignored.

    Logical checks between floor areas

    • Any Maximum Floor Area field must be less than or equal to the Asset Size.
    • Any given Floor Area Covered field must be less than or equal to the corresponding Maximum Floor Area.
    • The sum of Maximum Floor Area fields for Energy, GHG, and Water must be greater than or equal to the Asset Size.

     

    Comparisons between Consumption/Emission and Floor Area Covered

    • If consumption values are reported, then the corresponding Floor Area Covered field must be present and greater than zero.
    • If a Floor Area Covered is reported, then the corresponding Consumption/Emission field must be present.

    Specific rules for Energy

    • If reporting on Base Building + Tenant Space, the Maximum Floor Areas reported must be less than or equal to the asset sizes per subspace
      • Example: the Maximum Floor Areas for Common Areas must be less than or equal to the total Common Area floor area
    • The Renewable Energy consumed or purchased by landlord must be less than or equal to the sum of all of the consumption values in Landlord Controlled fields

    Specific rules for GHG emissions

    • There are checks between the Maximum Floor Area and Covered Floor Area fields in the Energy and GHG tabs.
      • Example: If the Whole Building is Tenant Controlled, then only Scope 3 fields are allowed to be present in the GHG tab. In this example, the Maximum Floor Area must be equal to the Asset Size, and the Floor Area Covered must be less than or equal to the smaller of the sum of the Floor Areas Covered reported in the Energy tab or the GHG Scope 3 Maximum Floor Area.

    Specific rules for Water

    • Consumption and floor areas can be present for either Whole Building or Base Building + Tenant Space, but not both
    • Reused and recycled water purchased off-site must be less than or equal to the sum of the reported consumption values

    Specific rules for Waste

    • If the Data Coverage is larger than zero, then the Hazardous and Non-hazardous Waste consumption fields must be present
    • The sum of the proportions of waste by disposal routes must equal 100%
  • Based on statistical modelling, GRESB identifies outliers in reported performance data for selected indicators in the Real Estate Performance Component. This analysis is performed to ensure that all participating entities included in the benchmarking and scoring process are compared based on a fair, quality-controlled dataset.

    The model is built to detect outliers at the asset level. Outliers are flagged in the GRESB Asset Portal so that participants can check their input data, and make corrections if necessary.

    Outliers are only calculated for data points without validation errors, so outliers will not be present in the Portal until after participants resolve any errors from automatic validation.

    Model

    There are two kinds of outliers flagged by the Portal: Intensities and Like-for-Like (LFL) change in consumption/emission. Outliers are flagged per asset, for the following data types:

    Indicator Data Type Outlier Checks
    EN1 Energy
    • Intensity (kW/m2)
    • Like-for-Like consumption change (%)
    GH1 GHG
    • Intensity (tonnes/m2)
    • Like-for-Like consumption change (%)
    WT1 Water
    • Intensity (m3/m2)
    • Like-for-Like consumption change (%)
    WS1 Waste
    • Intensity (tonnes/m2)

     

    Outliers are only calculated for data that is eligible for inclusion in scoring. For example, LFL outliers are only calculated for assets and data types that are eligible for LFL inclusion in scoring. Intensity outliers are only calculated if the reported Floor Areas Covered are greater than 0.

    The two most common explanations for outliers in the past related to vacancy and data availability period. The 2021 GRESB Outlier Model takes both Vacancy Rates and Data Availabilities into account when calculating outlier values.

     

    • Intensity values are normalized by both vacancy and data availability.
    • The consumption values that go into the LFL change calculations are normalized by vacancy. LFL outliers are not normalized by data availability because an asset is only eligible for LFL inclusion if the data availability is 2 continuous years.
    Thresholds

    For LFL outliers, the thresholds for detecting outliers vary between 20 – 30%, based on the previous year’s consumption value. These thresholds are based on analysis of asset-level data from previous years.

    For Intensity outliers, the thresholds for detecting an outlier vary by data type and property type. They are based on a combination of analysis of data from previous years and market research on typical Energy, GHG, Water, and Waste use per property type.

    The lower and upper thresholds for Intensities are listed for all property types and data types on the Asset Portal Guidance.

    Property Type Energy (kWh/m^2) GHG (tonnes/m^2) Water (m^3/m^2) Waste (tonnes/m^2)
    lower upper lower upper lower upper lower upper
    Retail: High Street 40 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.4
    Retail: Retail Centers: Strip Mall 40 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.4
    Retail: Retail Centers: Shopping Center 40 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.4
    Retail: Retail Centers: Lifestyle Center 40 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.4
    Retail: Retail Centers: Warehouse 10 400 1e-5 0.3 1e-4 2 1e-5 0.2
    Retail: Restaurants/Bars 10 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.4
    Retail: Other 10 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.4
    Office: Corporate: Low-Rise Office 80 600 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Office: Corporate: Mid-Rise Office 80 600 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Office: Corporate: High-Rise Office 80 600 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Office: Medical Office 20 600 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Office: Business Park 1 400 1e-5 0.2 1e-4 2 1e-5 0.2
    Office: Other 1 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Industrial: Distribution Warehouse 10 400 1e-5 0.2 1e-4 2 1e-5 0.2
    Industrial: Industrial Park 1 400 1e-5 0.2 1e-4 2 1e-5 0.2
    Industrial: Manufacturing 10 400 1e-5 0.3 1e-4 3 1e-5 0.4
    Industrial: Other 1 400 1e-5 0.3 1e-4 3 1e-5 0.4
    Residential: Multi-Family: Low-Rise Multi-Family 40 600 1e-5 0.3 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Residential: Multi-Family: Mid-Rise Multi Family 40 600 1e-5 0.3 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Residential: Multi-Family: High-Rise Multi-Family 40 600 1e-5 0.3 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Residential: Family Homes 40 600 1e-5 0.3 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Residential: Student Housing 40 600 1e-5 0.3 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Residential: Retirement Living 40 600 1e-5 0.3 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Residential: Other 40 600 1e-5 0.3 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Hotel 40 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.3
    Lodging, Leisure & Recreation: Fitness Center 20 600 1e-5 0.3 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Lodging, Leisure & Recreation: Indoor Arena 20 600 1e-5 0.3 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Lodging, Leisure & Recreation: Performing Arts 20 600 1e-5 0.3 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Lodging, Leisure & Recreation: Swimming Center 20 600 1e-5 0.3 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Lodging, Leisure & Recreation: Museum/Gallery 20 600 1e-5 0.3 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Lodging, Leisure & Recreation: Other 20 600 1e-5 0.3 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Education: School 1 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.4
    Education: University 1 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.4
    Education: Library 1 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.4
    Education: Other 1 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.4
    Technology/Science: Data Center 5000 8000 1e-5 3 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.2
    Technology/Science: Laboratory/Life Sciences 5000 8000 1e-5 3 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.2
    Technology/Science: Other 5000 8000 1e-5 3 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.2
    Healthcare: Healthcare Center 80 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Healthcare: Senior Homes 80 800 1e-5 0.3 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Healthcare: Other 80 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 4 1e-5 0.3
    Mixed use: Office/Retail 10 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.4
    Mixed use: Office/Residential 10 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.4
    Mixed use: Office/Industrial 1 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.4
    Mixed use: Other 1 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.4
    Other: Parking (Indoors) 1 400 1e-5 0.2 1e-4 3 1e-5 0.2
    Other: Self-Storage 10 400 1e-5 0.2 1e-4 3 1e-5 0.2
    Other 1 800 1e-5 0.4 1e-4 5 1e-5 0.4
    Validation

    Outliers are validated automatically based on the thresholds. Detected outliers do not require explanations from the participant. However, participants will have the opportunity to optionally select reasons for each outlier. This information is for reporting purposes only.

    There are two levels of automatic outlier validation.

    1. If an outlier is detected above the fixed threshold, then the data points associated with that outlier will be included in scoring. However, they will not be included in the creation of the scoring benchmark quantiles for scoring data coverage and LFL changes.
    2. If the outlier is substantially higher than the upper threshold (more than 1000 times greater), the data points associated with that outlier will be rejected. That is, they will not be included in scoring.
    Common mistakes that can lead to outliers

    An outlier may result from a reporting mistake. When outliers are flagged, make sure to check the Consumption/Emission, Floor Area Covered, Vacancy Rate, and Data Availabilities for your asset.

    Common reporting mistakes that result in Intensity outliers:

    • Using the wrong unit (e.g. MWh instead of kWh) or wrong conversion factor
    • Reporting full Floor Area Covered when the consumption data is incomplete; for instance, missing tenant consumption data or missing fuel consumption.
    • Reporting on occupancy instead of vacancy
    • Reporting a full year of Data Availability, when the consumption data is not captured for the full reporting year

    Common reporting mistakes that result in LFL outliers:

    • Reporting consumption data for the current reporting year and no consumption data for the previous year, with the same data coverage
    • Reporting a full year of Data Availability for both this year and the previous year, when the consumption data is not actually captured for a full two reporting years
    • Reporting on occupancy instead of vacancy, or reporting the same vacancy year over year when it actually changed

Asset Portal Guidance Video

In addition to this guidance page, we have developed a free online training course to guide you through the Assessment reporting process. Please register here for the online training. This video is part of the online training course and covers the steps set out above.

GRESB Real Estate Asset Portal (ES)

Contact a GRESB data partner

If you would like to integrate your data with our API, please contact a GRESB Data Partner in your region.

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