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Data Exporter Guidance – Infrastructure

This page is currently reflecting the 2020 version of the GRESB Tool. It will be updated in early October. Thank you.

 

The Data Exporter provides access to all data points in the various GRESB Assessments through a downloadable .csv or .xlsx files. Users can access this feature through the right-hand side navigation menu of the GRESB Portal, button “Data Exports”.

This page aims to provide extensive guidance as to how to use the Data Exporter. If anything is unclear, please contact us with any questions.

Users and access rights

Depending on the type of GRESB membership associated with your user account, the Data Exporter will give you access to the following entities:

  • Participant member (Fund and/or Asset): Access to your own entities (if you can access their Benchmark Report). You can find the list of entities in your Assessment Portal.
  • Listed Investor member: Access to all listed entities (except entities under the Grace Period).
  • Non-listed Investor member: Access to all entities of which access has been granted by the Participant member.

How to use the Data Exporter

  • First, select the Assessment you want to extract data from:

    • Asset Assessment: The GRESB Asset Assessment is the global standard for ESG benchmarking and reporting for individual underlying assets (portfolio companies).
    • Fund Assessment: The GRESB Fund Assessment is the global standard for ESG benchmarking and reporting for infrastructure funds and portfolios of assets.
    • Infrastructure Public Disclosure: The Infrastructure Public Disclosure Dataset evaluates the level of ESG disclosure by listed infrastructure companies and investment vehicles for an entire investable universe. The evaluation is based on a set of indicators aligned with the GRESB Real Estate and Infrastructure Assessments.

    It is highly encouraged to review the relevant GRESB Assessment Reference Guides to understand the data structure and the meaning of the data points available for download.

    Please click here to access the most up-to-date Reference Guides.

    Indeed, given the significant number of existing variables in the Assessments, not all variables are readily available for download from the platform. However, any variable contained in the GRESB Assessment Reference Guides can be requested for download using the Data Request Form. Once a request is logged, GRESB will upload the relevant variables onto the platform and therefore make them available for users to download.

    GIF1 – selection of Assessment, year(s) and format

     

  • Next, you need to select the year(s) you would like to include in your data export and choose a format for the file generated.

    Several variables are available for download for multiple years (e.g. the GRESB Score of the Asset & Fund Assessments is available from 2016 to 2020). However, given that the content of the GRESB Assessments evolves over time, some variables may only exist as from a certain year.

    Note that the GRESB Assessments always assess the ESG performance of reporting entities for the previous calendar/fiscal year. For example, the 2020 Infrastructure Asset Assessment assesses the ESG performance of its reporting entities of calendar/fiscal year 2019.

  • Select criteria to filter the variable list. Any options selected from the opening panels will be applied as a filter to the variable list at the bottom of the Data Exports page, from which selected variables will be ultimately included in the downloadable file. Given that the number of data points is significant, we strongly recommend users to look through the relevant Reference Guide (see above) prior to using filters in order to locate the data points they are looking for.

    Explanation of filters:

    The two available filters are VARIABLE TYPE and ASPECT.

    Variable type

    GIF2 – selection of Variable type

    This filter contains four criteria:

    • Entity & Reporting Characteristics: The selected variables relate to information provided in the Entity & Reporting Characteristics aspect of the Assessment. These data points determine the profile of the reporting entity as well as its reporting scope and boundaries of the entity.
    • Other Assessment Answers: The selected variables relate to answers directly provided to Assessment indicators through the selection of checkboxes, radio buttons, options from dropdown menus or open text-boxes. The possible values are:
      • Radio button (Yes/No): See the example below, with possible values in red (left)
        • Value of 1: option 1 (Selection on “Yes” by entity)
        • Value of 2: option 2 (Selection on “No” by entity)
        • Example: Indicator MA5 from the 2019 Real Estate Assessment inquires whether the entity has a senior decision-maker accountable for ESG issues. A value of 1 indicates that the entity selected “Yes” to the radio button in MA5. A value of 2 indicates that the entity selected “No”.
      • Radio button (List): See the example below, with possible values in red (left)
        • Value of 1: option 1 (as displayed in the Indicator)
        • Value of 2: option 2 (as displayed in the Indicator)
        • Value of 3: option 3 (as displayed in the Indicator)
        • Etc.
        • Example: The radio buttons corresponding to the list of individuals each receive their individual values as shown in the image below.
      • Checkbox:
        • Value of 0/null: not selected
        • Value of 1: selected
        • Example: Indicator PD1 from the 2019 Infrastructure Asset Assessment inquires whether the entity has an environmental policy covering Biodiversity and habitat. A value of 1 indicates that the entity selected the checkbox of Biodiversity and habitat. A value of 0 indicates that the entity did not.

    1. Numerical values: The selected variables relate to quantitative values, whether these were directly provided by the participant or calculated by GRESB. For example:
      • Indicator PI9.0 from the 2019 Infrastructure Asset Assessment inquires whether the organization undertook a customer satisfaction survey for a percentage of customers with a quantitative field to complete, as well as another for the survey response rate.
      • Scores …: This Variable type is divided into 4 scoring groups:
      • Expressed in Points: The selected variables relate to the score – expressed in number of points – achieved by the entity for each Indicator, Aspect, Pillar or Total. For example:
        • ASSET(FUND).SCORE_SE_1 represents the entity’s score to indicator SE1;
        • ASSET(FUND).SCORE_SE represents the entity’s score to aspect Stakeholder Engagement;
        • ASSET(FUND).SCORE_SOC represents the entity’s score to pillar Social;
        • ASSET(FUND).SCORE_TOTAL represents the total entity’s score.
      • Maximum Scores (in points): The selected variables represent the maximum score expressed in points for each Indicator, Aspect, Pillar, or Total. For example:
        • ASSET(FUND).SCORE.MAX_SE_1 represents the maximum score, expressed in points, that an entity can achieve for indicator SE1.
      • Please note that this information can also be found in the Reference Guides below each indicator.
      • Expressed in Percentage: The selected variables represent the results of variables Expressed in Points divided by Maximum Scores (in points), expressed in percentage. For example:
        • ASSET(FUND).SCORE_SE_1 of entity A equals 1.25
        • ASSET(FUND).SCORE.MAX_SE_1 equals 3.55
        • ASSET(FUND).SCORE.P_SE_1 equals [1.25] / [3.55] = 0.352 ⇒ 35.2
      • Rankings & Ratings: This Variable type consists of 4 variables:
        • ASSET(FUND).GREEN_STAR: Participating entities with a score that is equal or larger than 50 on both MAPO and IMMO Components.
        • ASSET(FUND).GRESB_RATING: The overall GRESB rating expressed as number of stars (ranging 1-5).
        • ASSET(FUND).RANK_TOTAL: The rank of the entity in the full GRESB Universe (all participants in the assessment).
        • ASSET(FUND).RANK_TOTAL_REGION: The rank of the entity within the region.

    As explained above, not all variables are readily available for download from the platform, but any variable contained in the GRESB Assessment Reference Guides can be requested for download using the Data Request Form.

    Aspect

    GIF3 – selection of Aspect(s) and Indicator(s)

    This filter has as many aspects as the selected Assessment contains.

    The GRESB Assessments are structured into Aspects, consisting of a set of indicators related to the same topic. The Aspect filter selects your variable search to the variables related to the selected Aspect (multiple selection applicable). Once an Aspect is selected, an additional filter option opens up allowing the user to refine their search by selecting the relevant indicators of that Aspect. Any options selected from those two filters are applied to the variable list at the bottom of the page.

  • GIF4 – selection of Variable(s) and Download data file

    Once the correct filters are applied, select the variables you wish to download from the variable list at the bottom of the page. To support the users’ understanding, the variable list includes a text description for each variable. We however strongly recommend users to look through the relevant Reference Guide prior to downloading data points.

    The displayed list of variables changes as users apply different filters. However, the number of variables selected for download is saved and appears on the right-hand side of the page (in the grey box).

  • Once ready to download, accept the Data download terms and click “Download data file”.

    Regardless of the filters applied, all downloaded files include 6 variables by-default:

    1. RESPONSE_ID: Unique identifier of submissions to GRESB. As such, one entity can have multiple RESPONSE_IDs if it submits to GRESB for multiple years.
    2. YEAR: The year relating to the downloaded variables. Values correspond to the selected years in Step 1 (see above).
    3. FUND_ID: Unique identifier of reporting entities. This variable remains the same if an entity reports to GRESB for multiple years.
    4. FUND_NAME: Fund or company name of the investable entity for which the Assessment is submitted.
    5. FUND_MANAGER_NAME: Legal name of the organization that managers the entity (equals the fund name if the entity is listed).
    6. RECTIFIED_ISIN: The International Securities Identification Number as rectified by GRESB. This variable only exists for listed entities. Note that the entity’s ISIN as reported by the participant (with no alteration by GRESB) can be found under RE.EC_2_A1_ISIN.

    If you need additional guidance or support, please contact us with any questions.