Neil comes to us after 8 years with Morguard Investments where he was Head of Sustainability. Morguard is one of Canada’s largest fully integrated real estate companies with over $22 billion in assets under management across Canada and the United States.
Neil developed the GRI Standard sustainability reporting program and directed ESG initiatives ranging from responsible property investing to green building certifications. Previous to Morguard, he was a consultant in sustainability strategy and public relations, and has worked in both private and public-sector research positions. In 2014, Neil was honoured as one of Canada’s Clean50 for his “outstanding contribution to sustainable development and clean capitalism”.
Neil led Morguard REIT’s Green Star GRESB submission, so he brings to our team hands-on experience from the North American property and asset management perspective. He can help our members get investor buy-in on ESG, and he personally understands the challenges involved with preparing a GRESB submission.
Neil will lead GRESB Canada and will work directly with Dan Winters our Head of Americas, to engage with members across the Americas. Canada demonstrates strong ESG improvements as reflected by a GRESB score average of 70 in 2017, up from 55 in 2013. Canadian GRESB members with more than 5 years of benchmarking experience, demonstrate a commitment to better data – with over 90% reporting having data management systems in place to monitor energy and water consumption.
With Neil onboard and the continued support of our EMEA team and Asia-Pacific team, GRESB in the Americas is well positioned to further develop the ESG benchmark for the industry and facilitate the spread of sustainable best practices across the real assets sector in 2018 and beyond
We’re excited to have Neil join the GRESB team and we hope you’ll join us in giving him a warm welcome.