Real estate sector continues to lead on sustainability: GRESB

This year’s Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) reveals that sustainability reporting has improved in coverage and quality of data, with the average overall score increasing due to increasing implementation and measurement.

The average score is now 47 (out of 100) which is up nine points this year. The benchmark collects data from 637 listed property companies and private equity real estate funds, covering 56,000 buildings with an aggregate value of $2.1 trillion.

GRESB found that collectively, in 2013, the commercial real estate sector reduced its energy consumption by about 0.8 per cent, carbon emissions fell by 0.3 per cent, and water consumption fell by 2.3 per cent.

Sustainability is assessed annually by GRESB with a focus on: executive decisions, plans and policies; performance measurement; and stakeholder engagement.

The data provided by GRESB allows pension funds and other institutional investors to incorporate responsible investment principles into their decision-making. It is a source of portfolio-level sustainability data for the real estate industry, with  more than 40 institutional investors, representing $5.5 trillion in assets under management, using it for timely, actionable information about the sustainability performance of property portfolios.

Five years after the launch of the benchmark in 2009, GRESB participation has become standard practice for many of the world’s fund managers and listed property companies. There has been a more than 220 percent increase in response rate since 2009.

Sponsored Content

To view the results click here

 

Leave a Comment

Sort content by

Peter Bernstein: Risk Inverse

Peter Bernstein, an economic consultant and respected investment thinker passed away on Friday June 5 in New York. Widely regarded as an intellectual giant in the investment circles for his ability to translate complex mathematical models into practical applications, he founded the Journal of Portfolio Management in 1974 and wrote a number of respected books

…as consultant assessment initiates changes to internal equity team and technology

CalPERS has reached its capacity to internally manage equities portfolios and would need to make changes to technology and staff resources if the internally-managed equities program is expanded, according to the outcome of the annual consultant review of CalPERS’ internal equity team by Wilshire Associates. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

Asset class review inspires opportunistic allocation at CalPERS’

CalPERS is considering adopting an “opportunistic” program seeking to profit from substantially undervalued assets across various asset classes and strategies, and will be limited to 3 per cent of the fund’s total market value. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

The future of risk management: How independent should risk management be?

Barry Schachter, research associate with the EDHEC Risk and Asset Management Research Centre and director, quantitative resources, Moore Capital Management believes the current crisis is a catalyst for change in the conduct of risk management because it has challenged the efficacy of the existing risk management model, but simply imposing regulation is not the change

SWFs struck at financial crisis epicentre: $50b in losses from financials

For their biggest public market investments in the last two years, sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) zeroed-in on the most dogged companies in the worst-performing sector: Western financials. These decisions incurred paper losses of $US56.3 billion, accounting for most of their public market losses for the period. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

Working hard for the money

Last year large institutional investors in the US, including the State of Massachusetts Pension Fund and CalPERS, dedicated money to senior bank loans. Amanda White examines the outlook for the sector and talks to group head of ING’s senior loan group, Jeff Bakalar, about whether institutional allocations to the sector have been tactical or strategic.

Previous