GRESB Launches 2013 Sustainability Performance Survey

The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), which measures sustainability performance of the international real estate investment industry, has announced that its 2013 survey is open for responses. This year’s survey is the fourth one undertaken by the organization. The survey’s information is used by some of the industry’s largest institutional investors, investment managers and property companies to analyze their sustainability performance.

GRESB undertakes an annual survey each year, focusing on the sustainability performance of real estate investments measured at the portfolio level. The survey consists of approximately 50 questions based on input from investors about what matters to them when examining sustainability issues. The survey’s purpose is to evaluate real estate companies’ and funds’ performance and inform investors of the success and progress of initiatives to improve their sustainability. GRESB’s global membership includes more than 40 institutional real estate investors and investment managers, plus all the major real estate industry associations and a large number of consultants and product vendors.

Over the three previous years that GRESB has undertaken its survey, response to the survey has increased substantially from 200 companies and funds in 2009 to more than 450 in 2012. GRESB covers seven unique sustainability aspects, which address environmental issues as well as approaches to management, policy and disclosure, building certifications, sustainability risk management and stakeholder engagement.

Participants may complete the survey online via GRESB’s online portal, which remains open until July 1, 2013. GRESB will spend the summer analyzing the data and will publish the results in the first week of September. In addition to the publicly available annual GRESB report, GRESB members and survey participants receive individual results that detail their respective funds’ and firms’ performance.