How GRESB measures up to leading green building standards

Green building certifications have become a familiar part of commercial real estate. They help identify buildings that meet specific sustainability criteria, such as energy efficiency or water conservation. Programs like LEED, BREEAM, and WELL are often used to certify individual buildings based on how well they perform in those areas.

However, not all sustainability frameworks focus on individual buildings. Some frameworks assess entire portfolios of properties and the companies that manage them. These tools are designed to track environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance across multiple assets.

GRESB is one of those tools. It is not a certification for a building. Instead, it is a reporting and benchmarking platform used by real estate investors, fund managers, and asset owners.

What is GRESB and why does it matter

GRESB, launched in 2009 as the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark, now simply goes by the name “GRESB.” The program measures how well real estate companies handle environmental, social, and governance issues and has since expanded beyond real estate to cover infrastructure assets as well, giving portfolio owners a single yard-stick for diverse holdings.

Unlike certifications such as LEED or BREEAM that focus on single buildings, GRESB looks at the big picture. It examines how a company manages all its properties together, including policies, performance data, and management practices.

GRESB offers two assessment routes:

• Real Estate Assessment – Evaluates funds, joint ventures, and property companies managing portfolios of buildings
• Asset Assessment – Evaluates individual assets within a portfolio, allowing for property-level benchmarking

GRESB scores are calculated across three components:

• Management – Policies, programs, and organizational structures for ESG oversight
• Performance – Actual environmental data like energy use, emissions, water consumption, and waste
• Development – Sustainability practices in new construction and major renovations (where applicable)

Why do investors care about GRESB? Because it gives them a standardized way to see which real estate companies are doing a good job with sustainability. Higher GRESB scores often signal better-managed properties with lower environmental risks and operating costs.

Overview of leading green building certifications

While GRESB looks at entire portfolios, green building certifications focus on individual properties. These certifications evaluate how buildings perform in areas like energy use, water conservation, and occupant health. Each has its own scoring system and requirements.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)

LEED is like the gold standard of green building certifications in North America. Created by the U.S. Green Building Council in 1998, it’s now used worldwide.

LEED focuses on energy savings, water efficiency, materials selection, and indoor air quality. Buildings earn points in different categories, and the total determines the certification level: Certified, Silver, Gold, or Platinum.

Getting LEED certified involves documenting building features and submitting them for review. The cost varies based on building size and complexity, with recertification needed every few years to maintain status.

Officially released in 2025, LEED v5 is the latest evolution of the flagship green building certification. It introduces new assessments focusing on climate resilience and human impact, aiming to align building practices with contemporary environmental and social priorities.

Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM)

BREEAM is the oldest green building certification system, born in the UK in 1990. It’s especially popular in Europe.

This certification evaluates buildings across categories including energy, health, water, waste, and ecology. Buildings receive ratings from “Pass” to “Outstanding” based on their overall score.

BREEAM is known for its flexibility and adaptability to different building types and local conditions. Like LEED, certification costs depend on project size, with renewal typically required every three years for existing buildings.

Fitwel

Fitwel is the new kid on the block, created by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It focuses specifically on how buildings affect people’s health and wellbeing.

Unlike other certifications that can be complex and expensive, Fitwel is designed to be straightforward and affordable. It uses a star-rating system (1-3 stars) based on how many health-promoting strategies a building implements.

Fitwel has gained popularity because it’s easier to achieve than some other certifications and focuses on practical improvements that benefit occupants directly, like better stairway access, outdoor spaces, and healthy food options.

WELL Building Standard

The WELL Building Standard is all about the people inside buildings. Created by the International WELL Building Institute, it focuses exclusively on human health and comfort.

WELL measures features that impact occupants, including air quality, water purity, light exposure, comfort, fitness, nourishment, and mental wellbeing. It’s the only certification that requires on-site testing to verify performance.

What makes WELL unique is that it works alongside other certifications. Many buildings pursue both LEED and WELL certification, for example, to address both environmental impact and occupant health.

BOMA BEST

BOMA BEST (Building Environmental Standards) is Canada’s leading environmental certification for existing buildings, developed by the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Canada. It evaluates operational performance in areas like energy, water, air, comfort, health and wellness, custodial practices, and waste.

Unlike design-focused certifications, BOMA BEST zeroes in on day-to-day building management and continuous improvement. Certification levels range from Bronze to Platinum, and buildings must renew every three years, demonstrating ongoing performance tracking and upgrades.

BOMA 360 Performance Program

The BOMA 360 Performance Program, created by BOMA International, is a U.S.-based certification that recognizes excellence in building operations and management. It goes beyond sustainability to include emergency preparedness, tenant satisfaction, and training programs.

BOMA 360 is often pursued alongside ENERGY STAR or LEED and provides a holistic snapshot of operational best practices. Buildings are scored across six major categories, and certification is valid for three years, requiring ongoing documentation to maintain status.

How green building certifications impact GRESB scores

Green building certifications and GRESB scores are connected in a simple way: buildings with certifications help boost a company’s GRESB score. This makes sense because certified buildings typically perform better on the environmental metrics that GRESB tracks.

In the GRESB scoring system, building certifications account for about 10.5% of the total score. That might not sound like much, but it can make the difference between an average and top-tier rating.

Here’s how different certifications stack up in GRESB:

GRESB gives more weight to certifications that measure actual building performance rather than just design features. For example, LEED for Operations and Maintenance (O+M) or BREEAM In-Use get more points than certifications for new construction.

The percentage of your portfolio with certifications matters too. If 80% of your buildings have green certifications, you’ll score higher than if only 20% do.

• Better overall performance: Buildings with certifications typically score better across multiple GRESB categories, not just in the certification section
• Data consistency: Certified buildings usually have better tracking systems for energy, water, and waste
• Verification advantage: Third-party verified data (which certifications provide) gets more credit in GRESB

According to GRESB’s public data, portfolios with more certified buildings outperform others by about 12% on average in the Performance component of the assessment.

Which benchmarks complement GRESB for portfolio ESG performance

GRESB works well with other reporting frameworks to give a complete picture of sustainability performance. While GRESB focuses specifically on real estate, these other benchmarks cover different aspects of environmental, social, and governance reporting.

Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)

CDP is all about climate change and carbon emissions. Where GRESB focuses on buildings, CDP looks at an organization’s overall climate impact.

Companies report to CDP about their greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and climate strategies. The information is then scored from D- to A, giving investors insight into how well companies are managing climate risks.

The data collected for CDP can support GRESB reporting, especially for environmental indicators. Many real estate companies report to both systems, using similar data but in different formats.

Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)

SASB created specific reporting guidelines for 77 different industries, including real estate. It focuses on the sustainability issues most likely to affect financial performance.

For real estate companies, SASB standards cover topics like energy management, water efficiency, and tenant engagement. These align closely with several GRESB indicators.

The big difference? SASB is about financial materiality – how sustainability affects the bottom line. GRESB is more about overall ESG performance. Using both gives investors a more complete picture of how sustainability connects to business success.

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)

GRI is the most comprehensive sustainability reporting framework. It covers environmental, social, and governance topics across all types of organizations.

Unlike GRESB, which is specific to real estate, GRI can be used by any company in any industry. It’s also designed for all stakeholders, not just investors.

GRI reporting includes both numbers (like energy use) and descriptions (like management approaches). This broader scope complements GRESB’s more focused real estate assessment, providing context around governance and social policies.

Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)

CSRD is the European Union’s new standard for corporate ESG reporting. Unlike GRESB, which focuses on real assets, CSRD applies to entire organizations, requiring them to disclose detailed sustainability risks and impacts.

Companies must report using the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), covering topics like climate, biodiversity, and social responsibility. The goal is to make ESG data more consistent and comparable across the EU.

For real estate firms operating in Europe, CSRD reporting often overlaps with GRESB. Many of the same environmental indicators—like energy use and emissions—can be used for both, just adapted to each framework’s format.

CSRD also brings tax transparency into the spotlight. Companies must disclose how their tax strategies align with their overall sustainability commitments. This means going beyond legal compliance—reporting must show how tax contributions support social equity, public services, and environmental goals. Transparent tax practices are seen as a reflection of corporate values and accountability, reinforcing a company’s role in supporting sustainable economic systems.

Building a sustainable future for real estate

Building certifications and GRESB work together like pieces of a puzzle. Certifications like LEED focus on individual buildings, while GRESB looks at entire portfolios. When you put them together, you get a complete picture of sustainability performance.

These systems are starting to align more closely. GRESB recently launched a review of how it evaluates certifications, aiming to better recognize the most effective sustainability standards. This reflects a trend toward integration, where building-level data feeds directly into portfolio-level reporting.

Nature-based solutions are gaining ground in both certification systems and GRESB. Urban beekeeping programs, for instance, contribute to biodiversity while creating engaging educational experiences for building occupants. These programs tick multiple boxes – environmental benefit, social engagement, and educational value.

The most effective sustainability strategies address multiple areas at once. Energy efficiency reduces costs and carbon emissions. Water conservation preserves resources. Indoor quality improvements enhance occupant health and productivity. Biodiversity initiatives support local ecosystems while creating learning opportunities.

Ready to enhance your property’s GRESB performance with engaging nature-based solutions? Book a demo with Alvéole to learn how urban beekeeping can contribute to your sustainability goals.