Commercial real estate (CRE) is going through a major shift. More real estate investors and tenants are looking at how buildings perform beyond just financial returns.
They are paying closer attention to environmental and social impacts, often called ESG, short for environmental, social, and governance factors. These include how a building uses energy, treats waste, supports communities, plans for climate risks, and addresses nature-related risks such as biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation.
To understand and compare how buildings perform on ESG, the real estate sector uses benchmarks. One of the most widely used is GRESB, an industry led organization that has become a standard for esg assessments.
What is GRESB?
GRESB stands for Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark. It is like a report card for how “green” real estate companies and their buildings are. Since 2009, GRESB has been the premier provider of validated esg data and benchmarks for real estate assets and infrastructure assets.
Created by a group of pension funds who wanted to know if their real estate investments were environmentally friendly, GRESB has grown into the go-to system for measuring sustainability performance in real estate and infrastructure.
How does the GRESB foundation support ESG reporting?
Every year, thousands of property companies and funds submit asset level data about their buildings. GRESB then scores them on things like energy consumption, carbon emissions, and how they treat tenants.
GRESB aligns with international reporting frameworks and offers standardized and validated data to ensure consistent esg performance tracking across regions. This is critical for capital markets and asset managers seeking comparability and transparency.
Simple definition: GRESB is a scoring system that rates how sustainable real estate portfolios are.
Main job: It lets investors compare which companies are more environmentally and socially responsible, supporting better investment decisions and risk management.
Big picture: As of 2024, over 2,200 real estate companies participate, representing about $7 trillion in property value worldwide including major players like Brookfield, Prologis, and Gecina.
Think of GRESB as the way the financial markets keep score of who’s making the biggest positive environmental impact.
How the GRESB assessment process works
The assessment process happens once a year. Property companies submit their data collected between April and July and get their scores in October. The assessment covers both real estate and infrastructure investments.
The GRESB process timeline
The assessment looks at three main areas:
- Management component: How companies handle sustainability practices at the corporate level
- Performance component: How existing buildings actually operate
- Development components: How new construction projects incorporate sustainability
Component scoring breakdown
| Assessment Component | Maximum Points | Focus Areas |
| Management | 30 | Leadership & governance, policies, risk management, stakeholder engagement |
| Performance | 70 | Energy, GHG emissions, water, waste, building certifications, data quality |
| Development | 70 | Sustainable design, construction practices, certifications, site selection |
Companies answer questions and provide evidence about their practices. The questions cover everything from utility bills to stakeholder engagement programs.
What does GRESB measure?
GGRESB collects data on:
- Energy consumption in buildings
- Water consumption
- Waste management
- Greenhouse gas emissions
- How companies engage with tenants
- Corporate policies on sustainability
After reviewing this validated data, GRESB calculates a score. This becomes part of the GRESB development benchmark or real estate development benchmark, depending on the project type.
Understanding your GRESB score
A GRESB score is a number between 0 and 100 that reflects how well a property company handles ESG issues. Higher scores mean stronger performance indicators and market recognition.
The score is derived from asset level and portfolio-level inputs, and GRESB provides analytical tools to compare peers.
As of the 2024 cycle, 2,223 entities, including property companies, real estate investment trusts, funds, and developers, submitted to GRESB. Results are structured in a quintile system, with a 5-star rating for top 20% performers.
Many investors and banks use these ratings to evaluate ESG risks and align with sustainability expectations. GRESB scores are also increasingly linked to global goals like the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The star rating makes it easy to see how a company compares to others in the same region and property type. A 5-star rating means you’re in the top 20% of all participants while those in the bottom 20% receive a 1-star rating.
Companies can use their GRESB score to show investors and tenants that they take sustainability seriously. Many investors won’t put money into properties with low scores.
Why GRESB ratings drive decisions for fund managers and asset operators
RESB has become vital in commercial real estate for several reasons.
First, provide financial markets with credible sustainability data. Investors often require actionable data before allocating capital. A poor score may mean missing out on large investments.
Second, good scores improve access to capital. Some banks offer better loan terms for high-scoring properties due to lower esg risks.
Third, tenants want green buildings. GRESB helps landlords meet this demand through better sustainability practices.
GRESB helps with:
Attracting investor capital
High GRESB scores attract investors who have sustainability requirements for their portfolios.
Saving on operating costs
The practices that improve GRESB scores often reduce operating costs through lower utility bills.
Reducing climate and regulatory risks
Properties prepared for climate change and new regulations face fewer future risks.
Retaining tenants
Sustainable buildings typically offer better indoor environments, making tenants happier and more likely to renew leases.
In competitive markets, a strong GRESB score can be the difference between a building that thrives and one that struggles to stay full.GRESB score can be the difference between a building that thrives and one that struggles to stay full.
Key updates in the 2026 GRESB standard
The 2026 GRESB Real Estate Standard updates introduce several important changes that strengthen the assessment’s focus on measured performance and climate action. The updates include scored recognition for embodied carbon measurement and transparency, reflecting the industry’s growing attention to upfront carbon impacts from building materials and construction. GRESB has also refined its net zero framework to strengthen credibility and improve alignment with frameworks like the Science Based Targets initiative, while adjusting indicator weights to elevate performance expectations and reward actual environmental outcomes over policy documentation.
Technical improvements include GHG scope reclassification for better alignment with other climate disclosure frameworks and enhanced guidance on data estimation methodologies to improve result accuracy. These changes follow the GRESB Foundation’s multi-year roadmap and represent continued evolution toward rewarding real-world environmental performance in commercial real estate portfolios.
How to improve your GRESB rating with actionable ESG data
Looking to boost your GRESB score? Focus on the fundamentals: identify ESG gaps, implement smart energy and waste strategies, engage tenants with visible sustainability initiatives, and track key performance metrics.
Alvéole can help increase your score by up to 2.6 points through nature-based solutions like urban beekeeping, which align with GRESB biodiversity criteria and broader GRESB reporting categories.
Learn how Alvéole’s Nature Reporting Engine supports your GRESB data and ESG story.
Bringing nature into real estate strategy
The commercial real estate industry is discovering that nature and buildings can do more than just coexist. They can benefit each other.
GRESB recognizes this through its biodiversity measures, which award points for protecting and enhancing natural elements at properties. As climate concerns grow, these GRESB biodiversity initiatives are becoming more important in scoring.
Forward-thinking property owners are going beyond just planting trees. They’re creating habitat corridors, installing green roofs, and bringing nature directly to tenants through innovative programs.
Urban beekeeping as an example
Urban beekeeping offers a perfect example. Rooftop hives support pollinator populations while creating unique educational opportunities for building occupants. The honey produced becomes a tangible reminder of the building’s environmental commitment.
These nature-based approaches deliver multiple benefits:
- They improve biodiversity scores in GRESB assessments
- They create visible sustainability features that tenants value
- They provide educational content for tenant engagement programs
- They contribute to urban ecosystem health
As GRESB continues to evolve, expect to see more emphasis on how buildings interact with the natural world. Properties that find creative ways to integrate nature will likely see this reflected in stronger GRESB performance.
