GRESB has been a pivotal force in advancing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) transparency and performance within the real estate sector since its inception in 2009. As the industry evolves, too does GRESB’s framework, ensuring it remains aligned with emerging sustainability challenges and stakeholder expectations. The 2025 GRESB Foundation Roadmap introduces significant updates aimed at enhancing the assessment’s robustness, relevance, and applicability.
Foundation of the 2025 Roadmap
In 2021, GRESB initiated a comprehensive stakeholder engagement process to develop a shared vision for future standards and assessments. This collaborative effort led to the creation of annual strategic roadmaps, delineating topics under review and planned changes. The 2025 GRESB Foundation Roadmap, now in its second edition, outlines both near- and long-term priorities, detailing updates to the Real Estate and Infrastructure Standards.
Key Updates in the 2025 Real Estate Standard
The 2025 GRESB Real Estate Standard introduces several pivotal changes designed to provide transparency and reflect a commitment to stability through 2027. These updates encompass new and enhanced criteria across various ESG dimensions:
- Energy Efficiency: Recognizing high performers, the updated standard offers scored recognition for entities demonstrating superior energy efficiency, irrespective of year-over-year improvement.
- Renewable Energy: To inform future scoring, the standard now includes unscored data collection on renewable energy procurement, emphasizing the quality of renewable electricity sourcing at the asset level.
- Embodied Carbon: Acknowledging the significance of carbon emissions associated with building materials and construction, the 2025 Standard introduces unscored criteria to assess and manage embodied carbon, particularly in development activities. Scoring is expected to begin in 2026.
- Biodiversity: The updated standard tests new, unscored criteria to evaluate biodiversity impacts, encouraging participants to consider ecological factors in their operations.
- Building Certifications: There’s an emphasis on differentiating building certifications based on scope, prerequisites, and other factors, with no changes in data collection for participants and no impact on scores until 2027.
- Residential Real Estate: In a move towards increased sector specificity, the standard offers supplemental recognition for residential participants, incorporating sector-specific indicators, metrics, and weighting adjustments.
Streamlining and Reducing Reporting Burden
GRESB acknowledges the importance of balancing comprehensive ESG reporting with the need to minimize participant burden. To this end, the 2025 updates include:
- Employee Safety: Updated scoring methodologies aim to streamline reporting while maintaining a focus on safety metrics.
- Retirement of Indicators: Indicators deemed less relevant, such as those related to Personnel Responsible for ESG and Employee Engagement, have been retired to reduce redundancy and focus on material aspects.
A cornerstone of the 2025 Roadmap is GRESB’s dedication to a predictable multi-year development process. By providing clarity on development plans through 2027, GRESB ensures that participants can anticipate and prepare for future requirements, fostering a stable environment for ESG integration.
Engagement and Continuous Improvement
GRESB’s evolution is deeply rooted in stakeholder engagement. The organization continues to collaborate with members, partners, and industry experts to refine its standards. This collaborative approach ensures that the Standards remain relevant, comprehensive, and aligned with global sustainability goals.
Looking Ahead
The 2025 GRESB Roadmap represents a significant step forward in ESG benchmarking for real estate. By introducing targeted improvements, streamlining processes, and enhancing sector specificity, GRESB empowers participants to better assess and manage their sustainability performance. As the industry navigates the complexities of ESG integration, GRESB’s updated standards provide a clear framework to drive meaningful progress.
In conclusion, the 2025 GRESB Foundation Roadmap underscores a commitment to advancing sustainability in real estate through thoughtful updates and stakeholder collaboration. Participants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with these changes and engage with GRESB’s resources to effectively navigate the evolving ESG landscape.
For more details on the 2025 GRESB Foundation Roadmap, please consult this document: Strategic Roadmap – GRESB
The ESREI programme would like to thank its sponsors Amundi Asset Management, BNP Paribas Real Estate, Clariane, Ivanhoe Cambridge, La Française REM, Ofi Invest, Pimco Prime Real Estate and Praemia REIM. They enable us to carry out this work and we will continue to go forward on international issues in sustainable real estate in 2025!
