GRESB Reporting Guide

What is GRESB?

The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) is an industry-led, investor-focused benchmarking and assessment organisation that helps measure the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of real estate and infrastructure assets.

GRESB assessments evaluate eligible real estate and infrastructure companies, funds, and assets using standardised, asset-level indicators annually. They help qualifying organisations understand how their ESG performance benchmarks against peers, identify improvement opportunities, and strengthen ESG reporting and management practices.

For investors, GRESB provides comparable benchmarks and analytical tools that make it easier to assess ESG performance and respond to increasingly complex reporting expectations.

In 2015, GRESB expanded its interests beyond sustainable real estate and into the ESG performance of infrastructure, including roads, railways, electricity distribution, and communication systems. To reflect this coverage expansion, GRESB adopted the word as its name and no longer uses it as an acronym.

Why is GRESB important?

GRESB provides companies and investors with standardised, actionable data for ESG benchmarking of real estate and infrastructure investments. By focusing on verified, annual performance data, GRESB acts as a key tool for aligning real asset investments with global sustainability goals, such as net zero, while protecting financial value.

Investor demand and capital access: Investors increasingly require transparent, non-financial data to make informed decisions and mitigate risks. High GRESB scores can enhance reputation and facilitate access to capital.
Performance benchmarking: GRESB assessments provide a benchmark to compare ESG performance against industry peers, encouraging continuous improvement.
Risk management: Helps identify and manage sustainability-related risks within investor portfolios, such as climate change.
Transparency and accountability: By establishing a consistent framework, GRESB forces the industry to move beyond vague sustainability claims.
Operational improvement: The data-driven insights often lead to improved operational efficiencies, such as lowered energy consumption and waste reduction.

When was GRESB introduced?

GRESB began as a Maastricht University research project in 2009. It went on to evolve into GRESB B.V., headquartered in Amsterdam, and later became the preeminent global benchmark for real asset efficiency, resilience, and sustainability.

In 2021, GRESB B.V. created the GRESB Foundation to guide the development of GRESB Standards and focus on stakeholder engagement. Today, the Foundation independently governs the GRESB Standards.

The GRESB Standards are the rulebook and methodology behind the reporting process. They define what gets measured, how it is structured, and how submissions are evaluated. GRESB B.V. uses the Standards as the basis for the annual GRESB Assessment used by GRESB Members worldwide.

What is a GRESB assessment?

A GRESB assessment is an annual ESG benchmarking process for real assets that measures how real estate and infrastructure companies, funds, and assets manage sustainability risks and opportunities. It gives participants a standardised score and peer comparison that investors can use to evaluate performance, and it also helps managers identify where to improve. This varied structure makes the GRESB benchmark more comparable and credible for investors, leading to more actionable results for participants.

The four types of GRESB assessments are:

GRESB Real Estate Assessment

This assessment covers standing real estate portfolios and looks at ESG management and operational performance across properties. It is the core assessment for listed property companies, private property funds, REITs, and other entities that invest directly in real estate, and is reviewed annually to reflect current industry priorities and material issues.

It generates two benchmarks: Real Estate and Development, with the latter designed to assess development activities, focusing on how projects are planned and delivered with ESG considerations in mind. It is meant for organisations with development pipelines rather than only operational assets, and it helps show how sustainability is embedded before a building is fully operating.

GRESB Infrastructure Fund Assessment

This assessment is designed for infrastructure funds and evaluates how the fund manager oversees sustainability across the fund’s portfolio. The main components of the assessment are the management and performance components. The management aspect covers leadership, policies, targets, reporting, risk management, and stakeholder engagement, while the performance aspect is informed by the underlying assets’ ESG performance data. It is useful where the investment vehicle, rather than each individual asset alone, is the main reporting unit.

GRESB Infrastructure Asset Assessment

This applies to individual infrastructure assets and operating platforms, such as transport, utilities, energy, or other infrastructure holdings. It looks at performance and management at the asset level, which is important when the operational profile of each asset matters more than the fund structure.

GRESB Infrastructure Development Asset Assessment

It applies to under-construction or pre-operational infrastructure assets and is designed to assess how sustainability is being managed before an asset enters full operation. This assessment evaluates development-stage ESG performance and the sustainability risks and impacts associated with bringing the asset to completion.

Who is GRESB for?

GRESB targets real estate and infrastructure stakeholders who need standardised ESG benchmarking for decision-making and performance tracking. Users fall under two categories: primary and secondary beneficiaries.

Primary users, such as institutional investors, asset owners, asset managers, and operators, submit data to GRESB and act on the scorecard. They use the assessment to benchmark performance, identify gaps, and improve ESG management.

Meanwhile, secondary beneficiaries are stakeholders who rely on GRESB outputs but do not usually complete the assessment themselves. This includes banks, financial institutions, and industry stakeholders.

Is a GRESB assessment required?

No, a GRESB assessment is generally voluntary and not a legal or regulatory requirement. Organisations participate because investors and the market expect it and because it provides a standardised ESG benchmark for real assets. Organisations that choose to complete GRESB assessments do so to meet investor demand, support fundraising, and compare ESG performance with their peers.

While GRESB is not mandatory, participation may be important if investors require it as part of ESG reporting, due diligence, or capital allocation decisions.

When is the GRESB assessment conducted?

GRESB assessments are conducted annually. The portal opens in April, and submissions are typically accepted until July 1st. The results are released in phases afterwards, with preliminary results in September and final results in October.

What is the process of GRESB assessments?

GRESB assessments follow a yearly reporting cycle that starts with preparation, moves through data collection and submission, and ends with scoring, benchmarking, and feedback. The process captures both ESG management practices and operational performance, producing a standardised benchmark that helps understand relative performance.

Prepare for the cycle

The organisation first identifies which assessment applies, then reviews the relevant guidance, deadlines, scoring criteria, and required indicators. This is also when teams define internal responsibilities, confirm asset coverage, and map out what data will need to be collected.

Gather the data

Reporting teams compile information from property managers, asset managers, operations staff, and other internal sources. Typical inputs include utility consumption, emissions, water, waste, policies, governance structures, targets, and evidence of ESG management practices.

Check and organise supporting evidence

Before submitting, participants usually validate the numbers, make sure definitions are consistent, and assemble documents that support the answers entered in the assessment. This stage matters because submission involves not only data entry but also proving that the information is credible and traceable.

Complete the assessment portal

The organisation fills out the online questionnaire for the relevant assessment type and submits it within the reporting window. For the annual cycle, this usually happens between the spring portal opening and the summer deadline.

Undergo validation and scoring

After submission, GRESB validates the response and applies its scoring methodology across the relevant management and performance indicators. The resulting score is then benchmarked against peer groups made up of similar assets, funds, or portfolios so the participant can understand how its performance compares within its sector, geography, and asset type.

Receive results and act on them

Participants receive the GRESB Score, GRESB Rating, benchmark report, and indicator-level results, plus supporting analysis such as score breakdowns, peer comparisons, and dashboard insights. Together, these tools help organisations pinpoint underperforming areas, track progress over time, and decide where to focus on operational or disclosure improvements before the next assessment. Many organisations use this stage to set improvement plans, tighten data collection processes, and align ESG initiatives with investor expectations.

This overall flow is similar across real estate and infrastructure assessments, but the specific questions, metrics, and evidence requirements vary depending on whether the participant is reporting a standard portfolio, a development pipeline, an infrastructure fund, or an infrastructure asset.

How is a GRESB score determined?

A GRESB score is determined by combining the points a participant earns across the assessment’s ESG indicators, then comparing the result against a benchmark of other reporting entities. The assessment assigns points to different categories such as management policies, implementation, performance data, and evidence of ESG practices. Those points are then rolled up into an overall score, which reflects how well an entity performs across the relevant indicators for its assessment type.

For real estate, some performance metrics like energy, greenhouse gas emissions, water, and waste are calculated at the asset level first, then weighted and aggregated into the portfolio score. In that model, each asset contributes based on its weight in the portfolio, so larger or more relevant assets influence the final score more.

The score is typically reported on a scale of 0-100 along with a star outcome. The rating is based on the score’s quintile position relative to all participants that year. GRESB’s scoring rewards both strong ESG management systems and solid measured performance. It is not just a disclosure exercise but also a benchmarked scoring system that shows how an organisation stands against its peers globally.

What is a GRESB Green Star?

A GRESB Green Star is a special recognition for real estate participants that meet a minimum absolute performance threshold. It stands out from the usual GRESB star rating, which is relative to peers, because the Green Star is based on fixed scoring criteria rather than on ranking.

In practical terms, a real estate entity earns the Green Star when it scores above 50% of the points available in the relevant components, such as Management and Performance or Management and Development. GRESB says this designation is only for Real Estate Assessment participants, which appears in scorecards and benchmark reports.

So, GRESB’s Green Star basically flags organisations that have reached a solid baseline level of ESG performance, not just performed well compared to the rest of the field.

How to prepare for GRESB reporting in 2026?

The timeline for GRESB reporting in 2026 is as follows:

- April 1: The GRESB Portal opens for the 2026 GRESB Assessments.
- April 1 – June 20: Pre-Submission Checks can be requested.
- July 1: GRESB Assessment Portal closes on July 1.
- August: GRESB Validation starts, followed by scoring and benchmarking.
- September: Launch of preliminary 2026 Real Estate and Infrastructure Assessment results for Participants
- October 1: Launch of 2026 GRESB Assessment results for both Participants and Investors, available in the GRESB Portal

This timeline follows a standard annual cycle, keeping a similar timeline annually with only minor date or process adjustments.

While waiting for the deadline, organisations should:

Complete the remaining indicators

- - Fill any data gaps, finish unanswered sections, and make sure each indicator is backed by the right evidence. If certain parts of the assessment remain incomplete, prioritise those that affect scoring or require more internal coordination.

Run internal quality checks

- - Review numbers for consistency across assets, portfolios, and reporting templates, and confirm that units, time periods, and boundaries are aligned. This is the stage to catch errors before they become submission issues.

Use pre-submission review options

- - GRESB allows pre-submission checks during the reporting period, which can help identify missing documents, weak evidence, or indicators that may need clarification before final submission.

Align internally on sign-off

- - Make sure asset managers, sustainability teams, finance, operations, and leadership agree on the final response set. A clean sign-off process reduces last-minute edits and avoids inconsistent disclosures.

Prepare for post-submission follow-up

- Even after submission, organisations may want to organise files, track any validation questions, and plan how results will be reviewed later in the year. That way, the team is not starting from zero once results are released.

How Presgo Supports GRESB Reporting

Presgo is an AI-first ESG reporting platform designed by industry experts to support your organisation’s compliance with GRESB reporting. Presgo’s modules help cover the core workflow behind GRESB reporting: collecting data, converting it into credible metrics, documenting the governance narrative, and tracking performance over time.

Data Hub

Centralises ESG data collection across teams and creates a structured, auditable dataset. This module helps organisations assemble the asset-level and portfolio-level inputs that GRESB typically requires, such as energy, water, waste, and governance data.

Disclosure Hub

Supports the drafting and management of sustainability narratives. This is valuable for the management, policy, and governance sections of GRESB-aligned reporting. The module helps keep disclosures consistent, organised, and mapped to reporting requirements.

Carbon Calculator

Calculates scopes 1-3 emissions transparently and maps them to emission factors. This supports better-quality inputs and reduces manual errors, which is crucial in GRESB reporting.

Goals and Performance

Helps organisations set ESG targets, monitor progress, and flag underperformance before reporting deadlines. This helps support GRESB-style reporting as the benchmark rewards evidence of ongoing management, improvement, and performance tracking over time.

Learn more about how you can create GRESB-aligned reports using Presgo.