by Shane Henson — September 16, 2013—Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), an industry-driven organization committed to assessing the sustainability performance of real estate portfolios (public, private and direct) around the globe, published its annual 2013 GRESB Report earlier this month showing that the real estate sector is working hard to lessen its impact on the environment.
According to GRESB, the report is based on sustainability data gathered from 543 property companies and funds, providing aggregate information on 49,000 properties across the globe. It shows that the real estate sector is significantly reducing its environmental footprint, decreasing energy consumption by 4.8% over the 2011—2012 period—equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 163,000 homes. Over the same period, greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 2.5%, and water consumption decreased by 1.2%, says GRESB.
The report notes that there are strong regional differences in energy reductions. Despite the continued focus of European Union (EU) regulators on the built environment, Europe lags behind other regions, with only a small decrease in energy consumption (-0.7%). In North America, reductions in energy consumption are the largest globally, with a decrease of -6.6% in energy consumption (1,235 GWh) and -4.8% for greenhouse gas emissions (317,600 metric tons).
The report demonstrates a clear and upward trend in sustainability performance of the global real estate industry. In 2013, 119 property companies and funds achieved the “Green Star” status, recognition for outstanding management and implementation of key sustainability issues. Australia continues to demonstrate global leadership in sustainability performance as the top-performing region in the GRESB Survey, whereas performance differences between Asia, Europe, and North America are becoming smaller.
As GRESB has found, sustainability is increasingly integrated into day-to-day business decision-making, with more than 80% of participants involving senior management in the reviewing and monitoring of sustainability processes. The adoption of risk management strategies related to sustainability is widespread: all participants now perform sustainability risk assessments, both for standing investments and for new acquisitions. This sharply contrasts with results for 2012, when only 60% of participants performed sustainability risk assessments, says GRESB.
