GRESB is the first assessment of its kind to analyse environmental, social and governance performance of the real estate industry at the fund level. It has been welcomed within the investment community, both in relation to its correlation to financial performance, as well as credibility which it holds to external stakeholders in a time of increased transparency.
The benchmark is divided into two overarching categories, Management & Policy and Implementation & Measurement, with a greater impetus put on the latter. The Lothbury Property Trust has been committed to submitting to GRESB for a number of years. In 2017, Greengage was appointed to assist with Lothbury’s assessment.
Greengage have an excellent relationship with Lothbury, built up through a number of high-profile real estate projects. This relationship, as well as detailed knowledge acquired from the specific projects, facilitated the co-ordinated response between Greengage and Lothbury. The benchmark has developed recently to enable cohesion between itself and other assessment mechanisms such as BREEAM. This represents a trend seen within the industry to make non-financial reporting less burdensome for members.
The role Greengage played in the reporting process included:
- Collation of relevant information for the report;
- Analysis of Lothbury submissions;
- Alignment with third party rating systems;
- Assistance with broader Corporate Responsibility targets, with future reports in mind; and
- Analysis and assurance that Lothbury answers were of the highest standard.