GRESB — the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark — has become the dominant ESG benchmark for real estate funds, REITs, and property companies globally. With over 2,000 entities now participating, GRESB scores are routinely requested by institutional investors as part of due diligence and are increasingly embedded in fund mandates and lending covenants. If your fund or property company is considering its first submission, here is what you need to understand before you start.
What GRESB measures
GRESB assesses ESG performance across two components: Management and Performance. The Management component covers governance, policy, risk management, and stakeholder engagement. The Performance component covers actual environmental data — energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and waste — at asset level.
Both components are scored and combined into an overall GRESB score out of 100. Entities are then ranked within their peer group and awarded a star rating from one to five stars. The peer group is defined by entity type (listed/non-listed), geography, and property sector.
The data challenge
The single biggest challenge for first-time GRESB submitters is data. GRESB requires asset-level environmental data — ideally metered, 12-month consumption figures for electricity, gas, district heat, and water, for both landlord-controlled and tenant-controlled areas. For a diversified portfolio, this means collecting data from potentially hundreds of meters across dozens of assets.
The reality for most first-time submitters is that this data does not exist in a clean, consolidated form. Utility bills are held by different teams, some assets have smart metering and some do not, tenant data is held by occupiers who may be reluctant to share it, and coverage gaps are common.
GRESB accommodates data gaps through its coverage and estimation methodology — partial coverage is scored proportionately rather than penalised absolutely. But the higher your like-for-like data coverage, the higher your Performance score. Improving data collection infrastructure is therefore one of the highest-return investments a first-time submitter can make before their second submission.
Management component priorities
The Management component is often underestimated by first-time submitters who focus primarily on environmental data. In practice, the Management component offers significant scoring opportunity that does not require complex data collection — it requires documented policies, processes, and governance.
Key areas that first-time submitters frequently score poorly on include: board-level oversight of ESG (documented in board minutes or terms of reference), climate risk assessment aligned to TCFD, supply chain ESG requirements embedded in procurement, and tenant engagement programmes with documented outcomes.
Many of these can be addressed through policy documentation and governance changes that cost relatively little but require advance planning. Leaving the Management component to the submission window is a common mistake that results in lower scores than the entity's actual governance maturity would support.
The GRESB submission window
The GRESB submission window typically opens in April and closes in July each year, with scores released in October. For the 2026 submission cycle, the data year is calendar year 2025 — meaning the environmental data you submit covers the period January to December 2025.
This means that preparation for a first submission should ideally begin at least six months before the submission window opens — allowing time to audit data availability, address gaps, develop missing policies, and understand the scoring methodology before committing to a submission.
What a good first submission looks like
A realistic target for a first-time submitter with reasonable data infrastructure and basic ESG governance is a two-star or three-star rating. Four and five-star ratings typically require multiple years of data improvement, comprehensive coverage, and mature governance structures.
The value of a first submission is not the score — it is the baseline. A first submission establishes your starting position, identifies the gaps with the highest scoring impact, and gives you a structured improvement pathway for subsequent years.
How we support GRESB submissions
We work with funds and property companies at all stages of GRESB preparation — from initial gap analysis and data collection planning through to submission completion and score improvement strategies. Our GRESB work is integrated with our CRREM analysis and NZC Assessment services, so asset-level environmental data collected for GRESB feeds directly into pathway analysis and net zero planning.
If you are considering a first GRESB submission for the 2026 or 2027 cycle, the time to start preparing is now. Our work integrates GRESB preparation with CRREM pathway analysis and NZC assessments, so the asset-level data feeds straight through. Get in touch to discuss your submission.