GRESB’s 2016 assessment is live on Measurabl. The new assessment overhauls more than 20% of its questions, introduces new modules, and substantially revises its guidance on critical Performance Indicators. Don’t fret! Measurabl’s Quick Start Guide has you covered with these four steps to guarantee a successful report.
4 Essential Steps to GRESB Success in 2016
1. Planning on omitting assets from your report? If so, clearly define your reporting boundary in the “Portfolio Characteristics” module. You can include or exclude buildings from your report with a simple “on/off” switch in Measurabl.
2. Set each building’s leasable area and define which part of the building each meter serves for your whole portfolio. If you don’t you’re at risk of drastically misstating your Data Coverage rate. Here’s a video on how to do so using Measurabl.
3. Enter Projects, Audits, Certifications for each building. These three basic items yield critical points on GRESB. Measurabl rolls them all up into the portfolio-level format required by GRESB.
4. Review the following list of changes and update your assessment accordingly. Each indicator and its corresponding change(s) are listed below. Some are small while others are game changers..!
List of Changes
Portfolio Characteristics
- EC2: Revised company structure.
- If public company, then enter year began investing in the company.
- If private company, then year first launched, type (open or close), type of structure (finite or infinite). If finite, then Termination Date.
- RC5.1: New property types.
- Check property types are correct for each asset, particularly mixed use. This will affect your peer group.
- RC2 5.1: “Gross Asset Value” must be entered for each asset.
Management
- Q1: Expanded objectives
- What topics are included and level of integration in the overall business strategy is applicable.
- Q2: Emails required for contacts
Policy & Disclosure
- Q8: Environmental policy, new option: biodiversity/habitat & building safety.
- Q9: Include other governance issues. Expanded from yes/no bribery and corruption question.
- Q10: Stakeholder engagement policy new option: external asset/property managers.
Risks & Opportunities
- Q13: Expanded to all governance issues (same options as Q9).
- Q15.1 & Q15.2: Did you perform risk assessments as part of its due diligence? Multiple new answer options.
- Q16: Technical Building assessment: Enter “Audits”.
- There is an option to select energy, water, waste, and health & wellness audits.
- Q17-19: Efficiency measures: Enter “Projects”. Waste projects is a new category.
Monitoring & EMS
- Q21.1: If Premium Measurabl subscriber, Measurabl will be submitted as your EMS along with supporting documentation.
Performance Indicators
- Q25.1, 26.1, 27.1, 28.1: Vacancy rate
- Enter Occupancy information for 2014 & 2015 on the Site Profile page of each asset.
- Q25.2, 26.2, 27.2, 28.2: Required to report 2013, 2014, 2015 intensities.
- Optional “base year” can be set in report section on Intensity page.
- Q26.1: New question on purchased carbon offsets.
- Q27.3: New question on water reuse or recycling.
- Q29: Must specify how targets relate to objectives.
Stakeholder Engagement
- Q32: New question on procedures for implementing employee policies.
- Q33: Sustainability-specific training, new sub-question, what topics were included.
- Q35.1: Health & safety checks, new sub-question, what % of employees had health & safety checks.
- Q39.1: Sustainability requirements and standard lease contracts, new multiple choice options.
- Q39.2: New question on lease contract monitoring.
- Q40: Sustainability-specific requirements for procurement, new sub-question, what topics were included.
- Q41.1 & 41.2: Monitoring external Project Managers and compliance with sustainability-specific requirements.
- Q42.1: New multiple choice option (Enhancement programs)
- Q42.2: New multiple choice options (livability score, walkability score, housing affordability)
Innovation
- List of topics updated for reporting innovative projects.
- New sub-questions on implementation and savings.
Construction Characteristics
- RC-NC1.2 & RC-NC2.2: New questions on reporting boundaries.
- NC1: Topics addressed in sustainability strategy, new sub-question.
- NC2, NC3, NC4 & NC5.1: Selection criteria, new sub-questions.
- NC5.2: New column on table “level of certification”.
New Building Consumption
- NC.6: New question on minimum energy efficiency requirements.
- NC7.1: New sub-questions to specify the % of projects designed for renewable use.
- NC7.2: New sub-question for company’s definition of net-zero.
- NC8: New question regarding water conservation.
- NC9: New question regarding on asset solid waste management efficiency.
Construction Engagement
- NC10.1: Requirements in place for its contractors, new sub-question on issues covered by requirements.
- NC11: New question regarding health and well being.
- NC12.1: New question regarding health and safety.
- NC13: Socio-economic impact, new multiple choice options (livability score, walkability score, housing affordability).
- NC14: New question regarding local community monitoring.
Leader in the Light
- Q1: Define Key Financial Performance Indicators for company’s sustainability strategy.
- Refer to the “Projects” entered on your Measurabl Data Page to assist in answering this aspect.
Certifications & Ratings
- Enter building certifications completed in either 2014 or 2015 on your Building’s “Certifications & Ratings” page. Measurabl now auto-calculates the portfolio level GRESB results, so this module has been removed from qualitative assessment entirely!
- If you’ve synced Measurabl with ENERGY STAR, we’ll automatically complete your Energy Star certification status!
Use Measurabl to ensure you get your maximum possible GRESB score with the least pain. Want personal assistance, or have a question on any of these new GRESB requirements? Contact support@measurabl.com anytime. We’ll be back to you within 24 hours. Happy reporting!