Its investors ask
Investor members can invite managers and request access to results.
A commercial request.Real assets · ESG benchmark
The GRESB assessment
GRESB is a paid ESG benchmark that real estate and infrastructure fund managers enter each year because their investors ask.
It scores each fund out of 100 and then ranks it in stars, with the top fifth of participants getting 5 Stars.
It is not a regulation and not a certification, and the 2026 results were released on 1 October 2026.
What it is
What is GRESB?
A benchmark run by a private company: managers submit data, GRESB scores it, investors look.
The GRESB Foundation sets the standards and GRESB BV runs the assessments (GRESB).
| Assessment | Who it is for | How it scores |
|---|---|---|
| Real Estate, Standing Investments | Managers of operating property funds | Management 30 points plus Performance 70 |
| Real Estate, Development | Managers of development funds | Management 30 points plus Development 70 |
| Infrastructure | Infrastructure funds and assets | Separate Fund, Asset and Development Asset assessments; a fund needs at least 25% of its assets taking part |
There is no such thing as “GRESB certified”: GRESB issues a score, a Rating and a Rating logo.
Status
Is GRESB mandatory?
No. It is an investor request, and a paid one.
About 150 institutional and financial investors use GRESB, and they can request access to any participant’s results (GRESB).
“Investors require GRESB” is a market statement, not a legal one.
The UK duties that are law are on ESG reporting requirements in the UK.
Why a fund is in GRESB
The manager chooses
To benchmark itself against peers.
Results stay private unless shared.A law requires it
No such law was found.
GRESB says it aligns with regulation, not that it is regulation.Who sees it
Who sees a fund’s GRESB results?
The fund and the investors it lets in: results are private by default.
GRESB’s Public Disclosure product rates listed property companies and REITs whether or not they take part.
An investor member pays per dataset it subscribes to (GRESB terms).
Who sees resultsExplore
Who sees results
Investor members
Can request access to any participant; private-entity access needs consent.
Who sees results
First-year participants
May keep investors out of their results for the first cycle.
Who sees results
The public
Not by default; GRESB Public Disclosure rates listed companies separately.
One fund
What does a first GRESB cycle look like for one fund?
A UK property fund asked by two investors scores 64 out of 100, and does not yet know its stars.
It is an illustration, not a real fund, and its points are invented to show the arithmetic.
GRESB itself says a score cannot be estimated in advance, because part of the Performance score is relative to peers (GRESB Guides).
- 1
Who asked?
Two of its investors, who are GRESB investor members and can request access to its results (GRESB).
- 2
Which assessment?
Real Estate, Standing Investments: Management (30) and Performance (70) (GRESB Guides).
- 3
What does it score?
Say 18 for Management and 46 for Performance: a GRESB Score of 64 out of 100.
- 4
How many stars?
Unknown until results: stars are a quintile of all participants that year (GRESB).
- 5
Must investors see it?
Not in its first cycle: a first-year participant may block investor access (GRESB).
Scoring
How is a GRESB score built?
Management 30 plus Performance or Development 70, then a star by quintile.
| Element | What GRESB says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Score | Out of 100: Management 30 plus Performance 70, or Management 30 plus Development 70 | GRESB Guides |
| Who gets one | Only entities that complete both relevant components | GRESB |
| Rating | Stars by quintile: each year 20% of entities receive 5 Stars | GRESB |
| Certifications | BC1 up to 8.5 points and energy ratings (BC2) up to 2, scored on floor-area coverage, not on the certification level | GRESB 2026 guides |
| Preliminary stars | Can change after the correction window | GRESB |
A BREEAM or LEED rating counts for floor area covered, whatever its level; the schemes are explained on BREEAM certification.
Your score
What does your GRESB score add up to?
Enter your component points: the tool adds them, and says what the stars can and cannot tell you.
The check uses GRESB’s 2026 Real Estate structure.
It cannot turn a score into stars, because GRESB sets the star cut-offs each year from all participants’ scores.
GRESB · what does your score add up to?
Enter the points from your Benchmark Report.
Rules: GRESB 2026 Real Estate Assessment guides (structure, BC1, BC2); GRESB FAQ, What is the GRESB Rating?; GRESB Methodology Disclosure.
GRESB says a score cannot be estimated in advance, because part of it is relative to peers. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
Deadlines
When are the GRESB deadlines?
The 2026 cycle is done: submissions closed on 1 July and final results came on 1 October 2026.
- 1 April 202601
- 1 July 202602
- 1 September 202603
- 1 October 202604
GRESB’s own pages disagree on the last day to request a Results Performance Review: its key-dates page says 30 January, a March 2026 article says 15 January (key dates · GRESB).
GRESB had not published 2026 participation counts by 15 October 2026.
Regulation
Is a GRESB rating regulated?
GRESB says it is an ESG rating provider under the EU Regulation; the UK regime starts in 2028.
GRESB says its ratings are not calculated from CSRD statements or EU Taxonomy alignment: participants submit data directly (GRESB).
A fund that also reports under CSRD still submits to GRESB separately.
The EU Taxonomy is explained on EU Taxonomy for UK companies.
GRESB and the rulesExplore
GRESB and the rules
EU ESG Ratings Regulation
GRESB says its Assessments and Public Disclosure are in scope and publishes Article 24 disclosures.
Order of work
What should a fund do first?
Confirm who is asking, pick the assessment, then gather the building data.
The building figures GRESB asks for overlap with what a property company may disclose under UK SRS S2.
Carbon figures for the portfolio are worked out the way real estate carbon accounting software describes.
- 1
Ask which investors want it
And whether they will request access.
- 2
Choose the assessment
Standing Investments, Development or Infrastructure.
- 3
Ask GRESB for the fee
It publishes none.
- 4
Gather asset data
Energy, emissions, water, waste and certifications by floor area.
- 5
Decide on the Grace Period
In a first cycle, whether investors see the results.
GRESB is a race against other funds, not a test against a standard, so five stars say who you beat this year.
- 30 + 70 points
A GRESB Score is Management plus Performance or Development
Only entities completing both get a score. - 20% get 5 Stars
The star Rating is a rank among participants, not a standard
The same score can earn different stars in different years. - 1 October 2026
The 2026 results are final
Preliminary September stars could still move. - No published fee
GRESB prices only on request
Participants are invoiced annually per entity. - No law
GRESB is an investor request, not a regulation
The UK ratings regime starts on 29 June 2028.
Is GRESB changing its scoring?
Proposals only: GRESB says finalised changes come in late 2026 and apply from the 2028 Standard.
Do not describe GRESB as having moved to absolute thresholds: that is one option under consultation.
What is proposedExplore
What is proposed
Road to Performance
“None of this is final yet”; it would apply from the 2028 Standard, assessing 2027 data.
What is proposed
Advanced Ratings
Thematic, sliced or absolute-threshold ratings, still at consultation.
What is proposed
Certification schemes
Recognised schemes must meet revised criteria for the 2028 Standard.
Frequently asked
What else do people ask about GRESB?
What is GRESB?
GRESB is an ESG benchmark for real assets.
Fund and asset managers submit data on their real estate or infrastructure portfolios each year, GRESB scores it out of 100, and investor members can see the results.
It is run by GRESB BV, with standards set by the GRESB Foundation.
Is GRESB mandatory?
No. No law requires GRESB participation.
Managers take part because their investors ask, and GRESB itself says its benchmarks align with regulatory schemes, not that they are regulation.
What is a good GRESB score?
There is no fixed pass mark.
The score is out of 100, but the star Rating is a quintile: each year the top 20% of entities get 5 Stars, so a 5 Star rating means out-ranking other participants that year, not meeting a set standard.
Is there such a thing as GRESB certification?
No. GRESB issues a score, a 1 to 5 Star Rating and a Rating logo.
A correct description is, for example, “GRESB 4 Star rated (2025)”.
When are the GRESB 2026 results?
Final 2026 results went to participants and investors on 1 October 2026, after preliminary results on 1 September and a correction window from 1 to 15 September.
Submissions closed on 1 July 2026.
How much does GRESB cost?
GRESB does not publish its fees.
Its fees page says only “For details about our fees, please contact us.”
Participants are invoiced annually for the entities that took part the year before.
Who can see our GRESB results?
Results are not public by default.
They go to the participant and to investor members it authorises or who request access.
A first-year participant can stop investors seeing its results for that cycle.
Is GRESB regulated?
GRESB says its products are in scope of the EU ESG Ratings Regulation and it publishes the disclosures that Regulation requires.
Whether ESMA has authorised it is not recorded here.
The UK’s ESG ratings regime does not begin until 29 June 2028.
Sources
Where does each figure come from?
Every figure, date and status on this page traces to the instrument’s owner.
Secondary commentary is never the source for a number.
Checked against 17 sources fromGRESBGRESB Guides
- GRESBAbout GRESB
The GRESB Foundation sets the standards; GRESB BV runs the assessments.
- GRESBWhat is the GRESB Rating?
A quintile: each year 20% of entities receive 5 Stars.
- GRESBKey dates: GRESB Assessments timeline (2026)
Portal opened 1 April; submissions closed 1 July; final results 1 October 2026.
- GRESBGRESB Public Results
Final Benchmark Reports live in the GRESB Portal from 1 October.
- GRESBAssessment Correction
Preliminary star ratings can change after corrections.
- GRESBHow to prepare for a successful reporting period (4 March 2026)
Gives 15 January for the Results Performance Review, where the key-dates page gives 30 January.
- GRESBGRESB Annual Fees
“For details about our fees, please contact us.”
- GRESBTerms and Conditions, §7
How investor and participant fees are charged.
- GRESBFor investors
Used by 150 institutional and financial investors, who can request access to any participant.
- GRESBESG Rating Methodology Disclosure
Article 24 disclosures under Regulation (EU) 2024/3005; results private by default; first-year access block.
- GRESBInfrastructure Asset Assessment
The “Grace Period”, and a score only when both components are submitted.
- GRESB GuidesAssessment Structure and Scope (2026 Real Estate)
Management 30 points; Performance or Development 70.
- GRESBReal Estate Assessment
In 2025, fund managers submitted 2,382 Real Estate assessments.
- GRESB GuidesScoring Basics
Part of the Performance score is relative to peers.
- GRESB Guides2026 Real Estate Assessment, BC1.1 and BC2
Certifications score on floor-area coverage, not on level.
- GRESB Guides2026 Scheme Lists
BREEAM and LEED schemes recognised for the 2026 and 2027 Standards.
- GRESBAugust Update (28 August 2026)
“None of this is final yet”: Road to Performance applies from the 2028 Standard.
Continue reading
Where to go next
Guide
BREEAM certification
The building rating GRESB counts by floor area.
Guide
EU Taxonomy for UK companies
Which UK groups report Taxonomy KPIs, and how.
Guide
Real estate carbon accounting software
Portfolio carbon figures, the way GRESB asks for them.
Guide
ESG frameworks in the UK
GRESB beside CDP, GRI and the ISSB standards.