DBC1.2: Green Building Certifications – Above Green

Intent

This indicator is focused on green building rating standards utilized as part of the development process. Green building standards provide a measure of the intrinsic quality of the asset and its design in order to meet environmental standards requirements. Building certifications provide external assurance on the ESG performance of an asset.

Requirements

Select yes or no. If yes, select all applicable sub-options.

Does the entity’s development portfolio include projects that obtained or are registered to obtain a green building certificate?

Yes
- Specify the certification scheme(s) used and the percentage of the portfolio registered and/or certified (multiple answers possible):
  - Projects registered to obtain a green building certificate at the end of reporting year
  - Projects that obtained a green building certificate or official pre-certification during the reporting year
No
Not applicable

Scheme name and sub-scheme name: Select from the dropdown list of green building certifications at time of design/construction. The full list of certifications can be found in Appendix 5c of the Reference Guide.

Note: If you cannot find a Scheme in the dropdown list and want to add a new scheme name and/or sub-scheme name, contact the GRESB Helpdesk. You are also required to answer a set of additional questions about the scheme. These questions are not scored, but they are required for GRESB’s data validation process.

Only include green building certificates that were awarded before or during the reporting year. Participants may include pre- or interim assessments conducted by the official certification authority that result in an official pre-certification.

Some green building certificates are valid for a limited period only – the certificate should be effective and official during the reporting year.

Projects registered to obtain a green building certificate: Report projects that have registered with the certification body to obtain (but not yet achieved) a green building certificate by the end of the reporting year.

Projects that obtained a green building certificate: Report projects that have obtained a green building certificate by the end of the reporting year.

Portfolio coverage: Portfolio coverage is calculated based on floor area. The numerator is the floor area to which the selected answer option applies. The denominator is the total floor area of all development projects as reported in DR1.1. Projects with multiple standard requirements should only report once, using the green building certification scheme that is the most stringent in the region in which the project is located. The total combined portfolio coverage cannot exceed 100%.

% of GAV (optional): % of GAV is calculated based on the GAV of assets registered or certified. To do so, this number should be calculated as the % of GAV of all assets certified to the respective scheme, adjusted by the % of floor area certified.

For example, certified Asset A makes up 20% of the portfolio GAV. However, only 80% of its floor area is certified. The “% of GAV certified” of Asset A will be 20% * 80% = 16%.

Number of registered/certified projects: The number should be smaller than or equal to the number of reported assets in DR1.1.

Validation

This indicator is not subject to automatic or manual validation.

See Appendix 2a for additional information about GRESB Validation.

Scoring

9 points, E

Scoring information will be updated on April 1.

See the Scoring Document for additional information on scoring.

Terminology

Green building certificate: Recognition that a project has received a green building rating. A certificate indicates the name and location of the project, version of the rating system, date of certification, and level of recognition.

Level of certification: The level achieved with successful completion of the rating scheme.

Number of certified projects: The number of projects within the total portfolio for which green building certificates were obtained for projects (a) that are complete and/or (b) were in progress at the end of the reporting year.

Scheme name: The name of the certification scheme.

Sub-scheme name: A Green Building Certificate’s sub-category to a Scheme name used to certify a particular property type and/or to specify the type of building certificate (whether a Green Building Certificate is an Operational Green Building Certificate or a New Construction Green Building Certificate).

References

EPRA Best Practices Recommendations on Sustainability Reporting, 3rd version, September 2017: Cert-Tot, CRE8