Best Practices: ESG Data Management For Real Estate

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Executive Summary

This report is intended to provide guidance and identify some of the best practices for managing environmental, social and governance-related data for real estate assets. It offers an overview of the key stakeholders, regulations and frameworks shaping the ESG reporting landscape and the main hurdles to overcome to collect high-quality data. It outlines the best strategies, processes and technologies to adopt, to form a foundation of streamlined and effective data aggregation and reporting. Commercial real estate firms, landlords, corporate organizations with large real estate portfolios, and facilities service providers can leverage this report to optimize data management strategies unique to their organization. 
The rise of ESG reporting spotlights real estate data management challenges
Demand for transparent ESG data creates a new reality for real estate teams
Staying on top of mandatory and voluntary reporting requirements is complicated
Delivering high-quality ESG data is a substantial challenge
Best practices for ESG data management in real estate
The role of real estate data in ESG strategies
ESG ambition levels and maturity will shape data management strategy development
Clarifying staff roles and implementing solid processes underpin successful data collection and management
Real estate should level up its tech stack to automate data management processes
Getting ahead of the game with ESG data

Figure 1. Mandatory regulations affecting corporates and real estate firms
Figure 2. Significant national, state and city-level reporting building regulations
Figure 3. Principal voluntary standards, frameworks, tools and benchmarks in real estate
Figure 4. Prominent ESG-related building certifications
Figure 5. Six challenges affecting ESG data quality in real estate
Figure 6. ESG ambition levels dictate strategy development and data requirements
Figure 7. ESG data use cases vary with granularity
Figure 8. Channels for ESG data collection
Figure 9. Mapping out mature and emerging ESG topics within the real estate industry


About the Authors

Ben Readman

Ben Readman

Industry Analyst

Ben is an Industry Analyst covering the real estate sector, with a focus on data centres and hotels. His core research covers more than 100 vendors in the energy efficiency, s…

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Rodolphe d’Arjuzon

Rodolphe d’Arjuzon

Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder

Rodolphe co-founded Verdantix in 2008. As Chief Product Officer, he leads the firm’s research strategy and intellectual agenda. With over 20 years of experience in techn…

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