Bouwinvest Funds maintain highest achievable GRESB-score: Green Star

All three of Bouwinvest’s Dutch real estate funds open to third-party investors have once again been awarded a Green Star, the highest achievable category, within the GRESB 2015 international sustainability benchmark results, announced on September 2nd. The Bouwinvest Retail Fund has risen 6% from last year on this score and takes second place in the Dutch ranking. The Bouwinvest Residential and Office Funds have also risen, achieving third places in their respective sector categories.

Bouwinvest together with GRESB organised the Dutch release of the GRESB 2015 report on September 16^th at the Beurs-WTC Rotterdam. Allard van Spaandonk (Managing Director Dutch Investments) and Bernardo Korenberg (CSR Manager Bouwinvest) contributed to the programme with a presentation titled ‘Beyond Bricks’.

GRESB is an independent benchmark that judges the sustainability policies of real estate funds and portfolios worldwide. Based on the GRESB score, fund managers can screen their sustainability policy and roll out improvements. GRESB data show that the global real estate sector has improved its sustainability performance across the full spectrum. Sustainability has become an inseparable part of daily operations. Some 93% of all real estate firms and funds have now incorporated sustainability into their company targets, GRESB said.

“We started four years ago at Bouwinvest on a fast-track to sharpen our sustainability strategy, implement best-practices and measure and improve our results. Building labels, energy monitoring and management, green leases and tenants’ awareness on sustainability are concrete examples of the advances that have emerged from this strategy. The fact that we can maintain the highest possible GRESB standards in all three Dutch funds underlines that sustainability is now anchored deeply within Bouwinvest. That’s a result we and our shareholders can be proud of,” Allard van Spaandonk said.

“As an institutional real estate investment manager, Bouwinvest invests for the long-term. Cooperation with our stakeholders is key, in order to further optimise our added value in the real estate chain, thus combining financial and social returns. The GRESB results, which are recognised both nationally and internationally as a benchmark, enable us to make our sustainability performance accessible for both investors and other stakeholders. They also provide us with good insight into areas that can still be improved, because sustainability is all about continuous improvement and innovation,” Bernardo Korenberg said.

Bouwinvest is an investment member of GRESB and uses the benchmarker’s insights as a tool to judge the sustainability of our international real estate investments and to maintain a dialogue with the third party fund managers with whom we invest globally.