Arc for Portfolio Management

Author
Chris Pyke
Published on
Sunday, March 17, 2019

Scaling sustainability requires moving beyond a project-level approach to tackling a full portfolio. Arc can help.

Do more with GRESB asset data today.

ESG and GRESB

Expectations have fundamentally changed in the real asset sector. Investors are increasingly asking for greater transparency about the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of portfolios. Regulators are mandating even more ESG disclosures and improvements. And tenants, owners and stakeholders are demanding more sustainable buildings and infrastructure. As the importance of ESG in the real estate sector increases, people are moving from a project-based to a portfolio approach when it comes to sustainability and becoming more transparent than ever about their ESG performance.

The annual GRESB assessment process provides insights about the ESG performance of companies or funds. This helps investors engage with their investments and provides valuable information about industry conditions and trends for property companies. The end result is that GRESB assessments increase the level of transparency for a company, fund or portfolio, which decreases risk and provides opportunities to create value and gain competitive advantage. Learn more from GRESB.

Arc solutions for GRESB participants

Arc helps GRESB participants understand, analyze and improve the ESG performance of their assets, companies and funds. Arc provides three complementary solutions for GRESB participants:

  1. Easily load GRESB asset data into Arc
  2. Enhance stakeholder engagement and data management
  3. Increase building certification coverage

 

Get started today in Arc

Manually moving data between platforms is a pain, but Arc makes it easy to do more with the same data. GRESB participants can directly upload a 2019 GRESB Asset Spreadsheet, no changes necessary. What works for GRESB, works for Arc. If you have a 2019 GRESB Asset Spreadsheet, you can follow three quick steps:

  1. Login to Arc
  2. Go to “Building,” then “My Portfolios”
  3. Click “Import from GRESB”

 

The process takes 30-60 seconds per asset, and Arc will send you an email when the import is complete.

During the import, Arc will calculate an estimated performance score for each asset, along with a data completeness indicator. The estimated score gives a general idea how each asset performs against LEED v4.1 O+M performance criteria. The estimated score is based on a series of assumptions and extrapolations from asset-level information provided to GRESB. The data completeness indicator guides the user to review, add or edit information for each asset (e.g., assigning more accurate occupancy levels or operating schedules). This provides the information Arc needs to generate a full score for individual performance categories or an entire asset.

Enhance occupant engagement and data management

Arc can help GRESB participants enhance stakeholder engagement and improve data management.

For example, the Arc Occupant Satisfaction Survey provides a lightweight tool to address GRESB indicators related to employee satisfaction, tenant engagement and tenant satisfaction. Arc’s survey is available in six languages, and it can be delivered directly by Arc or shared as a link via email. Arc can summarize and generate reports based on information provided by stakeholders. Learn more on YouTube.

Arc can also help collect and manage many key parameters recognized by GRESB’s data management indicators. Arc can help managers track project and portfolio-level energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, indoor environmental quality, waste management and water consumption. All of these parameters can be expressed based on the percentage of a portfolio covered. Learn more on YouTube.

Building labels and certification

Arc can help GRESB participants create building labels and expand coverage of building certifications.

Arc provides tools and workflows to:

  1. Find assets eligible for green building certification
  2. Streamline recertification
  3. Gain partial recognition for assets not yet able to achieve full certification.

 

Arc can use asset data submitted to GRESB to quickly identify assets that may meet LEED performance requirements for energy, water and waste. This lightweight, “gap analysis” helps portfolio managers identify assets that have not yet achieved certification, but that perform well enough to meet LEED requirements. These are opportunities to recognize leadership and potentially reposition assets.

Arc helps users streamline recertification. In the near future, it is likely that GRESB will put a more rigorous focus on the need to maintain up-to-date certification status. Arc allows many previously certified LEED projects to recertify based on performance data alone. This makes recertification faster, easier and less expensive.

Arc can also help projects that are not ready for full green building certification yet. Arc allows GRESB participants to collect and manage data associated with individual performance categories, such as energy, water or waste. Each category is scored based on operational performance data. Assets with complete data for at least three performance categories may be submitted to GRESB for consideration as partial operational green building certificates. This designation can help an entity increase its building certification coverage and improve its GRESB scores.

Learn more. Get help.

If you need more support, you can email the Arc team at contact@arcskoru.com. The team can arrange for a private demo, personal tutorial or direct you to existing resources.