“The EVORA team’s support on our funds’ sustainability optimisation and the GRESB submission was invaluable; they have a very clear understanding of the survey. It is a real pleasure to work with the EVORA team.”

Daniel ChangHines

Case Study information

The Challenge

Sustainability has been at the heart of Hines since the company was founded in 1957. The privately owned global real estate investment, development and management firm has an enviable track record in sustainability, however, prior to our engagement, limited experience in GRESB.

We have now provided GRESB support for two years:

• In year one, EVORA successfully won a competitive pitch to lead HECF through their first ever GRESB submission for a pan-European portfolio covering six countries. EVORA was selected due to our profound knowledge of GRESB coupled with our market leading track record on the application of value driven best practices within commercial real estate.

• In year two of our engagement, we were charged with maintaining and where possible improving on the client’s sustainability and GRESB performance.

Our Approach

Since appointment, our fist priority has always been to predict and track the fund’s sustainability performance and consequently the potential GRESB score. This was completed using our in-house gap analysis scorecard, from which we set out a clear strategy for achieving GRESB excellence. Many of the funds existing sustainability initiatives were bolstered by our framework approach, aligned with the Environmental Management System standard ISO14001, which was developed by EVORA to ensure a targeted, consistent and practical sustainability programme was implemented.

EVORA supported and helped develop the GRESB roadmap for both submission years, and was the chosen partner for delivering the Fund’s sustainability objectives.

Key parts of the strategy included:

• Energy efficiency audits

• Green building certification

• Data collation and reporting via SIERA

• Management of data assurance process

Also key to our success was effective and efficient engagement with all parts of the Hines business which supports the HECF portfolio. This was particularly important for gathering evidence for the health and wellbeing and resilience modules, which required substantial input from human resources and risk management teams, respectively.

Key Outcomes

EVORA supported HECF to achieve:

• GRESB Real Estate Global Sector Leader

• 100% in GRESB Health & Wellbeing Module

• 100% in GRESB Resilience Module