Substantial uptake in sustainability reporting parallels increased reduction in energy use

5 September 2012, Amsterdam – The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) today
announced the release of its 2012 GRESB Report, which is based on sustainability data gathered from
almost 450 property companies and funds around the world, providing aggregate information for 36,000
properties, representing US$1,300 billion in global assets under management.

GRESB's global membership includes more than 35 institutional real estate investors and investment managers,
all major real estate industry associations, and a large number of consultants and product vendors. With investors
pushing for more transparency, participation in the 2012 GRESB Survey increased by 30 percent as compared to
2011.

"The data collected by GRESB provide a base for informed discussions between institutional owners of real estate
and their property companies and investment managers regarding the sustainability of existing investments," said
Nils Kok, GRESB's Executive Director.

The Survey responses are evidence that real estate investors and managers are intensifying their focus on
improving the sustainability performance of their assets. Key trends observed in GRESB's analysis of the Survey
data include:

• Sustainability is moving up on the agenda. 88 percent of property companies and funds now have
dedicated resources to manage the sustainability performance of their assets. 80 percent of respondents
have an articulated vision or strategy on sustainability, and a senior manager had the ultimate
responsibility for sustainability issues at 92 percent of the respondents;

• The Survey results show that, at 81 percent, energy consumption is the main policy focus, representing a
slight increase from 2011 when it was 75 percent. Importantly, 60 percent of the respondents now collect
and report energy consumption data, as compared to just 34 percent in 2011;

• On a like-for-like basis, the greenhouse gas emissions of 171 property companies and funds decreased
by 6 percent. In absolute terms, this is a reduction of 432,000 metric tons of CO2, which is equivalent to
removing 85,000 cars from the road;

• Green building certification is becoming more prevalent, with 51 percent of the respondents including
green building certificates in their portfolio. LEED certification is the most widely adopted.

• There is a noticeable shift in "Green Starters" moving towards "Green Talk" which further illustrates the
growing focus on addressing sustainability issues. The number of Green Stars increased from 65 in 2011
to 82 in 2012.

However, the GRESB data show there are several areas where property companies and funds can make
substantial improvements, including:

• 40 percent of the property companies and funds are still considered "Green Starters," with limited
disclosure of sustainability performance towards the investment community. This represents substantial
upside potential in reducing operational costs;

• Portfolio coverage of energy data is still limited. 52 percent of respondents have data for less than 10
percent of their portfolio. Measuring tenant-obtained energy remains a challenge, with less than 8 percent
of respondents collecting such information;

• Only 34% of the Survey respondents conduct regular risk assessments on climate change risks.
Regulatory and financial risks related to sustainability are conducted by over half of the respondents;

• There is still limited progress in sustainability performance beyond energy efficiency. Engagement with
tenants is implemented by half of the property companies and funds (86 percent of the respondents in
Australia), whereas sustainability is integrated in contracts for external suppliers/service vendors by 55
percent of the respondents.

For further information and to download the report, visit the GRESB website at www.gresb.com.