ESG reporting is hard to avoid in the property industry. If you are not subject to reporting requirements (yet), there is a high probability that your business partners or investors will demand data for their ESG reporting. That's why several players in the Danish property industry, with support from Realdania, have joined forces to develop the free REALS ESG tool.
New ESG tool to standardise ESG data
REAL ESG, also known as The Real Estate Reporting Framework, is an initiative where several players in the Danish property industry have joined forces to develop a tool for ESG reporting. The purpose of REAL ESG is to create greater comparability, transparency and concreteness in ESG reporting in the property sector.
REAL ESG is a free tool that aims to simplify and streamline the process of preparing a thorough ESG report. The tool has been developed through the industry association EjendomDanmark and the construction knowledge centre Molio, with support from Realdania.
It should be noted that The Real Estate Reporting Framework is a voluntary standard and is not certified or recognised as an industry standard.
The tool is primarily aimed at property owners who are not subject to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). Therefore, it only takes these standards into account to a lesser extent. Recommendations for qualitative information and more social parameters is also not fully integrated at this time.
So, while REAL ESG offers a valuable tool for ESG reporting in the property sector, users should be aware of the limitations mentioned above and we recommend using REAL as a tool in a more holistic and multi-faceted approach to ESG work. Feel free to contact Peter Nielsen, Director of Client Consultancy or Cameline Bolbroe, Head of Innovation and Sustainability, if you need advice on ESG.
To make the tool as manageable as possible, REAL ESG comes in three versions - the simple version aimed at smaller property owners, the full version aimed at larger property owners and an advisor version. All three can be downloaded via the link at the top of the page.
The Council for Sustainable Construction has also recently launched a ESG toolwhich, however, is not co-compliant with REAL ESG. While RFBB's tool helps you see which data points from DGNB and taxonomy services are compliant with ESG, REAL ESG can be used to assess ESG compliance for an entire property portfolio and is further along in developing an actual tool that you can make calculations with. However, both tools are in early versions, so keep an eye on developments and make sure you use the latest one.
