This article covers steps and settings specific to GRESB submissions. It assumes you are already familiar with how to enter data in Scaler and focuses on what is unique to the GRESB workflow. For the full data collection and report generation process, see the 2026 Reporting Guide — During Season.
Purpose of this article
This article covers the configuration checks, spreadsheet workflow, and data nuances specific to GRESB submissions in Scaler — from initial settings alignment through to generating and saving your final report.
Recommended workflow
- Confirm your reporting year type (calendar or fiscal) is set correctly in Portfolio Settings — Scaler defaults to calendar year; fiscal year reporters must enable it manually
- Confirm
Unit system – Reporting outputandPortfolio currencyin Portfolio Settings match the GRESB Portal
- Set up location-based and market-based emission factors (if required)
- Configure maximum floor area coverage settings
- Ensure all asset-level data is entered and complete
- Generate a draft spreadsheet and test upload into the GRESB Portal early in the season
- If using asset groups, complete manual aggregation and delete all purple member asset rows before uploading
- Decide whether pre-acquisition data should be included for like-for-like
- Decide how to handle estimated data
- Lock your data before generating the final report — see Data locking (Period Lock)
- Save the final report in Scaler via Generate & Save Report
- Manually enter Risk Assessment, Tenants & Occupier, and Building Measures indicators in the GRESB Portal — these are not included in the GRESB Asset Spreadsheet
Check your portfolio settings
Two settings in Scaler must align with your GRESB portal entity before generating any outputs. Navigate to Data Collection Portal → Portfolio → Settings and confirm:
Unit system – Reporting outputmatches the unit system set for RC3 in the GRESB Portal
Portfolio currencymatches the currency set for RC1 in the GRESB Portal
Mismatches here will cause reporting outputs to differ from what the GRESB Portal expects.
Set up emission factors
Ensure that all location-based emission factors selected are verified prior to generating the GRESB Asset Spreadsheet. See Configuring location-based emission factors.
If your GRESB submission requires market-based GHG emissions, configure your emission factors before generating the spreadsheet. Navigate to Data Collection Portal → Portfolio → Emission Factors. See Configuring market-based emission factors.
Maximum floor area coverage
GRESB scores factor in how much of each asset's floor area has data coverage. If your meters only cover part of the floor area but consumption exists across the full building, your GRESB data coverage will appear artificially low unless you configure the maximum coverage settings.
Navigate to Data Collection Portal → Portfolio → Settings → Maximum Coverage and enable Configure coverage defaults. Set a start year (typically 2025) and configure the Covers full area toggles per energy type. Defaults are: Electricity ON, DHC OFF, Fuels/Gas OFF.
Only enable Covers full area when consumption genuinely exists across the entire floor area for that area type. If consumption is partial — for example, only some floors have gas supply — leave the toggle OFF and use placeholder meters for the portion that does have consumption but isn't metered. Overstating coverage will inflate your GRESB data coverage metrics.
For asset-level overrides, go to Data Collection Portal → Asset List → [Asset name] → Meters & Consumption and adjust per energy type.
For full guidance, including a visual explanation of the three coverage scenarios and migration steps from placeholder meters, see Configuring maximum floor area coverage settings.
Generating the GRESB Asset Spreadsheet
Once your data is entered and settings are confirmed, generate the GRESB Asset Spreadsheet from Data Collection Portal → Portfolio → Reports. Select the GRESB report and click Generate.
The generate report modal includes options for pre-acquisition data, asset groups, and estimated data. Each is covered below.
Generate a draft submission and upload it to the GRESB Portal well before the deadline. GRESB doesn't publish an exhaustive list of validation rules — uploading early serves as an additional validation check in the portal itself and helps surface any submission-specific issues in time for review and resolution. When GRESB returns validation errors not yet surfaced in Scaler, share them with your Account Operations representative so they can be built into the platform.
Pre-acquisition data for like-for-like
The Include available pre-acquisition performance data checkbox in the generate report modal controls whether Scaler includes data from before the acquisition date in like-for-like calculations.
By default, Scaler calculates like-for-like performance using data from the period of ownership only. If your GRESB submission requires pre-acquisition data, check this option when generating.
GRESB criteria for including pre-acquisition data
Based on Scaler's interpretation of the GRESB Reference Guide, pre-acquisition data may be included in like-for-like calculations when all of the following criteria are met:
- A minimum of 355 days of data is available, including from the period prior to ownership
- Data coverage is positive
- Year-over-year data coverage remains consistent within a 1% margin
- The asset qualifies as a Standing Investment
If these criteria are satisfied, the asset may be included in like-for-like analysis using the full-year data.
Asset groups
If your portfolio includes asset groups, check the Include asset groups in the report option when generating. This adds one row per asset group and one row per underlying member asset across all relevant tabs.
Underlying asset rows are highlighted in purple and flagged in column A. They are for reference only — to help you review the data behind each member asset before manually entering aggregated values in the asset group row.
All purple underlying asset rows must be deleted across every tab before uploading to the GRESB Portal. If any purple rows remain, they will be included in the submission.
If the asset group row references a formula that depends on underlying asset rows, copy the calculated value and paste it as a value only (Ctrl+C → Paste Special → Values) before deleting those rows. Formulas will return errors or empty values once their source rows are gone.
Currently, aggregation must be done manually. An automated aggregation option may be added in future — contact your Account Operations representative for the latest status.
This feature is available to Scale license clients only. Contact your Account Operations representative to discuss access.
For more detail, see the Asset groups in the GRESB spreadsheet release note.
Estimated meter data
The Include estimated data checkbox in the generate report modal controls whether and how estimated data is included in the GRESB Asset Spreadsheet export.
When Include estimated data is unchecked, no estimated data is included in the report.
When checked, three estimation modes are available:
All manual estimates(may exceed GRESB limits)— The report will include all provided estimated data as-is. Estimated data is not checked against compliance with GRESB estimation rules. For example, estimated data that exceeds the 20% limit will still be included.
GRESB-compliant manual estimates only— The report will only include manually provided estimated data that complies with GRESB estimation rules. Any estimated data that would exceed GRESB limits (e.g. the 20% rule) will be excluded from the report.
GRESB-compliant manual estimates + linear extrapolation— The report will only include manually provided estimated data that complies with GRESB estimation rules. Any remaining gaps not covered by manually provided estimates will be filled with linearly extrapolated estimates, provided the combined total stays within GRESB limits.
By default, the checkbox is checked with All manual estimates (may exceed GRESB limits) selected. Scaler remembers the last estimation mode used for each portfolio's GRESB report.
GRESB estimation rules reference
Scaler enforces GRESB's official estimation constraints automatically in the compliant modes:
- The 20% rule — estimated data may not cover more than 20% of the total period for which actual data is available
- The 3-month cap — no single estimation period may exceed 3 consecutive months
- Same-data-type matching — estimates must correspond to the same resource type
- Prohibited practices — no full-year estimation from prior year data, no cross-area proration, no national benchmarks
These rules apply to Energy, GHG, Water, and Waste in the Performance Component.
For the full GRESB specification, see: GRESB 2026 Estimation Rules
Indicators that require manual entry in the GRESB Portal
Some GRESB indicators are not included in the GRESB Asset Spreadsheet and must be entered manually in the GRESB Portal. Scaler surfaces the aggregated values you need in Analytics Portal → Portfolio → Scores, under the Risk Assessments, Tenants & Occupier, and Building Measures dashboards. Each indicator view shows a blue banner confirming the figure can be used directly to fill in the corresponding GRESB indicator.
Indicators calculated here include:
- Risk Assessments — e.g. RA1
- Tenants & Occupier — e.g. TC1 (Tenant engagement program), TC3 (Fit-out & refurbishment program)
- Building Measures
These indicators are not exported in the GRESB Asset Spreadsheet. You must copy the values from Analytics Portal → Portfolio → Scores and enter them manually in the GRESB Portal.
Certifications
Certification reporting in the GRESB Asset Spreadsheet follows three rules that apply across all certification types (NABERS, BREEAM In-Use, EPCs, and other energy ratings):
- Up to five certifications per asset may be reported to GRESB
- If multiple entries share the same level, only one entry per level is reported, and the covered area is capped at the asset's Gross floor area (GFA)
- Expired and forward-looking certifications are automatically excluded
Confirm part-level and asset-level entries accurately reflect coverage before exporting.
NABERS
In the GRESB Asset Spreadsheet, NABERS Energy is reported directly. GRESB also includes a NABERS / Multi-rating category, which requires at least three of the four NABERS ratings (Energy, Water, Waste, Indoor Environment) to be held.
In Scaler, NABERS Energy is recorded under Group = Energy rating. Water, Waste, Indoor Environment, and Multi-rating are recorded under Group = Operational certifications. The Multi-rating must be selected separately in Scaler as its own certification entry — it is not generated automatically when multiple individual NABERS ratings are recorded. Only select it when the GRESB criteria are met.
BREEAM In-Use
In the GRESB Asset Spreadsheet, BREEAM In-Use is reported as a single category — BREEAM/In Use — without distinguishing between parts. Scaler automatically maps part-level entries to this category on export.
In Scaler, BREEAM In-Use can be recorded at part level: Part 1 (Asset Performance), Part 2 (Building Management), and Part 3 (Occupier Management). Where multiple parts have different levels (e.g. Excellent and Outstanding), each is reported as a separate entry. Where multiple parts share the same level, Scaler aggregates the covered area and caps the total at the asset's Gross floor area (GFA) — see the rules at the top of this section.
Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs)
The same aggregation logic applies to EPCs and all other energy ratings. Where an asset has multiple certifications at the same rating level — for example, separate certificates for individual units within a building — Scaler sums their covered floor areas and caps the total at the asset's GFA, reporting a single entry per rating level. GRESB does not distinguish between EPC versions (e.g. A2015, A2020) — all are reported by rating level (A–G) with floor area aggregated per level.
When calculating aggregated coverage, Scaler automatically excludes:
- Expired ratings — certifications that expired before the reporting year are excluded. For example, if the reporting year is 2025, a rating that expired in 2024 is excluded; one that expired during 2025 is included.
- Forward-looking ratings — certifications that are not yet achieved (e.g. projected or target certifications) are excluded.
Record certifications at their native, granular level in Scaler. Scaler handles the aggregation, capping, and exclusion logic for GRESB export automatically.
GRESB requirements and interpretation may change over time. Always refer to the latest GRESB Reference Guide for full and up-to-date reporting requirements.
Joint venture assets
For assets co-owned across multiple funds or portfolios, see the Joint ventures: asset setup and data collection guide for guidance on how to structure consumption, floor area, and ownership data in Scaler, and how this maps to GRESB reporting requirements.
F-gas and fugitive emissions
As of the 2026 GRESB Real Estate Assessment, fugitive emissions are not captured in the GRESB assessment. Participants are only required to report GHG emissions related to the energy consumption of each asset. You do not need to include F-gas data in your GRESB Asset Spreadsheet. For details, see the GRESB 2026 GH1 Scope 1–3 emissions guidance.
