# Pre-Defined Peer Groups ## Introduction GRESB assigns each participant to a pre-defined peer group to contextualize their assessment results. Peer groups do not directly influence the GRESB Score, Star Rating, or points achieved; however, they help put the GRESB Score into perspective relative to similar peers. Every reporting entity can see the characteristics of its pre-defined peer group within its Benchmark Report. This page outlines how GRESB determines each entity’s pre-defined peer group. {% hint style="info" %} Real Estate Assessment participants may also opt to incorporate a customized peer\ group into their Benchmark Report. Refer [here](/completingassessments/data/results-insights/benchmark-report/customized-peer-group.md) for more information about customized peer groups. {% endhint %} ## Pre-Defined Peer Group Formation GRESB determines an entity’s peer group using a simple, consistent set of quantitative rules. The table below illustrates the peer group creation process. Each row in the table represents one ‘trial.’ The trial checks whether enough GRESB participants possess that row’s combination of characteristics. If there are not sufficient entities with shared characteristics, one of the characteristics (e.g., Tenant-controlled) will be removed from consideration. GRESB will only create the entity’s peer group once GRESB will only create the entity’s peer group once six entities (the participant + five peers) match that combination. {% hint style="info" %} GRESB carries out this trial-and-error process individually for every reporting entity, meaning each entity’s peer group is uniquely its own. For example, just because Entity A has Entity B in its pre-defined peer group, Entity B might not have Entity A in its peer group. The groups are not ‘closed circles’ of entities. {% endhint %} GRESB considers each entity’s primary location, primary property type, legal status, investment style, and tenant-control status in forming its peer group. The peer group allocation methodology moves from most to least specific when testing combinations of characteristics.
For location, these are (in order of sequence/specificity): country, subregion, region, and\ super-region. * The country, subregion, and region are defined using the UN country classification\ guidelines available here. The only super-regions used are Asia Pacific, grouped\ from Asia (code 142 in the UN classification) and Oceania (code 142 in the UN\ classification). For property types, the most specific starting point is the property subtype (as reported in\ R1), followed by property type, and finally property sector. GRESB determines an entity’s primary location and property type based on whether its underlying portfolio composition (as reported to indicator R1/DR1) meets a certain threshold. {% hint style="info" %} See the [**Asset & Portfolio Classification** ](/completingassessments/2026-real-estate-assessment/info/asset-and-portfolio-classification.md)page in *Completing GRESB Assessments* to learn more about GRESB's classification thresholds. {% endhint %} {% columns %} {% column %} Legal status includes the following values (from indicator EC2): * Listed * Non-listed * Government {% endcolumn %} {% column %} Investment style includes the following values (from indicator EC2): * Core * Value-added * Opportunistic {% endcolumn %} {% endcolumns %} Tenant-controlled portfolios are defined as portfolios with more than 75% portfolio (by\ floor area) classified as Tenant controlled (from indicator R1/DR1).
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