Reporting Characteristics

Set the entity’s annual reporting year.

The reporting year is used to understand what period is covered by the reported data.

Select one of the options.

Participants must specify the starting month of their fiscal year.

• If participants select Fiscal Year, the starting months between February and June must correspond to calendar years 2025/2026.

  • For example, an entity reporting from April to March will be considered covering the period of April 2025 - March 2026.

• On the other hand, starting months between July and December must correspond to calendar years 2024/2025.

  • For example, an entity reporting from October to September will be considered as covering the period of October 2024 - September 2025.

The table below details the period for which information throughout the Assessment would be expected, should a given starting month be selected:

Terminology

Calendar year

January 1 – December 31.

Fiscal year

The period used to calculate annual financial statements. Depending on the jurisdiction, the fiscal year can start on April 1, July 1, October 1, etc.

Reporting year

Responses provided in the Assessment must refer to the reporting year identified in this indicator and should correspond to the most recently closed calendar year / fiscal year, as applicable. A response to an indicator must be true at the close of the reporting year; however, the response does not need to have been true for the entire reporting year. GRESB does not favor the use of calendar year over fiscal year or vice versa, as long as the chosen reporting year is used consistently throughout the assessment.

Evidence not required.

Set the currency for which the entity’s portfolio of assets is denominated.

State the currency used by the entity for Assessment indicators that require a monetary value as a response.

Currency

No evidence required.

This indicator describes the geographic location of the reporting entity by capturing the country of domicile/headquarters and the location of the portfolio covered in the assessment. This information establishes the reporting boundary and provides context for regional benchmarking and the interpretation of sustainability performance.

Select the Country of the headquarters of the organization's managing entity and the location of the entity covered in this assessment.

• Only one location can be selected per reporting entity. If an organization operates across multiple locations, it should be split into location-specific reporting entities.

• The selected location will be used for peer grouping and benchmarking and will be featured in the Insights and Benchmarking Reports.

Terminology

Sites

A discrete physical location containing one or more data centers or a group of structures/buildings that support data processing, storage, networking, power, cooling, security, and connectivity.

The intent is that a site is homogeneous with respect to controlling local authority, physical electricity supply, resource management issues, and land use context (e.g., rural, suburban, urban).

A site should occur entirely within a single political boundary (e.g., city, county, or equivalent administrative division), utility service territory, and major water resource management area.

Ultimately, these decisions seek to help investors and other data users understand the distribution of business models and control that influence opportunities and constraints on sustainability management and performance measurement.

In this context, a participant needs to consider several factors:

1. Sites are intended to be discreate physical locations that are homogeneous with respect to key factors influencing sustainability management and performance.

2. This may allow for the aggregation of multiple facilities or even campuses if they share similar business models and patterns of operational control.

3. Alternatively, this may require splitting campuses or even facilities if they differ materially in business models and patterns of control.

This information is essential for investors and other stakeholders to understand what a developer or operator can and cannot control across their portfolio. This facilitates a constructive, actionable dialog between stakeholders.

UN regions

A standard classification of countries and areas developed by the United Nations for statistical purposes, which groups the world into regions and sub-regions based on geographic and statistical considerations. As defined by the United Nations, this classification is “used to arrange countries or areas into regions and subregions for statistical convenience.”

No evidence required.

This indicator describes the composition of the reporting entity by capturing the share of the overall organization represented in the assessment, the lifecycle distribution of the portfolio, and the business models through which data center capacity is delivered. This information provides context for interpreting results, supports benchmarking, and defines the scope and characteristics of the reporting entity.

Report the Business Model and Entity Composition by completing the following:

1. Indicate the portion of the overall organization represented by the entity covered in this assessment (aligned with the location selected in RC3), as a percentage of Capacity (MW).

2. Provide the lifecycle breakdown by entering the capacity share of New Development and Operational activities (these must sum to 100%).

3. Select all applicable business model(s) and report, for each:

   1. MW Capacity: Total installed or planned capacity (in megawatts) associated with the selected business model.

   2. Number of Sites: Total number of data center sites corresponding to the selected business model.

   GRESB recommends reporting distinct business models as separate reporting entities to enable more meaningful benchmarking and insights. Business models can be reported together within a single entity; however, separating them can improve peer group relevance and the quality of outputs.

How to split your portfolio into reporting entities

Terminology

Business models

The operational and commercial structure through which a data center entity develops, owns, leases, manages, or delivers data center infrastructure and services to customers. In the context of the GRESB Data Center Assessment, business models can be one of the following:

• Owner-Operator (Single-tenant)

• Owner-Operator (Multi-tenant)

• Developer-Hold Landlord (Powered Shell)

• Developer-Hold Landlord (Turnkey Lease)

• Developer-to-Sell / Merchant Developer

• Managed Operator

Capacity

The maximum load (in MW) of the network or networks, servers, and storage equipment, installed in the data centre computer room floor area, that the data centre infrastructure for power distribution and environmental control is capable of handling while providing the desired service availability

Control

The extent to which the reporting entity has the authority and ability to (i) implement actions and/or (ii) influence and collect performance measurement outcomes for a given sustainability topic.

1. Portfolio-level Control Calculation

The reported control percentage for each control-dependent indicator is calculated automatically from the site-level control values and site capacities reported by the participant.

$\text{Control (\%)} = \frac{\text{Capacity-weighted sum of site-level control values​}}{\text{Total relevant portfolio MW capacity}} \times 100$

This calculation is performed separately for each relevant indicator according to the site-level inputs.

2. Site-Level Control Inputs

When reporting control for a site, participants should assign a value between 0% and 100% for each relevant sustainability topic based on their level of authority, influence, and ability to collect performance data.

• Full Control (100%): The reporting entity has the authority to introduce, implement, and/or influence actions, policies, measures, and performance measurement related to the sustainability topic at the site.

• No Control (0%): The reporting entity does not have the authority to introduce, implement, and/or influence actions, policies, measures, and performance measurement related to the sustainability topic at the site.

• Partial Control (1-99%): In some cases, the reporting entity may have partial control over a sustainability topic at a site. Where appropriate, participants may report a control value between 0% and 100% to reflect the proportion of site capacity over which they can reasonably influence actions, policies, measures, or performance measurement outcomes.

For example, a reporting entity may operate a 100 MW multi-tenant site but only have authority over 90 MW of the site's capacity for a particular sustainability topic. In this case, the participant may report 90% control for that site.

Alternatively, participants may choose to represent such situations by splitting the site into multiple entries with different control values. Participants should use a consistent and reasonable approach that reflects the substance of their operational influence and reporting responsibilities.

Developer-Hold Landlord (Powered Shell)

A data center where the landlord/developer provides a shell building with key site infrastructure such as exterior improvements, substation/switchyard, fiber points of entry and security, but the tenant completes the data center fit-out.

Developer-Hold Landlord (Turnkey Lease)

A data center where the landlord/developer delivers a more complete, ready data center product, including MEP equipment, telecommunications systems, air handlers, power distribution units, intermediate distribution frames, & security.

Developer-to-Sell / Merchant Developer

A data center developer who follows a plan–lease–build–sell model, developing assets to a stabilized state and then selling them to monetize value and recycle capital into new developments.

Lifecycle breakdown

Refers to the stage of development of the sites included in the reporting entity and is used to distinguish between sites that are under development and those that are operational.

• New Development: represents MW capacity associated with sites that were actively under design, permitting, construction, commissioning, expansion, and/or major renovation during the reporting year. This excludes land holdings that are not actively under development.

• Operational:  represents MW capacity associated with sites that were operational and delivering data center services during the reporting year.

Exclusions: Sites that are not energized – e.g., connected to electric power sufficient for operations – should be excluded. Facilities not functionally-related to data center development and operations are excluded from the scope of the data center assessment, e.g., offices, storage, logistics, maintenance, etc.

Managed Operator

A data center offering server and data storage services, where the customer pays for a service and the vendor provides and manages the required ICT hardware/software and data center equipment. This management service includes the co-hosting of multiple customers, which may take the form of a cloud application environment.

Owner-Operator (Single-tenant)

A data center operated by an enterprise for the sole purpose of delivering and managing services for its employees and customers.

Owner-Operator (Multi-tenant)

A data center in which multiple customers locate their own network(s), servers and storage equipment. The owner, a third party, or colocation may physically manage the equipment.

Site

A discrete physical location containing one or more data centers or a group of structures/buildings that support data processing, storage, networking, power, cooling, security, and connectivity.

The intent is that a site is homogeneous with respect to controlling local authority, physical electricity supply, resource management issues, and land use context (e.g., rural, suburban, urban).

A site should occur entirely within a single political boundary (e.g., city, county, or equivalent administrative division), utility service territory, and major water resource management area.

Ultimately, these decisions seek to help investors and other data users understand the distribution of business models and control that influence opportunities and constraints on sustainability management and performance measurement.

In this context, a participant needs to consider several factors:

1. Sites are intended to be discreate physical locations that are homogeneous with respect to key factors influencing sustainability management and performance.

2. This may allow for the aggregation of multiple facilities or even campuses if they share similar business models and patterns of operational control.

3. Alternatively, this may require splitting campuses or even facilities if they differ materially in business models and patterns of control.

This information is essential for investors and other stakeholders to understand what a developer or operator can and cannot control across their portfolio. This facilitates a constructive, actionable dialog between stakeholders.

Evidence not manually validated, but required.

Upload the completed GRESB Data Center Portfolio Evidence Template (available below). The evidence should demonstrate the composition of the reporting entity, including lifecycle breakdown, business model classification, site capacities, and any site-level control inputs used to calculate portfolio-level control percentages.