Hines, the international real estate firm, has announced that it has once again been recognized by GRESB (Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark) for its sustainability leadership in 2021 cementing its position as a GRESB Sector Leader.

The Cherrywood development in south Dublin has scooped the top ranking in Europe and achieved Global Sector Leader status for the second year running, attaining an overall score of 96 out of 100 and received a 5-star rating for its 1,300-unit mixed-use development located in the new Town Centre area directly adjacent to the Luas Green Line stop.

This year’s GRESB scoring for Cherrywood represents a 4-point uplift from its performance in 2020. The project was awarded multiple awards including Global Sector Leader and Overall Regional Sector Leader, in the Opportunistic Mixed-use category. Already one of the largest urban developments in Ireland, Cherrywood is also emerging as one of the most sustainable urban projects in Ireland and across Europe as demonstrated by these results.

Today’s announcement has been warmly welcomed by Senior Managing Director of Hines Ireland, Brian Moran “We are extremely proud to be awarded the top GRESB score in Europe for Cherrywood which is our flagship project in Ireland, and which has involved a great deal of innovative collaboration with multiple stakeholders including some of the top architecture design teams in Ireland. The vision for Cherrywood is not just to deliver best-in-class residential housing but also to create a truly sustainable community to benefit from it. The wider Cherrywood masterplan is therefore delivering unprecedented levels of amenity, sporting and recreational facilities – such as 3 large new parks, cycle and running trails, all weather sports facilities  – all of which demonstrates that we are delivering a truly remarkable development of European and world-class standard, which will greatly enhance the lived experience and wellbeing of our future residents and be a great place in which to live, work and play.”

The awards mirror Hines’ ongoing commitment to creating a positive societal impact in the communities it operates in and achieving the highest levels of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance across a wide range of areas, including energy performance, stakeholder engagement, building certificates, resilience, social risks, opportunities and water use.

Each year, GRESB assesses and benchmarks the ESG performance of assets worldwide, providing clarity and insights to financial markets. The GRESB Assessments are guided by what investors and the industry consider to be material issues in the sustainability performance of asset investments and are aligned with international reporting frameworks, goals and emerging regulations. The GRESB ESG Benchmark grew this year to cover more than $6.4 trillion of assets under management, up from $5.3 trillion the year before.

GRESB data is used by hundreds of capital providers and thousands of asset managers globally to benchmark investments across portfolios and to better understand the opportunities, risks and choices that need to be made as the industry transitions to a more sustainable future.