For the fifth consecutive year, Shurgard Self Storage Ltd., the European affiliate of U.S.-based real estate investment trust Public Storage Inc., has received high scores from Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRSB) and the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA). Both ratings, including EPRA’s r Sustainability Best Practices Recommendations (SBPR), recognize excellence for consistent and comparable disclosure in environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance data, according to a press release.
GRESB evaluates 2,000 participants annually, providing an overall score, a peer-group comparison and a one- to five-star rating. Organizations in the top 20% receive five stars, while those at the lower end receive one. Shurgard scored 92%, earning a five-star rating and staking its claim as the top-ranked self-storage company, the release stated. The average participant score is 79.
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“This 92/100, five-star GRESB result, and No. 1 sector ranking validates our long-term approach to sustainability and governance,” said Shurgard CEO Marc Oursin. “In times of heightened scrutiny and methodology tightening, our improvements, particularly in [greenhouse gas] and energy categories, show our operational discipline is resulting in measurable progress.”
Shurgard also received a gold medal from EPRA based on adherence to its SBRP guidelines, which are intended to motivate publicly traded real estate companies across Europe to be more transparent in their sustainability reporting, the release stated.
Shurgard operates 340 self-storage facilities comprising 1.7 million net rentable square feet in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and the U.K. Based in Glendale, California, Public Storage has interests in 3,333 self-storage facilities in 40 states, with approximately 241 million net rentable square feet.
GRESB is a data-services firm that issues an annual, international assessment of sustainability performance of property companies and real estate funds, and infrastructure portfolios. It offers a global standard for measuring and benchmarking ESG performance, providing data and insights to investors and managers to make more sustainable investment decisions, according to the release.
Founded in 1999, EPRA is a nonprofit association registered in Belgium. With more than 290 members consisting of publicly traded real estate companies, it represents more than €840 billion of real estate. Its mission is to promote, develop and represent the European public real estate sector through the provision of better information to investors and stakeholders, active involvement in the public and political debate, promotion of best practices, and the cohesion and strengthening of the industry, according to its website.
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Sources:EPRA, sBPR AwardsShurgard Self Storage Ltd., Shurgard Tops GRESB and EPRA Ratings, Reinforcing Leadership in European Self-Storage
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