EQT Real Estate Advances U.S. Industrial Portfolio Performance with BREEAM

EQT Real Estate achieves BREEAM certification across 62 U.S. industrial assets, unlocking performance insights and identifying value-add opportunities at scale.

EQT Real Estate is a leading global real estate investor with $58B in gross asset value. EQT Real Estate acquires, develops and manages logistics, residential and commercial properties, delivering high-quality spaces that support thriving communities, enable economic grwoth and meet evolving residental and business needs. The portfolio spans 2,000+ properties and 470+million square feet, making it one of the largest real estate investments firms in the world.

EQT Real Estate manages a geographically diverse portfolio of industrial assets across key U.S. logistics markets. To support portfolio performance and advance sustainability objectives, the firm selected 62 properties across three funds to participate in a BREEAM In Use certification program. These assets represent a significant share of each fund’s gross floor area and vary widely in size, condition and operational complexity.

The firm engaged GreenGen to lead the certification process against an ambitious timeline. The program began in August 2025 and included portfolio data collection, on-site reviews at the asset level, performance benchmarking and submission management across all 62 properties. Certifications were achieved just five months later in December 2025.

For EQT Real Estate, the overarching goal of this program was not only to achieve certification, but to better understand performance variability across its portfolio, uncover value-add improvement opportunities, and strengthen long-term asset positioning.

Certifying a large, geographically dispersed portfolio introduced significant coordination and logistical complexity. The 62 industrial assets chosen for certification span key logistics markets across the U.S. and thus required a thoughtful approach to consistent data collection, documentation and on-site evaluations that could be applied across multiple regions and through coordination with various property management teams and tenants. Ensuring alignment across all stakeholders, while maintaining a standardized and efficient approach to assessment, requires a high level of organization and communication.

Certification also requires significant documentation, including asset-level data, building specifications and operational details — all of which need to be gathered, validated and submitted within a structured framework. Coordinating these inputs across dozens of dispersed properties — each with varying levels of operational performance — added another layer of complexity to the process.

These challenges were further intensified by the project’s timeline. EQT Real Estate aimed to complete certification within a tight window to align with broader industry reporting cycles, requiring an accelerated yet disciplined approach to execution. Balancing speed with accuracy and quality was critical to ensure each asset was properly and comprehensively assessed while still meeting key deadlines.

In parallel with certification, EQT Real Estate sought asset-specific action plans translating assessment findings into practical implementation pathways. Leveraging the BREEAM process and findings, GreenGen developed forward-looking action plans aligned with investment goals that would demonstrate continuous improvement and position assets for higher performance at recertification. This strategy of combining certification alongside action plans integrates the BREEAM framework as an active asset management tool — embedding continuous improvement throughout the asset lifecycle.

Key opportunities included expanding LED lighting and optimized controls, electrifying gas heating systems, improving water efficiency with low-flow fixtures and leak detection measures, enhancing health and wellness through CO2 sensors and lighting controls and conducting natural hazard and flood risk assessments to strengthen resilience.

These insights were then consolidated into a portfolio-wide roadmap, guiding the prioritization of initiatives based on cost, operational impact and potential BREEAM performance gains. By making the investment to gather and validate the information necessary for certification, EQT Real Estate has positioned these assets to be more efficiently managed over the long term.

BREEAM served as a critical enabler throughout the engagement by providing a consistent methodology capable of accommodating variation across asset size, geography and operational characteristics. The framework also supported materiality-driven prioritization of capital improvements and long-term potential operational and resilience risks to monitor.

Findings from the certification and action planning process are now integrated into EQT Real Estate’s ongoing asset management strategy, informing near-term upgrades and long-term sustainability objectives. Certification outcomes will also directly support GRESB performance by securing available scoring within building certification categories and reinforcing broader sustainability credibility.

Through this engagement, EQT Real Estate leveraged BREEAM not solely as a certification tool but as a platform for portfolio comparability, continuous improvement and strategic value creation. By pairing certification with targeted action planning, EQT Real Estate established a clear pathway to elevate performance, mitigate risk and strengthen the resilience and competitiveness of a diverse industrial portfolio.