Demand for data centres is booming, and with it comes heightened market scrutiny on how to increase their sustainability. CBRE research shows Asia Pacific’s data centre inventory increased by 22 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024 to 2,996 megawatts. Tokyo, Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore lead the way, with strong capacity pipelines. This growth is driven by significant increases in cloud computing, streaming services and artificial intelligence demand.

Within the GRESB Benchmarks, data centre assets can report under either the Real Estate or Infrastructure Asset Assessments. The choice depends on the emphasis of the investor or manager. Data centres focused on strong leasing fundamentals and high-quality tenants usually report under real estate, while those seen as operators fall under infrastructure. In 2024, a total of 41 entities reported data centres to the GRESB Assessments, with 17 reporting under real estate and 24 under infrastructure, representing 84