Measurabl Glossary

Initial Construction

Original development of an asset; Dates on which the site was originally built 

Major Renovation

A redevelopment, remodeling, or addition of an existing asset; Date one which the site was appraised

Re-merchandising

Lighter form of a Renovation, typically performed only on common areas, rather than the whole site.

Lifecycle Events/Stages

The stages of a site that are significant to its building history: Bought, Operational, Under Initial Construction, Under Major Renovation, Sold, Lease Terminated

Bought

Date the site was purchased

Sold

Date the site was sold

Fair Market Value Appraised

Date on which the site was appraised

Operational

The stage at which a building is “in use” or occupied by tenants

Gross Asset Value

The sum of value of property a company owns

Control

Determines who owns or leases the site, what percentage of it is owned, what percentage is occupied, and whether it is Single or Multi-tenant

Landlord

Individual who rents land, a building, or a building space to a tenant

Tenant

Individual who occupies land, a building or building space that is rented from a landlord

Single-Tenant

When the whole site is occupied by only one tenant

Multi-Tenant

When a site is occupied by multiple tenants across various Spaces within the site

Occupancy

The proportion of a site that is occupied or in use

Landlord-Controlled

(“Directly-Managed”) When a site and its utilities is primarily controlled and managed by the Landlord.

Tenant-Controlled

(“Indirectly Managed”) When a site and its utilities is primarily controlled and managed by the Tenant.

Paid by Landlord

When the utility bill(s) for a meter is paid by the landlord

Paid by Tenant

When the utility bill(s) for a meter is paid by the tenant

Spaces

A specific area of a building (sometimes of which is in control of its own utility meters) such as a store, office, or data center)

Leasable Space

The various spaces at the site that are available to be leased by a tenant.

Common Areas

(Shared Areas) Meters allocated to shared landlord/tenant space (i.e. a lobby or hallway). In Measurabl, this is considered to be indoor space. Exterior common areas, like lawns or parking lots, are considered Exterior Areas.

Exterior Areas

Meters allocated to external areas of the site such as lawns or parking lots.

Gross Leasable Area (GLA)

(Lettable Area, Net Rentable Area)  The total amount of floor space available to be leased in a commercial property. Specifically, this is the total floor area designed for tenant occupancy and exclusive use.

Gross Floor Area (GFA)

The entire floor space of a building, both leasable and not leasable (includes Common Areas)

Whole Building/Whole Site

Entire indoor space of the site

Triple Net (NNN) Lease

A lease structure where the tenant is responsible for paying all operating expenses associated with a property. NNN does not necessarily mean Indirectly managed, but they are commonly connected.

Ordinance

A piece of legislation enacted by a municipal authority. Relevant ordinances are tagged to sites within Measurabl based on location. Sites are required to comply with the ordinances by submitting utility data through Energy Star or they will be fined.

Certification

Affirms that individual assets are designed or operated in ways that are consistent with independently developed sustainability criteria. Common types: LEED, BREEAM, BOMA, etc.

Rating

A scheme that measures and scores the energy efficiency performance of buildings.

Audit

An assessment of a building for a specific purpose, as well as the actions that should be taken after the assessment (i.e. energy audit = analysis of a building’s energy flows for conservation)

Efficiency Measures (Projects)

Projects implemented across a site to reduce the overall consumption of the resources (energy, water, waste, GHG emissions) OR to increase the overall efficiency, wellness, and longevity of an organization (health and well-being projects).

Fund

A type of mutual fund that focuses on investing in securities offered by public real estate companies or REITs (in Measurabl, we organize these by Subgroups).

REIT

Real Estate Investment Trust; An organization that owns and operates real estate

ESG Criteria

The three criteria (Environmental, Social and Governance) taken into consideration when measuring the sustainable and social impact of an organization’s operations and practices.

Responsible Investing

Accounting for factors other than a business’s “bottom line” (like during consideration and decision-making in the investment processes).

ESG Data

The data related to environmental, social and governance factors in measuring the ethical and sustainable impact of an organization.

ESG Reporting

The process of disclosing ESG data from a given source and measuring it against the three criteria (ESG) across a reporting framework (i.e. GRESB, CDP, GRI) to determine their ESG performance; organizations often use reporting scores as a means to seek and maintain investor funding.

GRESB (Global Real Estate Sustainability Board)

(Reporting Framework) An organization that aims to assess the sustainability performance of real asset sector portfolios and assets; GRESB validates, scores, and benchmarks performance data for organizations who report to it.

CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project)

(Reporting Framework) CDP is a non-profit organization that helps companies and municipalities disclose their ESG data to measure their performance and carbon footprint.

GRI (Global Reporting Initiative)

(Reporting Framework) GRI is a non-profit organization that aims to create social, environmental, and economic benefits for everyone by employing sustainability reporting standards to manage risk.

Environmental Management System (EMS)

An EMS consists of a set of documentation and data that (1) draw a boundary around the organization, entity or asset to which the system is applied, (2) establish goals and define (3) personnel roles and (4) processes and procedures for (5) measurement, monitoring, and reporting. An internal process running through the steps of "Plan-Do-Check-Act".

Data Management System (DMS)

A data management system (DMS) is the infrastructure (often software) used to collect, monitor and store environmental information. Measurabl is a DMS. A DMS, though, is only one dimension of an EMS which must also include documentation that defines "who, what, when, where, how" of your sustainability program and a process of continuous improvement that melds these ingredients together

GHG Emissions

GHG Protocol Corporate Standard classifies a company's GHG emissions into three "scopes."

Scope 1

Direct emissions from owned or controlled sources (Fuel)

Scope 2

Indirect emissions from consumption of purchased electricity, heat or steam

Scope 3

Other indirect emissions, such as extraction and production of purchased materials and fuels, transport-related activities in vehicles not owned or controlled by the reporting entity, electricity-related activities not covered in Scope 2, outsourced activities, waste disposal, etc. Tenant consumption, employee commuting, flight travel, public transport.

Efficiency Measures

Projects implemented across a site to reduce the overall consumption of the resources (energy, water, waste, GHG emissions) OR to increase the overall efficiency, wellness, and longevity of an organization (health and well-being projects).

Portfolio

A real estate company’s set of assets or sites

Subgroup

A subset of a real estate company’s portfolio, organized by a certain characteristic (i.e. location, fund, property type).

Site

(Asset) An area that is owned and operated as real estate (a building and its interior and exterior areas).

Currency

A system of money used in a particular country (i.e. USD, EUR)

Units

Units of measurement (Energy (kWh), Water (US gal), Waste (tons))

Measurements

Imperial (feet) or Metric (meters)

Portfolio Manager

Owns the portfolio in Measurabl

Portfolio Member

Users the same views as a Portfolio Manager, can collaborate on reports, add/edit sites, access utility sync data, and invite users

Site Manager

Users that have been invited to a specific site(s) and can view and edit the profile, utility data, projects & audits, and certifications & ratings of the sites to which they've been invited.

Subgroup Member

A user that has been added to a Subgroup.

ENERGY STAR

A government-backed online platform for managing energy, water, and waste performance; One of Measurabl’s Integration Partners.

Data Quality Alerts

Measurabl’s machine-learning and data science feature which alerts you of intensity outliers and year-over-year variations.

Targets

Our feature that allows you to set absolute or intensity-based sustainability goals within the application and measure your progress towards that goal, measured against a baseline year.

Normalize 

The process of reducing to a norm or standard, as by a transformation of variables (i.e. weather-normalize).

Intensity (Targets)

A change in a metric relative to the total floor space.

Absolute (Targets)

A change measured in terms of the overall level of importance.

Like-for-like

To be considered ‘like-for-like’, the site must have been owned and fully operational for the entirety of the time period you’re measuring, and the metric must have continuous data for the entirety of the reporting period.

Target Year

The year by which you’d like to achieve your goal.

Baseline Year

The starting point for your goal; the year from which we calculate your percent increase or decrease in your chosen metric.

Exports

Various data reports that you can download directly from Measurabl.

Assessments

Third-party reports and surveys that you may choose to file in order to measure your organization’s sustainability performance.

Data Quality Report

Exportable portfolio report that compiles basic site information, YOY metric trends, and yearly and monthly meter level totals into one document.

Utilities

Electricity, fuel, water, waste

(Utility) Bills

The amount charged for utility usage for each billing period.

Meter Allocations (Serving)

The designated area(s) that the utility meter services (i.e. one or more of the Spaces, Common Areas, or Exterior Areas of the site)

Utility Meter

A metering device utilized on utility mains such as electric, fuel or water.

Meter Reading

The consumption amount of a utility meter for a certain time period.

Utility Sync

Measurabl’s utility data automation tool that collects data directly from your utility provider or utility bills, and pushes the data to Measurabl.

Gap

When there is a period of missing data for a meter that was active at that point in time (data lapse).

Missing Bills (True Gaps)

Occurs when a utility bill is not produced (and is not available) within the Utility Provider's portal for that gap period, and therefore Measurabl cannot fill in the data for it

Overlaps

There are data readings that cross over each other on the same meter, likely causing duplicative data

Sync Bills from Utility Provider Utility Sync account

This type of Utility Sync account is the most common way for Measurabl to pull in your utility data. It pushes new utility bill data to Measurabl as soon as it is available, without any effort on your part after the initial setup.

Manual Bill Uploads Utility Sync account

Manual bill uploads should only be used for the few utilities for which you’re not able to access an online provider Portal. It is only partially automated and will require you to periodically drag and drop PDF copies of your utility bills to Measurabl.

Utility Sync ‘Issues’

it either means that there are mismatches between the utility account information entered in Measurabl versus the utility web portal, or that further steps are required in the utility web portal before Measurabl can access the data.