While the concept of green leasing has been tested and discussed for years, there previously was no distinct standard to define what constitutes a green lease. In order to set program requirements, Green Lease Library collaborators and an industry advisory group teamed up to create a set of Green Lease Standards. These standards create the framework for the requirements of the Green Lease Leader recognition program.
Information on basic lease requirements can be found below, while requirements are fully defined within the Green Lease Leaders application.
* Submitted leases are allowed to have sensitive and/or proprietary information redacted.
Landlord Requirements
The following requirements must be met in order to be eligible for recognition:
1) A narrative description of the applicant’s internal green leasing initiative must be included as part of the application. The narrative portion will be scored based on the number of green leasing-related accomplishments achieved. For examples on what to include in your organization’s narrative, see page 10 of the Green Lease Leaders application.
2) At least two signed and executed green leases must be included along with the application*, to show that companies applying for Green Lease Leader recognition haves leases that meet the Green Lease Standards. Information on basic lease requirements can be found below, while requirements are fully defined on pages 5-6 of the Green Lease Leaders application.
Prerequisite: Tenant cost recovery clause that can be used for energy efficiency-related capital improvements. This typically means that the list of operating expenses is expanded to include capital expenses intended to save energy, with the annual pass-through amount most often determined either by an amortization schedule or projected savings.
Minimum Additional Criteria (lease or related documents must contain at least three of the following):
Provision requiring regular scheduled tenant disclosure of utility data to facilitate whole-building energy benchmarking.
Building standards and/or tenant improvement guidelines for energy efficiency. (For example, “Tenant improvements will conform to LEED C.I. standard or better.” “Tenants will install ENERGY STAR appliances only.” This may also cover items like lighting specification or available plug load watts per square foot.)
Sustainable operations and maintenance rules and regulations.(Language should cover restricted HVAC weekend operating hours, janitorial services provided during daytime hours, tenants not allowed to bring in space heaters).
Submetering of tenant spaces or separate metering of tenant plug load and equipment, including data centers. Ideally tenants are billed according to actual use rather than on a pro-rata basis.
Landlord agrees to incorporate energy management best practices into building operations, such as regular benchmarking, energy audits, or commissioning of building systems.
Landlord provides sustainability training to leasing agents and/or building marketing materials cover sustainability and energy efficiency features. (Documentation can include any relevant materials and is not expected to be included in a lease itself.)
Landlord designates a sustainability point of contact within the lease or related documents.
Lease language species that the landlord may sell power generated on-site to tenants at a competitive price.
Tenant Lease Requirements
1) A narrative description of the applicant’s internal green leasing initiative must be included as part of the application. The narrative portion will be scored based on the number of green leasing-related accomplishments achieved. For examples on what to include in your organization’s narrative, see page 10 of the Green Lease Leaders application.
2) At least two signed and executed green leases must be included along with the application*, to show that companies applying for Green Lease Leader recognition haves leases that meet the Green Lease Standards. Information on basic lease requirements can be found below, while requirements are fully defined on page 6 of the Green Lease Leaders application.
Lease criteria (Lease or related documents must contain at least three of the following):
Agreement to disclose regular scheduled tenant utility data to the landlord for the purposes of whole-building energy benchmarking by the landlord.
Request the landlord share the ENERGYSTAR score of the building and/or other energy and waste usage information on a regular basis.
Site selection language focused on leasing space that has met the requirements of third-party certification (such as ENERGY STAR, LEED, or other green building certification).
Installation of submetering for tenant space or separate metering of tenant plug load and equipment.
Encourage energy efficiency improvements to be implemented in the space and/or building (this could cover a range of language from agreeing to cost recovery clauses for capital improvement to agreeing to share the costs of LEED certification or retro-commissioning of the building).
Corporate policy to track energy and water usage across real estate portfolio (Link to Sustainability report or other supporting documentation is acceptable.)
Corporate policy preferring transaction staff with sustainability training or certification, or documentation of a sustainability training program including any 3rd party service providers.
Tenant agrees to purchase power generated on-site if provided by landlord and competitively priced.