The San Francisco Department of Environment (SFE) and the Business Council on Climate Change (BC3) has just released the Green Tenant Toolkit, an online resource to enhance the energy efficiency and sustainability of commercial buildings by empowering collaboration between owners, property managers, tenants, and occupants. While the kit was created to coincide with the San Francisco Existing Commercial Building Energy Efficiency Ordinance, it can be tailored for use in any building.
The Green Tenant Toolkit includes best practices for tenants and building management to engage in win-win environmental initiatives, a guide to integrating green lease language into negotiations, and a scorecard to summarize key sustainability metrics for any property – whether or not it has a green certification. “Split incentives” are a key problem, where the person who pays for an energy retrofit might not be the one that benefits. The toolkit is designed to help owners and tenants mutually benefit. Eliminating barriers to sustainability throughout the life of a commercial lease helps to minimize operating costs, save water, reduce carbon emissions, and increase energy efficiency.
The toolkit was produced by a BC3 working group of twenty-six professionals from leading commercial real estate companies, design and architecture firms, law firms, model tenants, and building trade organizations. The group was facilitated by Northgate Environmental Management’s Sustainable Practice Leader, Jennifer Berg.
The Green Tenant Toolkit is available online at www.greentenanttoolkit.com. As it is intended to be a living, evolving tool, user feedback is encouraged and appreciated.
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