4 Benefits of an energy efficient lease for high performance buildings
Shrewd investors and environmental activists alike can see benefits in leases with high performance buildings.
By Tim Hoeffel
Commercial building owners and managers are having to reinvent ways to make their property more appealing to potential lessees. One way to do this is to restructure the lease agreement for more flexibility in energy use recognition.
An example of this is the state of Colorado’s green lease policy for higher education. “The Green Lease Policy is intended to identity a set of common procedures for agencies and institutions of higher education to follow for setting and achieving environmental performance objectives for new, existing, and renewing lease agreements”, according to the state’s website.
4 Benefits of an energy efficient lease for high performance buildings
The Colorado OSA gives the following four benefits to an energy efficient lease:
- Attracting and Retaining Talented Employees: Green buildings can improve the quality of the workplace, which has been shown to positively influence the attraction and retention of staff.
2. Enhancing Employee Well-being and Productivity: Research indicates a link between a healthy and sustainable indoor environment in offices and improved employee well-being. Employees are becoming more aware of the quality of their workspace and how that affects their health. Enhanced amenities such as nearby cafés and child care, fitness, and public transit facilities have an influence on productivity and well-being.
3. Reducing Lease Costs: The benefits of a Green Lease may create cost savings within the operating budget for an agency. Other building costs that an agency may not directly pay for (such as waste management, water use, and utilities) are often lower in a green building, and these savings are usually passed on to tenants under a net lease.
4. Reducing Relocation Costs: A productive, sustainable, and high-performing workplace environment is one that an agency and its employees are more likely to want to stay in and renew the lease when the initial lease term expires.
Smart Energy Decisions reports that, “A study by the Institute for Market
Transformation (IMT) shows that green leases have the potential to
reduce energy consumption in U.S. office buildings by as much as 22%.
This research shows that when executed, green leases have the
potential to provide the leased U.S. office market alone $3.3 billion
in annual cost savings”.
Shrewd investors and environmental activists alike can see benefits in leases with high performance buildings. Investors get to save money and incorporate more flexibility into the lease while satisfying some of the
preferences of the activist.