Current Tenants: In an Existing Lease

When evaluating energy management strategies for leased space or renegotiating a current lease, keep in mind the following considerations:

• How you pay for utilities.
  • If you pay your energy bill directly, saving energy directly reduces your expenses and improves the bottom line, so it is in your best interest to explore all appropriate energy efficiency strategies for your space.
  • If energy costs are included in your rent, you can still influence overall operating costs - and reduce greenhouse gas emissions - by teaming up with your landlord to save energy and share in the benefits. Review with your landlord how energy efficiency improvements will benefit you in terms of lower overall costs or increased occupant comfort.
• The duration of your lease. Though immediate energy savings can be achieved through no- and low-cost best practices, many buildings can further benefit from upgrading operating equipment. If you are in a long-term lease, it may make sense to talk with your landlord about sharing the costs of smart upgrades – as long as you can also reap the benefits through reduced energy costs. Encourage your landlord to review the ENERGY STAR Building Upgrade Manual, which contains practical information for implementing profitable energy saving building upgrades.

Regardless of your lease structure, you can take no- and low-cost operational and technical steps to reduce energy consumption. You can also incorporate energy performance considerations into future or planned tenant improvements.

When renegotiating your lease in your current space, leverage this to more fully engage the landlord regarding energy performance. Request a meeting to discuss their energy management strategies and give them ideas for combating climate change and saving money by reducing energy use:

• Ask for your building’s ENERGY STAR rating, energy intensity, energy costs per square foot, and other key metrics. This information can be found in the Statement of Energy Performance from Portfolio Manager, EPA’s national energy performance benchmarking tool for commercial buildings. If the building has not been benchmarked, introduce your landlord to Portfolio Manager.
• Encourage the landlord to review the ENERGY STAR Building Upgrade Manual, which contains practical information for implementing profitable energy saving building upgrades.
• Encourage the landlord to become an ENERGY STAR Partner and take the ENERGY STAR Challenge.
• Suggest that the landlord contact the local utility about rebates, incentives, or energy audit services.

Further, you can help your employees save energy at work and at home. Every day, employees are making decisions that affect your energy costs and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.

• Post fact sheets or distribute newsletters with simple actions employees can use to save energy at work using Bring Your Green to Work with ENERGY STAR.
• Use ideas from the ENERGY STAR Challenge Toolkit, including sample communication materials, to show all members of your organization how they can save energy.
• Tie energy savings to employee bonuses or special incentive programs. Initiate energy-saving challenges in the office, with rewards like a free lunch or movie passes.
• Participate in Change the World, Start with ENERGY STAR.

Talk to your organization’s facilities manager or office administrator about current energy strategies, and share ENERGY STAR resources with them.