Successful Landlord-Tenant Relationships

The Power in Building Collaboration

Achieving top-level performance in a multi-tenant office building has its challenges. Landlords must consider the many factors that contribute to a building’s energy efficiency, such as building design, base building systems, management, operation and maintenance, tenant build-out, and occupant behavior. An efficiently designed building may perform poorly if its systems are not well maintained, or if occupants do not use the systems as intended. Likewise, tenants who do all they can to reduce energy waste in their leased space may do little to improve the overall efficiency of a poorly designed or inadequately managed building. The best-performing buildings have one important element in common: tenants and landlords working together toward a unified goal of energy efficiency.

The organizations profiled here, many of them ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year winners, are shining examples of how landlords and tenants are tapping into the power of collaboration to overcome barriers to high-performance buildings. These innovative organizations demonstrate the value of retrofitting leased space as green space, measuring and sharing energy data to enable efficiency, and engaging tenants around sustainability. Their stories serve as models for other landlords and tenants who face challenges in coming together for top performance.

When securing and building out new space, tenants and landlords have a great opportunity to collaborate and go green. As the following stories illustrate, working together to create green, efficient space not only offers environmental and financial benefits, but also sets the stage for a strong landlord-tenant relationship.

Data is the foundation of efficiency. Having energy data at both whole-building and tenant levels supports benchmarking of efficiency and informed decision-making. These leading landlords and tenants recognize the power of data, measured and shared in a form that fosters action.

People in a meeting around a computer screen

Engaging tenants in sustainability initiatives offers opportunities for positive interaction among landlord, tenant, and property manager, helping to strengthen the relationships. The following stories demonstrate that there are many innovative ways to start the conversation.

THE ENERGY STAR ADVANTAGE

Making It Easier for Everyone to Go Green

ENERGY STAR, perhaps best known as the little blue mark on more than 75 types of products, is recognized by nearly 90% of American households. Since 1992, EPA has also worked with businesses and public-sector organizations to transform the way that commercial buildings use energy.

Owners and managers across the country use ENERGY STAR to improve the energy efficiency of their properties, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase the value of their assets, and earn recognition. A widely recognized environmental certification that crosses both residential and commercial platforms, the ENERGY STAR label now appears on tens of thousands of buildings and plants, and millions homes.

The ENERGY STAR Bring Your Green to Work toolkit offers fun and interactive ways to engage employees and tenants, with ready-made posters, tip sheets, videos, and other resources. This toolkit, along with many more resources to help everyone – landlords, tenants, and employees – work together toward a greener, more energy-efficient environment, can be found at www.energystar.gov.