Increase the Value of Your Office Space with a Green Lease


To show a commitment to the Earth throughout the year, companies can validate their dedication to sustainability by making their office space environmentally friendly. Signing a “green lease” puts that commitment in writing, while typically achieving energy and cost savings.

Rising in popularity with corporate and small business tenants and their landlords (and even in cities like New York City and San Francisco), green leases improve the environmental performance of a leased office space, ensuring that the company occupying the space and the landlord that owns the building are operating in a sustainable manner from the inside out. This energy and cost saving tactic usually results in additional cash flow for the building by increasing its appeal to both corporate and small business tenants.

As tenants and landlords continue to see value in making office space more sustainable, green leases will become the new norm. To make a lease “green,” the terms must be structured to drive sustainable cost savings without negatively impacting building performance or comfort. As with every lease, the green criteria should undergo careful evaluation to maximize effectiveness, sustainable success and cost savings.

Companies such as Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), a leader in green lease administration, help business tenants by assisting in facility and property management, energy assessments, retro-commissioning, retrofits, project management, LEED and other certifications; renewable energy, sustainability consulting, renewable power solutions, workplace strategy, green lease programs, employee engagement and sustainability program design.

“When weighing the costs and benefits of a green lease, consider completing an in-depth green lease site assessment and integrating RFP language that incorporates benchmarked green criteria applicable to both new leaseholds and renewing/renegotiating existing ones,” said Meaghan Farrell, Vice President of Strategic Consulting for JLL. “Working with an advisor that understands both commercial leasing and green leases is critical to achieving both your real estate goals and your sustainability target,” she said.

Jones Lang LaSalle released a white paper that goes into detail on the return on investment one can typically expect from signing a green lease. The white paper is available for download here


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