by Janet B. Stroud — July 1, 2022 — The national nonprofit Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Better Buildings Alliance recently announced the 2022 Green Lease Leaders. Launched by IMT and the DOE Better Buildings Alliance in 2014, Green Lease Leaders sets the industry standard for what constitutes a green lease. Each year, the program recognizes U.S. and international landlords and tenants who modernize their leases to spur collaboration on energy efficiency, decarbonization, cost savings, health, and a range of other environmental and social issues.
Green Lease Leaders own and occupy a variety of facilities. Image courtesy of GLL
This year the program expanded by 23% — a new record, according to IMT — and it released a new Platinum tier that recognizes companies for integrating high performance leasing and social equity practices into building operations. The Platinum requirements address five core areas: Health; Resilience; Economic Inclusion; Social Justice and Racial Equity; and Scope 3 Emission Reduction and Embodied Carbon. There are nine companies in the inaugural Platinum cohort.
This year’s Green Lease Leaders represent portfolios totaling nearly 2 billion square feet (sq. ft.) and comprise a diverse range of buildings from large and small commercial offices to data centers and industrial and multifamily buildings. The cumulative floor area of all Green Lease Leaders is now 5 billion sq. ft. of building space.
Maria T. Vargas, senior program advisor at DOE and director of the Better Buildings Initiative, stated:
Congratulations to this year’s Green Lease Leaders. These leading organizations are driving lasting change in U.S. buildings by creating mutually beneficial agreements between landlords and tenants to pursue emissions reduction targets.
Lotte Schlegel, executive director at IMT, explained:
Green leases are a commonsense, proven solution to create high-performing buildings and improve our communities. We have seen that they not only reduce energy use, but also promote strong relationships between landlords and tenants. This was invaluable during the pandemic, and we see tremendous opportunity to build on these relationships to improve social as well as environmental outcomes.
IMT estimates that green leases can help reduce utility bills by up to approximately 50 cents per square foot (22%) in U.S. office buildings alone. If all leased office buildings executed green leases, the market could reap over $3 billion in annual cost savings.
For a complete list of the 2022 Green Lease Leaders, visit the GLL site.
Learn more about Green Lease Leaders:
Visit GreenLeaseLeaders.com.- Assess your leasing process with the GLL lease audit tool.
- Download the free Green Lease Leaders Reference Guides.
- Visit GreenLeaseLibrary.com for a comprehensive collection of green lease resources.
- Read the Green Lease Leaders series of case studies.
- Read “The Role of Buildings in the 2022 IPCC Report.”
