United States of America

The California Sustainability Alliance have developed a Green Leases Toolkit1 to assist tenants and landlords.  The toolkit helps the tenant to select a building with the best green credentials as well as providing a selection of green clauses which can be incorporated in a lease. 

Selection of Green Building

• Lease profile and Options Matrix
• These two documents allow the tenant to categorise the type of building being sought, and the green options appropriate to that scenario
• Green Request for Proposal (RFP)
• contains a list of relevant information to be requested from each prospective landlord to allow a comparison
• Due Diligence Scorecard
• provides a straightforward comparison based on the information provided by the landlords, allowing a decision to be made

Negotiation of Green Lease

• Green Lease Provision Database
• Provides examples of lease language appropriate to the tenants occupancy situation and objectives, which can be incorporated into a lease by a qualified attorney

The Governor’s Green Government Council of Pennsylvania has a Model Green Office Leasing Specification2.  This document is particularly appropriate during the design of a building, as it addresses many aspects of the environmental and comfort performance of the building.  This starts with suggesting that the site is chosen to avoid using previously undisturbed land, and encompasses such aspects as energy consumption, ventilation and indoor temperature.

A commercial outlook on green leases is available from property professionals such as Alan Whitson3,4 and Karen Penafiel 5.  

1. California Sustainability Alliance. Green Leases Toolkit:.
2. Pennsylvania, D.o.G.S.f.t.C.o. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Model Green Office Leasing Specifications.
   
3. Whitson, A. Green Lease.  2006..
   
4. Whitson, A., Green lease agreements: Navigating uncharted waters, in Green Real Estate Guide 2008 - Supplement to Sustainable Industries. 2008, Green Building Services, p. 39-40.
   
5. Penafiel, K., BOMA 'greens' lease guidelines, in Green Real Estate Guide 2008 - Supplement to Sustainable Industries. 2008, Green Building Services, p. 41