Dean, you’re in luck, the US Green Building council has recently released a publication called “Green Office Guide: Integrating LEED Into Your Leasing Process” here.

This integration guide is specifically focused on helping tenants and landlords collaborate when it comes to LEED certified and registered projects.

This resource guide ‘helps office tenants integrate green decision-making throughout the leasing process, encompassing team selection, site selection, negotiations, lease language, build-out and the tenant's ongoing operations within the leased space’.

The information and tools in the guide were developed to assist tenants and their service providers (brokers, consultants, attorneys, design professionals) in reducing the environmental impact associated with real estate decisions and operations . The guide is also marketed as being ‘useful for landlords and developers interested in preparing for negotiations with an understanding of the needs of tenants focused on obtaining LEED certification for their build-out’.

You can purchase the guide from the link above ($40 for USGBC members and $55 for Non-members.

By now I’m sure you figured out that unfortunately I’m not an expert on green leasing and tenant relations, since I’m referring you to a book. But I will attempt to add my two cents to the second portion of your question.

I would say that, in short, a policy is what you create and implement to meet credit requirements. The simple definition of policy is a ‘plan of deliberate action.’ So if a particular credit requires a policy (sustainable purchasing), to meet the requirements of that credit, the policy must be enforced. Of course there are also requirements that are only a portion of a credit – like Minimum Indoor Plumbing Fixture and Fitting Efficiency.

At this point I’m wondering the following, because I don’t want to go too far down the road making incorrect assumptions. Is this an existing certified building, or one that you’re looking at getting certified? If the building is already certified, than a tenant wouldn’t be able to change any items that were included in the initial certification. If the building isn’t certified, then the question that comes up is should it be registered for LEED-CS or LEED-EB? There are many different paths when it comes to LEED and there aren’t always answers that fit all potential strategies.

Hope this helps,
Sarah Gudeman, LEED AP

Related Advice:

• Green Lease: What Important Items Should Tenants Consider in a LEED Certified Building?



• Negotiating a Green Lease: 6 Important Considerations for Tenant AND Landlord