“My landlord doesn’t recycle so we throw everything in the trash.”  “It’s freezing in my office during the summer so I use my space heater”.  “It’s too hot in the winter so we open the windows”.  “We have no control over any building operations so it’s hard to be green.”

Sound familiar?  These common complaints from tenants resonate in office buildings throughout the country.

Similarly, as building owners are investing in sustainable initiatives such as energy and water efficiency and recycling, they want to be sure that tenants are behaving responsibly by turning off unnecessary lighting/equipment and related actions that impact building performance.

Rather than playing the “blame-game” (never productive), it is important that landlords and tenants understand where each side is coming from and communicate with each other about their sustainability goals. Continue Reading »