For businesses like YellowDog who lease rather than own our commercial space, how can we really “own” our space’s energy footprint? That’s where Smart Leasing comes in! Smart Leasing encompasses any activity that brings together both landlord and tenant interests in achieving high-performance energy efficient building spaces. These practices ultimately lead to both cost savings and a lower carbon footprint.
There are lots of good ways to be a Smart Lease tenant, whether you are looking for a new space or are firmly planted. When looking for smarter building options for a new lease, consider using a leasing broker who is familiar with green building features and practices. Be sure to ask the landlords for any performance information, such as an Energy Star Portfolio score; this not only affects the energy footprint of the building but also will help you predict utility costs.
If you are currently in a lease agreement, there are many retrofit options as well as behavioral changes that can promote efficiency and sustainability. This can look like many different things depending on where your business is at in its sustainability journey. Denver’s Climate Action, Sustainability, and Resilience department recommends measuring and auditing your utilities, encouraging changes in behavior among employees in the workplace, refining hours of HVAC and thermostat use, and being mindful of lighting and appliance options. A detailed list of potential practices can be found here.
About Denver’s Smart Leasing Program:
Activities laid out in this pledge involve energy efficiency, sustainability, and building performance no matter which stage of the leasing process you are in – site selection, lease negotiation, and build-out, all the way to current occupancy.
Smart Leasing Denver has been so helpful, providing us with resources to help us adopt these practices! They also provide tools and training for implementations that align with LEED and WELL certifications to help reduce energy, water, and waste, and improve occupant health and well-being.
Steps We Are Taking at YellowDog
Activities we are doing:
- We are tracking our energy costs and usage, and assessing where we can make improvements in our facility
- We provide employees training resources (one-sheeters, signage, newsletters, trainings, etc.) to further educate them on energy efficiency attributes
- We schedule janitorial work to occur during regular business hours to minimize heating, cooling, and lighting the building after hours
In our new buildout we:
- Included daylighting strategies and LED lights, and installed lighting controls such as occupancy sensors and timers tailored to our business practices and schedule
- Prioritized energy-efficient equipment, and continue to do so as we make any new purchases
- Configured device settings to turn off or engage low power mode when not in use and educate employees to turn off equipment at night
Take the Smart Leasing Pledge here and access their many resources here!
by YellowDog.