R&D Project Charter: Green Leases

1. R&D Project Charter: Green Leases Project Title Team Call to Action Date/ Products Green Leases: Assessment and Recommendation to Increase the Adoption of Green Leases in Commercial Real Estate Steve Evanko, Capital One Steve Dunn, SRA International, Mid-Atlantic Chapter (End User) David Hodgins, Clinton Comate Initiative Lisa Scala, Herman Miller, Mid-Atlantic Chapter Landlord Broker representative Legal representative Even though there’s increasing interest in addressing energy conservation and greening of facilities, real estate industry needs to focus on the bulk of the existing building stock which was not built to green standards. This projects will assess and recommend model green leases and leasing rfps to encourage green leases. Kickoff Done 4/2010 Assessment of current state of green leases 4/2010 Assessment of current implementation of green leases 10/2010 Tools for green leases (sample RFP templates, green lease clauses, other lease transaction documents) 10/2010 Disseminate tools and reports to CNG community DRAFT Timeline dependent on scope Sustainability Community R&D Committee

2. Green leases are rarely implemented by the real estate community. Green leases are not well understood by the real estate community. Existing green leases either are not from the end-user point of view or does not provide the right level of explanation or tools to drive adoption. Increase the adoption of green leases to promote the partnering of landlords and occupants for a greener workplace (i.e., less environmental impacts, lower energy use, lower water use, recycling options, etc.) Help user community have a clearer understanding of the differences between traditional and non-traditional leases (definitions, business value, etc.) Compare existing “green leases” so that user can select appropriate template Provide easy-to-use guidelines and guidance for user to develop and negotiate a “green lease.’ Vet product inside and outside of CNG to create an industry standard platform for association-centric add-on documentation. R&D Project Charter: Green Leases Hypotheses Desired Outcomes Desired Resources/ Assistance from CNG Sustainability Community R&D Committee

3. Pre-Kickoff (underway) Refine scope of work Recruit volunteers or other subject matter experts (potentially e-blast to CNG members) Capture the current state of green leases (past reports and articles, etc.) Definitions: what is a green lease? What is the adoption of green leases? Comparative assessment of existing “green leases.” Comparative assessment of typical traditional lease vs. “green leases.” Assess which regions are seeing the most green lease activity (California, NY, Canada?) Analyze the current implementation of green leases Identify barriers and gaps Identify best practices Potentially conduct survey of Corenet members R&D Project Charter: Green Leases Scope Sustainability Community R&D Committee

4. Develop tools to improve adoption of green leases Simple business argument for green leases Counter arguments typically voiced by stakeholder and approaches to overcome resistance Guidelines and guidance rather than full documents Sample RFP Templates Sample Green Lease Clauses to insert into existing leases Other lease transaction-related docs? ITrequirements? What else? Vet Tools and Analysis with appropriate stakeholders. Share or disseminate the tools and reports throughout the CNG community Shared with other professional associations and NGO’s represented on the CNG Sustainability Community Advisory Council Goal is to have something significant done by April 2010 conference in New Orleans… Survey prior to conference, report findings at the conference? R&D Project Charter: Green Leases Scope (contin.) Date/Products Desired Resources/ Assistance from CNG Sustainability Community R&D Committee

5. Are we drafting this study largely to benefit end-user or to cover all stakeholders in the leasing chain? Studies CNG-UK Green Leases BOMA - Model “green” lease (BES has performed work in this area looking at the existing green leases and conducting a best practices assessment of templates and strategies.) NRDC Other potential sources (AIA, IFMA, EPA, Green Globe, USGBC, etc) Model Green Leases Allan Whitson Others? Need project manager to lead effort Survey design ($20K)—iDEA would be willing to design at costs Survey analysis and administration ($TBD) Report production ($10K) R&D Project Charter: Green Leases Potential Questions Existing Resources Desired Resources/ Assistance from CNG Desired Resources/ Assistance from CNG Sustainability Community R&D Committee