Going Green Before the Deal

Office tenants going green isn'tnew. But how is the average tenant actually following through before signing a lease? We caught up with JLL Mid-Atlantic sustainability head Frank Mobilio (with JLL Mid-Atlantic PDS head Chris Molivadas) for a closer look. Frank says the green planning for a tenant actually begins well before a lease is even signed.His group gauges a clients interest in sustainability, how it relates to its corporate culture, and how it will be applied in the new or renovated location.These pre-lease conversations also determinehow employees will be most productive in a space: Human beings are your most important investment. he says.

Frank says the trend is seen through increased access to daylight, more collaborative space, and better connectivity with smaller technology. And the change at home of switching from a computer tower to a laptop or iPad is being felt in the workplace: with newer technology, you can save energy and reduce the overall square footage of a workstation "without negatively impacting the actual desktop working area." Here he shows us a model of a smaller workstation design.

"The largest ongoing consumable for many companies is copy paper." Some companies pay for huge file cabinets and file room space over 10 years and often don't interact with it after moving in. Frank adds that educating employees is key: inform them about the green elements in their space work and how to maintain them. It's also important to let employees play a direct role in the push, through initiatives like green committees.