SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS

Asset Classes

Focus Area

Accessibility and Wellness

Topic

Baseline Practices

Question #

A4.0 – Occupant Engagement

Question

Is an Occupant Environmental Communication Program in place at the building?

Applicability

All asset classes 
Owner/landlord occupied building
Tenant occupied building

Answer & Scoring

Yes – this is a baseline requirement

Requirements

  1. The Occupant Environmental Communication Program must address the following:
      • Include communications on the various strategies being pursued through the BOMA BEST Sustainable program:
          • Baseline practices
          • Any additional environmental strategies
      • The communication strategies that will be used
      • The activities that will be encouraged
      • Identify responsible individuals among management for moving each aspect of the plan forward
      • Include a timeline for implementation
  2. Demonstrate that at least four communication strategies have been implemented in the past 12 months:
      • Communication strategies include newsletters, tenant manual, posters, etc.
      • The key aspects of effective communication are frequency, accuracy, comprehensiveness and inclusiveness
      • To ensure that building occupants work together with building management to achieve environmental goals, regular communication must be executed. As such, the Program must clearly outline communication strategies, activities, responsibilities and timelines for implementation. The following communication framework must be evident:
          • Communication strategies: clearly describe the communication strategies that will be used with tenants/occupants
          • Activities: clearly describe the activities/events that will be communicated to occupants (e.g., Earth Day event or energy awareness campaigns with “turn off your monitor” stickers)
          • Responsibilities: clearly describe who will be responsible for each aspect of the Occupant Sustainability Communications Program
          • Timeline for implementation: clearly describe the timeline for implementation of all activities, events, and strategies put in place in the context of the Occupant Sustainability Communications Program
      • Occupants are the permanent/regular occupants of the building, such as tenants and staff. If the building is owner-occupied, surveys should be directed to staff. Visitors to the building are not considered occupants

Documentation

Suggested Lead

In-house: Facility Maintenance, Building Manager/Policy Makers

Value

  • Occupant experience is an important part of sustainability
  • Occupant wellness is important for boosting productivity, profitability of businesses, and the overall mood of users
  • Comfortable occupants are more likely to engage with the building which can also lead to improved building operations
  • Increase occupant engagement by establishing several channels of communication with occupants

RELATED Questions:

Description

Increasing building occupant awareness and engagement in environmental and sustainable practices can have a significant positive or negative impact on the performance of the building. Improving the environmental performance of the building can lead to many positive outcomes for building management, staff and tenants, including but not limited to lower operational costs, lower utility bills, improved indoor air quality, improved management-tenant relationships, etc.

References

None

Adapted BB 3.0 Question

Best Practice 16 – Is an Occupant Environmental Communication Program in place at the building?