Regarding health and wellbeing, more and more provisions are being made to encourage active travel. For local communities, generating impactful, needs-based social value for local populations is becoming increasingly common. Yet, the impact of these activities could be amplified further.

Tenant engagement is an underappreciated tool for driving sustainability in the built environment. It has the potential to unlock additional value in sustainability efforts while also fostering stronger landlord-tenant relationships. 

Why does tenant engagement on sustainability matter?

Many buildings and campuses are mixed use, with a combination of office, retail and residential occupiers. In these scenarios, numerous tenants occupy a single building or estate and operate in vastly different ways. This can introduce difficulties, particularly concerning the allocation of building-wide expenses. For this reason, delivering successful tenant engagement has historically been viewed as a somewhat challenging task.

Sustainability can offer a fresh piece of common ground to build collaboration between stakeholders. Many of the challenges faced by tenants are shared across an asset, such as energy consumption, water consumption and waste management. Even social sustainability goals can be aligned, as all building users share the same local area so tenant initiatives should be addressing the same local needs.

There is a vested interest in addressing these topics in partnership – if strategies and initiatives are built and executed with pooled resources and engagement, all building users stand to make progress more rapidly. With positive collaboration, relations between key stakeholders can improve, which may enhance tenant satisfaction and retention rates.

Still, tenant engagement is not easy to get right. The following insights outline key principles to ensure that these efforts deliver meaningful and lasting impact - 

How to deliver impactful tenant engagement on sustainability

• Provide clear and actionable sustainability data

Regularly share building-level data on electricity, gas, water usage and waste generation – ideally on a quarterly basis. This enables tenants to track progress over time, benchmark performance and identify opportunities for improvement.

• Create space for deliberation

Engagement should be a two-way process. Rather than simply presenting information to tenants, facilitators should create opportunities for open discussion where questions, opinions and debates are welcomed. This fosters deeper understanding and shared ownership of sustainability goals.

• Use varied and interactive engagement formats

To maintain interest and encourage participation, diversify the ways in which tenants are engaged. Incorporate formats such as quizzes, polls, Q&A sessions and collaborative workshops to cater to different preferences and learning styles.

• Embed collaboration into the process

Ensure tenants are not just passive recipients of information but active contributors to decision making. Involve them in shaping building policies, co-developing initiatives and sharing best practices with one another to build a stronger, more united community.

By embedding tenant engagement on sustainability into property management practices, we can unlock greater environmental and social benefits while cultivating stronger, more collaborative relationships between landlords and tenants.

Further information

Contact Will Chantry

 Learn about 'the crucial role of property management in building operations' here