New York City has announced a commitment to climate action, and has taken steps to reduce the building emissions that constitute over two-thirds of the city’s total. But the city’s policies have been directed to owners rather than tenants, and this past year has proven that tenant spaces significantly contribute to carbon emissions. While commercial occupancy fell to historic lows in 2020 due to the pandemic, building energy use only dropped 10-20 percent, as shown in a Johnson Controls study conducted in September. The explanation for this lack of energy savings lies in the tension between base building energy usage versus tenant space energy usage and traditional leases. Not only do tenants – who control upwards of 70% of a building’s energy use – use too much energy in their space, but leases obligate landlords to expend unnecessary energy and simultaneously act as a barrier for either party to advance energy efficiency investments. This session will highlight how important it is to focus on reducing energy consumption within tenant spaces to meet the city’s climate goals. Participations will learn how to bring building owners, commercial tenants, property managers, brokers, commercial leasing lawyers, architects, engineers and others together to create a culture of cooperation on deep energy retrofits, and will come away with effective resources that enable stakeholders across the market to meet zero carbon goals. By the end of the session, participants will be armed with multiple approaches to reducing energy consumption within tenant spaces for each stage of the leasing cycle from lease negotiations to tenant operations, to ensure that actors within the commercial sector have access to the right information at the right time to minimize missed opportunities and maximize critical energy savings.