Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge: Tenant Engagement Focus Group

Overview

The Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge (ABBC) is a nation-leading, public-private initiative to reduce energy and water consumption by at least 20 percent in over 114 million square feet of participating buildings across Atlanta by 2020. Since many of these buildings are not owner-occupied, there isn’t always a direct incentive for building tenants or owners to improve energy efficiency.

Solution:
In 2016, the ABBC convened a focus group of both building owners and tenants around the topic of engaging occupants in energy efficiency efforts. The goal was to gather insights on existing knowledge on tenant engagement strategies, gaps in knowledge, and types of information that would be most helpful to improve engagement. ABBC then created a 4-page summary documenting its findings that outlined the benefits and challenges of tenant engagement, tenant communications and recognition strategies, and potential needs around high-performance leasing. Please see the PDF below for details.

Outcome:
The five conclusions from the focus group are as follows:

Engaging occupants in energy efficiency is needed and beneficial, but there is a lack of understanding of how to build the engagement
Tenants are a diverse group with a wide variety of needs and motivations that must be addressed
Education offers a large opportunity – for owners around what energy efficiency engagement and behavior change can look like and for tenants around energy efficient actions and their benefits
Consider a modular, buffet-style approach when developing education and outreach materials – this will give building owners the resources they need to meet specific tenant interests, whether the tenant has a robust sustainability effort or is unfamiliar with workplace sustainability
Tenant engagement can and should be used to build a stronger sense of community, which also serves as a compelling selling point for all stakeholders

Tenant Engagement Tools:

ABBC Tenant Engagement Focus Group Findings

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