Kilroy Realty Corporation (NYSE: KRC) continues to normalize green leasing in-house and across the industry. The Los Angeles-based company builds each of its properties to a minimum of LEED Gold Certification and has won numerous awards for sustainability across its existing 13.9 million square foot portfolio. Sara Neff, MBA, LEED AP, Senior Vice President of Sustainability at KRC, is one of the thought leaders behind the innovative sustainability programs at KRC and in the commercial real estate industry. She’s been a driving force creating and deploying the BOMA W2 Challenge, a new initiative built with the support of a generous grant from Yardi, and in partnership with the BOMA Local Associations, that can lead to cost savings on water and waste for countless organizations. Neff spoke on the W2 Challenge and its benefits during a BOMA International webinar this summer with panelists from Yardi and LaSalle. The session “Reducing Water and Waste Starts with Data” explored how KRC and LaSalle have optimized the efficiency of their assets with the use of utility data analytics. The W2 program gives organizations the basic tools needed to do the same. Benefits of Benchmarking Benchmarking has helped KRC surge ahead of industry norms in several ways. Utility benchmarking is becoming more popular: state, regional, and local regulations are starting to require it, tenants are looking for more efficient buildings to lease, and investors are seeing the value and profitability. Reducing water, waste, electricity, carbon footprints, greenhouse gasses, and emissions is becoming more than environmental – it’s now political. And policies from city governments, like the NYC Mayor’s Carbon Challenge, and state legislators, like California’s Assembly Bill 802, are becoming more common across the U.S. and mean serious business. Noncompliant owners and buildings are fined or placed on a publicized list. By adopting resource tracking measures early on, the organization and its legal team are better prepared to comply to benchmarking requirements. Lenders also look at ENERGY STAR scores as a measure of how well a building is being operated, so even businesses in locations that do not require benchmarking benefit from doing so. Neff encourages companies to get started with benchmarking as soon as possible. “Investors are looking for data coverage and benchmarking. It’s better to at least have the data gathered and organized even if you can’t show mind-blowing results in the first years,” she says. Organizations can gain access to greater capital for growth by demonstrating that buildings are operated efficiently. Benchmarking can even effect occupancy rates and leasing rates. In LA, Neff explains, class B buildings with ENERGY STAR certifications lease at higher rates than class A buildings without certification. Certified buildings also experience higher occupancy rates. Energy benchmarking has become a critical component of growth because it can also lower overhead costs. Neff recalls how an exterior leak could have cost the company thousands. Neff says, “Benchmarking is how we found exterior leaks. We have really good detection systems in the interiors of our buildings. But boy, if you have a leak in the exterior, a drip irrigation line that’s buried, good luck figuring out that is happening! The only way to do that currently is through water benchmarking.” She continues, “We had a building that had a 25 percent increase in water that quarter compared to the previous year. It’s something that could’ve gone on for months and months. It’s not just the cost. It’s the damage to the area: the integrity of the foundation, the soil, the plants, and nobody knew.” KRC noticed a change in waste diversion at a different property. “One building dropped precipitously in its diversion but it was the same number of pickups,” Neff begins. “Nothing changed about the service schedule and we couldn’t figure out why the data was changing.” It turns out that the recycling was contaminated….with spaghetti. “A tenant would have regular spaghetti parties and dump the remains into the recycling...