The Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) announced the 2026 class of Green Lease Leaders — and 17 Nareit members are prominently featured across the program's top tiers.
Now in its 12th year, the Green Lease Leaders program recognizes landlords, tenants, and leasing teams who have embedded sustainability and performance requirements directly into their lease agreements, breaking down the split-incentive barrier that has historically prevented meaningful collaboration between building owners and occupants.
Nareit members that received recognition include:
Platinum
Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE: ESRT)
SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE: SLG)
Gold
Agree Realty Corp. (NYSE: ADC)
Brixmor Property Group Inc. (NYSE: BRX)
Cousins Properties (NYSE: CUZ)
First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FR)
Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE: HIW)
InvenTrust Properties Corp. (NYSE: IVT)
Kilroy Realty Corp. (NYSE: KRC)
LXP Industrial Trust (NYSE: LXP)
Realty Income Corp. (NYSE: O)
RMR Residential Management (The RMR Group, Nasdaq: RMR)
STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE: STAG)
Whitestone REIT (NYSE: WSR)
Silver
EPR Properties (NYSE: EPR)
Tanger Inc. (NYSE: SKT)
VICI Properties Inc. (NYSE: VICI)
IMT estimates that green leases can reduce utility bills by an average of 17% in U.S. office buildings — and if every leased office building adopted green leases, the sector could unlock more than $3 billion in annual cost savings.
"This year's class of Green Lease Leaders represents continued commitment to utilizing leases to reduce risk," said Diana Lee, director of business engagement at IMT. The program evaluates applicants against a rigorous credit-based framework; the most widely fulfilled credit is energy data tracking, achieved by 100% of this year's landlord and tenant winners.
Two-thirds of the 2026 class were returning winners, reflecting a maturing market where green leasing practices are embedded in standard operations—not just a one-time credential. Among those returning, approximately 20% upgraded their recognition level, rising from Silver to Gold.
REITs Share How Green Leasing Supports Business Strategy
Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) was recognized as an original Platinum winner and one of the program's most consistent champions, maintaining the highest recognition tier since the Platinum level was introduced in 2022, demonstrating industry-leading green lease adoption across its iconic Manhattan portfolio.
“ESRT continues to collaborate with our high-quality tenants to build and operate energy efficient, healthy spaces that hit important sustainability targets to achieve considerable savings and returns for our tenants and stakeholders,” said Chairman and CEO Tony Malkin. “We are pleased to maintain the highest-possible tier and to report the highest adoption of green leases across the portfolio.”
Agree Realty, which was named a Gold winner for the fourth year in a row, shared that, “Green Lease Leaders recognition reinforces that our green lease work is translating into better day‑to‑day outcomes—not just language in a lease. The green lease clauses give us a clearer pathway to request and receive utility information, which helps us have more informed, practical conversations with tenants about energy use, benchmarking, and sustainability priorities. It also gives both sides a common framework to collaborate on initiatives over the life of the lease, which ultimately supports stronger, longer-term relationships with our tenants.”
First-time winner, VICI Properties explains how, “as a net lease REIT, our efforts to advance sustainability across our tenant-operated portfolio benefit from a shared commitment and mutual cooperation towards improving environmental performance. Green Lease Leaders recognition reflects our effort to meet an independent standard for how that can be done in our leases, and reinforces our broader commitment to driving environmental performance in partnership with our tenants over the long term.”