570.117 Sustainable requirements for lease acquisition.

Contracting officers must include sustainable design requirements appropriate for the type of leasing action in the solicitation. Contracting officers can find solicitation requirements and instructions at https://www.gsa.gov/real-estate/realestate-services/leasing/leasing-policy under the ”Sustainability Policies” tab and within the applicable Leasing Desk Guide chapter to assist them in complying with GSA’s sustainable requirements.

(a)  Pre-Award Procedures. The contracting officer must ensure that the sustainable requirements within the lease templates are included in the awarded lease as specified by the PBS Leasing Desk Guide. Review Chapter 18 of the PBS Leasing Desk Guide that can be found on GSA's Acquisition Portal at https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal for guidance on ensuring sustainable requirements are included in leases.

(b)  Post-Award, Pre-Occupancy Procedures.

(1)  Sustainability Procedures. For specific post-award sustainability procedures, review Chapter 18 of the PBS Leasing Desk Guide.  

(2)  Receipt of Sustainable Products and Services.

(i)  The contracting officer must take reasonable steps to validate any required sustainable products and/or services are received. Review the best available evidence of compliance such as manufacturer product documentation, design submittals, or green lease submittals to ensure the lessor is providing required sustainable products and services.

(ii)  The contracting officer must note any discrepancies with sustainable requirements in the lease and provide feedback to the lessor.

(iii)  When choosing what documents to review during sustainability compliance reviews, random sampling techniques can be utilized to limit the number of documents/evidence being reviewed. Staff/Service Offices may prioritize which products and/or services to focus on in their compliance reviews. For specific best practices in verifying evidence of compliance, review the Verification Guide for Purchasers of Sustainable Products at https://sftool.gov/.

(c)  Post-Occupancy Procedures. The contracting officer must take reasonable steps to validate the lessor complies with all post-occupancy sustainable requirements in the lease. Review the Lease Management Desk Guide that can be found on GSA's Acquisition Portal at https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal for guidance on monitoring and documenting lessor compliance with all post-occupancy sustainable requirements.

(d)  Sustainability Exceptions. If at any point during a real property lease acquisition the contracting officer determines that one of the mandatory sustainable requirements should not be included in the lease due to an allowable exception, the contracting officer must follow any applicable procedures as stated within the PBS Leasing Desk Guide.

(e)  Compliance Monitoring and Reporting.

(1)  Review Process. The PBS Leasing Office is responsible for lease compliance monitoring to determine compliance with the sustainable acquisition criteria specified in 570.117(e)(2). The PBS Leasing Office is responsible for coordinating these reviews with the GSA Office of Acquisition Policy. PBS Leasing Office is required to submit the results of these reviews to the GSA Office of Acquisition Policy. GSA Office of Acquisition Policy is required to monitor and report sustainable acquisition activity to the GSA Chief Sustainability Officer in support of the agency’s semiannual status report to Office of Management and Budget.

(2)  Determining Compliance. See the GSA Sustainable Acquisition Review Criteria document that can be found on GSA's Acquisition Portal at https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal for the specific criteria used to determine compliance with sustainable acquisition requirements.