In Poland, green lease provisions are not mandatory but are starting to be adopted increasingly in commercial leases. Therefore, there is no commonly used and established template for “green” provisions. This means that lease agreements contain both so-called “dark green clauses,” which introduce significant obligations on the parties, and more general provisions (so-called “light green clauses”) that specify that each party will endeavor to comply with the principles of sustainable development and performance of the building. Many of these solutions are not commonly recognized as green provisions, while in fact they are.

The most frequent obligations in green leases are to carry out finishing work and to use building materials with a low environmental impact. In addition, the parties often agree on provisions obliging the lessor to provide the relevant building with a certificate, as mentioned in the first paragraph, but also commit to joint cooperation between the lessor and lessee to define appropriate strategies, initiatives and targets for improving the environmental performance of the leased space.

In addition, green leases may include obligations to ensure that the energy supplied to the leased premises (on the lessee’s side) and to the building (on the lessor’s side) comes from renewable sources. In connection with green clauses, the parties also include associated costs in the list of service charges.