When Tenants Hold the Key

In large commercial buildings, tenant activity can make or break waste diversion goals. But when property owners lack access to that data, site-level performance is incomplete or misleading. These property owners are tackling this challenge by integrating tenant-level data into WATS, giving tenants visibility and helping owners tell a more complete story.

"Our tenants are doing the work. WATS helps us show it—and helps them prove it."

— VP of Sustainability, NYC Commercial Real Estate

BUSINESS TYPE

Commercial Real Estate

BUSINESS DETAILS

Multi-tenant portfolios across NYC, integrating data from over 600 tenant companies

Challenge

Property owners face increasing pressure to report accurate waste diversion metrics, but tenant behavior plays a major role in overall performance. Without tenant data, buildings appear to underperform. Yet most owners can’t compel tenants to share their data, and tenants often don’t realize the value of contributing.

This results in:

  • Artificially low diversion rates

  • Incomplete data coverage

  • Frustrated tenants who want visibility into their efforts but lack access

Solution

WATS helped our clients close the gap by integrating tenant waste data into their portfolios and providing a clear value exchange: tenants contribute data, and in return, can gain access to the WATS platform to see and report on their own impact.

This approach reframes the relationship:

  • Property managers set the stage, inviting tenants to join the platform

  • Tenants gain transparency and reporting tools for their own ESG efforts

  • Owners gain higher data coverage and more accurate building-wide metrics

Results

📈 Company 1:

  • Tenant data accounted for 14% of 2024 waste data

  • Including tenant data boosted diversion rates by 9%

  • Total diversion rate increased from 38% to 47%

🏢 Company 2:

  • WATS reflects data from 600+ tenants across the portfolio

  • ~10 tenant companies are actively using WATS today

  • Tenants regularly request waste data for annual reports and sustainability disclosures

Tenant engagement is growing, and with it, the accuracy and impact of building-wide diversion narratives.