Eugene, ORE - During a work session, Eugene City Council voted unanimously to send the Draft Home Energy Score Ordinance to a public hearing later this summer. If the policy is passed, Eugene would join Oregon cities Bend, Hillsboro, Portland, and Milwaukie in requiring a Home Energy Score audit upon the listing of a home for sale. Climate and housing advocates applauded the decision as a move to support Eugene’s housing stock in becoming more energy efficient and sustainable, while increasing transparency around energy costs in housing.
“Today’s unanimous vote is a strong step by the City of Eugene to support energy efficiency and climate upgrades in homes, while reducing bills for residents,” said Meredith Tufts, Coalition Coordinator with Fossil Free Eugene Coalition. “The draft Home Energy Score requirement is a common sense measure that will help to ensure prospective home buyers have the knowledge they need to make informed purchases, and to access the generous energy efficiency and sustainability incentives offered at the City and State level and by local utility providers.”
The draft policy is moving forward after years of public discussion, and as the City rapidly approaches 2030 and the deadline for it to achieve its Climate Recovery Ordinance Goals of reducing community wide fossil fuel use by 50%. This action comes at a time as many Eugene residents are seeing their energy bills rise and are living with impacts of high temperatures.
“Our coalition is committed to ensuring that, after passing a strong Home Energy Score policy, Council builds on this victory and looks to more ambitious policies to expand access to zero emission appliances like heat pumps, while regulating the polluting gas industry,” said Aya Cockram, Oregon Just Transition Organizer with Breach Collective. “If we are to meet our Climate Recovery Ordinance goals, there is still a tremendous amount of work ahead of us, but we are confident that we will succeed in building a more sustainable and just future for our city.”
This policy would require that an energy score be included on listings when homes are put up for sale, but the hope is to build on the policy and expand its benefits to all Eugene residents. Multiple councilors emphasized the need to identify pathways to apply Home Energy Scores to rental properties.
“Tenants have the least control over the efficiency and sustainability features of their homes, yet are often the most impacted by the resulting cost and quality of life impacts. We are heartened by this policy, which will provide more transparency in the home buying process, and look forward to future iterations of the policy that account for rental properties,” said Timothy Morris, Executive Director of the Springfield Eugene Tenants Association.
Watch the full work session here.