City of Portland Home Energy Score Overview for Realtors
Portland Home Energy Score Ordinance
Starting January 1, 2018, the city of Portland will require a Home Energy Score be performed prior to publicly listing a home for sale. The Home Energy Score must be provided to all potential buyers, their realtors and the City of Portland while it’s for sale and the score be posted on all listings (MLS, Craigslist, Zillow, Trulia, For Sale By Owner etc.). There is a repeating $500 fine for noncompliance.
- The law does not require you do upgrades or meet any level of energy efficiency, you only need to make it available.
- For exemptions and waivers see: https://www.pdxhes.com/exemptions
- Law only applies to homes within the City of Portland City boundary map below.
How do I Upload a Home Energy Score to the RMLS Listing?
The Home Energy Score will be populated into the RMLS as a "green verification type”. Once a certified energy assessor completes the assessment in the Green Building Registry (GBR). In order to be in compliance with the City of Portland’s Ordinance 17.108 Residential Energy Performance Rating and Disclosure, a licensed agent will need to populate the Home Energy Score into the home’s profile before the home is publicly listed for sale. This is relatively simple. The agent needs to locate the "green verification type" in the RMLS profile and open the link allowing the Energy score to be attached to the listing.
What if I cannot find the Home Energy Score under Green Verification in RMLS?
There are multiple reasons this can occur:
- The assessor has not completed the Home Energy Score or not yet validated it through the Green Building Registry (GBR). Contact the assessor to see if this is completed.
- The address in the RMLS listing does not match the address in the GBR. This can happen if the home has a unit # or letter associated with it. Check to make sure the address matches the provided Home Energy Score.
- If none of the above applies and the score is still not populating, an agent can manually attach a copy to the RMLS listing.
- If there is still an issue, contact Earth Advantage. They are the quality assurance provider for the city of Portland.
What is a Home Energy Score?
A Home Energy Score is an energy audit that prioritizes energy upgrades and details the cost savings of each upgrade. It's also used as a method of comparing homes based on energy use like miles per gallon used for vehicle efficiency.
What is Measured in a Home Energy Score
A Home Energy Score only considers the home’s assets, which include the building attributes, envelope, and equipment. It does not include personal behavior, appliances, or lighting.
The “score” given to each home is based on how much energy a home is expected to use compared to other homes in the United States. A score of 1 means the home is expected to use more energy than 85% of the homes in the United States. A score of 10 means the home will use less energy than 90% of homes in the United States. The "score with improvements" is the score if all the recommended energy upgrades are completed. See below.
A Home Energy Score report also gives a list of suggested upgrades. If every one of the upgrades were complete the home would go from a 3 to a 7 and you could expect to save $573 a year.
| What Does My Score Mean |