Home Energy Score and Selling Your Home in Portland
Starting January 1st, 2018 anyone wanting to sell a home in the city of Portland is required to get a home energy score completed by a licensed Home Energy Assessment contractor prior to listing it for sale. The City of Portland intended the law to help home buyers make more "knowledgeable decisions about the full costs of operating homes and to motivate investments in home improvements that lower utility bills, reduce carbon emissions, and increase comfort, safety and health." This will also help meet the city of Portland's goal of reducing carbon emissions 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
Enforcement
Any building owner or person who fails, omits, neglects, or refuses to comply with the provisions of this Chapter shall be subject to:
- Upon the first violation, the Director may issue a written warning notice to the entity or person, describing the violation and steps required to comply.
- If the violation is not remedied within 90 days after issue of written warning notice, the Director may assess a civil penalty of up to $500. For every subsequent 180-day period during which the violation continues, the Director may assess additional civil penalties of up to $500.
What Are You Required To Do With The Energy Score?
Provide a copy of the home energy performance report:
- To all licensed real estate agents working on the seller’s behalf;
- Have a printed copy available to prospective buyers who visit the home while it is listed publicly for sale; and
- To the Director for quality assurance and evaluation of policy compliance; and
- Include the Home Energy Performance Score in all real estate listings, including the Home Energy Performance Report (or a link to the report) if attachments are accepted by the listing service.
Exemptions
Only the Director of the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability or his or her authorized representative, designee or agent can exempt a property from the requirements.
Building Exemptions
Building Exemptions
- Vertically stacked units (condos)
- Detached ADU's
- Mobile homes
- Buildings used primarily for commercial purposes
- A foreclosure sale,
- A trustee’s sale,
- A deed-in-lieu of foreclosure sale, or
- Any pre-foreclosure sale in which seller has reached an agreement with the mortgage holder to sell the property for an amount less than the amount owed on the mortgage.
- The covered building qualifies for sale at public auction or acquisition by a public agency due to arrears for property taxes,
- A court appointed receiver is in control of the covered building due to financial distress,
- The senior mortgage on the covered building is subject to a notice of default,
- The covered building has been approved for participation in Oregon Property Tax Deferral for Disabled and Senior Citizens, or equivalent program as determined by the Director, or
- The responsible party is otherwise unable to meet the obligations of this Chapter as determined by the Director
- The low-income qualified seller demonstrates household income is at or below 60 percent of median household income for the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area,
- The low-income qualified seller has been approved for participation in Oregon LowIncome Home Energy Assistance Program,
- The low-income qualified seller has been approved for participation in Free and Reduced Price Meals through Oregon Department of Education, or
- The low-income qualified seller is otherwise unable to meet the obligations of this Chapter as determined by the Director.
- The Director may provide a waiver from the requirements of this Chapter for homebuilders or sellers using scoring products that are not compliant with Oregon Administrative Rules adopted by Oregon Department of Energy for Oregon’s Home Energy Performance Score Standard. The waiver will allow homebuilders or sellers currently using Energy Performance Scores (EPS) or Home Energy Rating System (HERS) to temporarily continue the use of these asset rating tools.
The Home Energy Score Report Contains
- The home energy performance score and an explanation of the score;
- An estimate of the total annual energy used in the home in retail units of energy, by fuel type;
- An estimate of the total annual energy generated by on-site solar electric, wind electric, hydroelectric, and solar water heating systems in retail units of energy, by type of fuel displaced by the generation;
- An estimate of the total monthly or annual cost of energy purchased for use in the covered building in dollars, by fuel type, based on the current average annual retail residential energy price of the utility serving the covered building at the time of the report and the average annual energy prices of non-regulated fuels, by fuel type, as provided by the Oregon Department of Energy;
- The current average annual utility retail residential energy price in dollars, by fuel type, and the average annual energy prices of non-regulated fuels, by fuel type, provided by the Oregon Department of Energy and used to determine the costs described in this section;
- At least one comparison home energy performance score that provides context for the range of possible scores. Examples of comparison homes include, but are not limited to, a similar home with Oregon’s average energy consumption, the same home built to Oregon energy code, and the same home with certain energy efficiency upgrades;
- The name of the entity that assigned the home energy performance score and that entity’s Construction Contractors Board license number;
- The date the building energy assessment was performed