Public comments support home energy score

Presenter: Should the Eugene City Council require a home energy score? At the public hearing Sept. 21, Abraham Kelso:

Abraham Kelso: As a teaching professor in the University of Oregon’s architecture department and vice chair of the State of Oregon’s Residential and Manufactured Structures Board, I strongly support this ordinance under discussion tonight.

While the Building Codes Division of the state of Oregon is advancing energy-efficient building codes that will have immediate, measurable impacts on new construction, most people live in existing structures.

And as someone who bought a home in Eugene without knowing that there was no insulation in the walls, I think a mandate for transparency about a home’s performance is a good idea for Eugene.

The economics of a home stability during our increasingly volatile climate context deserves the same careful attention from home buyers that they give to location, schools, number of bedrooms or condition, based on traditional appearance, inspection or disclosure.

The largely invisible nature of most energy efficiency tools often leaves citizens and families making one of the most important decisions of their lives, without any clarity about the hidden daily or monthly costs of maintaining the health and comfort for the life inside. Would you buy a boat if you couldn’t put it in the water to see if it’s got any holes in it?

I urge the council to support this ordinance, so home buyers in Eugene get to know how the weather is going to hit their wallet before it’s too late.

Tomoko Sekiguchi: My name is Tomoko Sekiguchi. I’m testifying in support of the proposed home energy score ordinance. I worked for 28 years in the University of Oregon’s Energy Studies and Buildings Laboratory, where I was involved in research related to building energy performance and efficiency.

I’m also a longtime Eugene-area resident and climate advocate, so I care about this ordinance both professionally and personally. As a community member, who wants practical tools to help residents make informed housing decisions.

Like many people, I’m feeling the effects of the climate crisis. Summers used to mean swimming at the river, camping and enjoying the outdoors. Now for many of us, it carries a heavy sense of dread, fear of wildfire smoke, extreme heat, and fires that are grave signs of a changing climate.

For me, the antidote is to do what I can to strengthen community and climate resilience.

One place I focus on is my home. I want to understand how to make it more energy efficient and know the impact of those changes. That knowledge gives me assurance that I’m doing what is within my power, and it helps keep fear from becoming helplessness. That is why a home energy score ordinance is such a sensible and concrete proposal.

It would give prospective homebuyers useful information about a home’s energy performance and help inform decisions about improvements. It can save money, improve comfort and livability, reduce energy waste and lessen the negative effects of buildings on our climate and environment.

It would also help homeowners find available rebates and incentives, making energy improvements more accessible and practical. This is a true win-win proposal. I hope you will vote to make this an ordinance. It will not only improve energy performance in buildings, it will also help shift how we think about the homes we live in, buy, sell and improve. 

Dennis Reynolds: My name is Dennis Reynolds. I’m an affiliated community minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church here in Eugene and an active member of the Interfaith Earth Keepers and a former member of Sustainability Commission.

I’m here tonight speaking as an individual homeowner in Eugene. Prior to my career in ministry, I lived in Eugene for decades and was director of the Moss Street Children’s Center at the University of Oregon, which was the first project back in 2004-5 under the University’s then-new sustainability standards.

It’s where I began to learn about sustainable buildings. I left the University in 2009 to pursue a career in ministry, landing on Whidbey Island, Washington, where I lived in a cohousing community that was co-created by a then-U of W energy sustainability architect and another noted small building architect named Ross Chapin.

In fact, the first time we met was, you did a slide presentation with a slide of my house. I built a house in Eugene with a good base of knowledge about what sustainable practices was. Not everybody had that base of knowledge. Not everybody had that kind of architects as their friends and colleagues.

This score is long, long overdue. The city was a leader in 2010 when it established the CAP 2.0 goals—goals we are not meeting. We need to take every step, little small ones like this one and large ones to turn it around so we don’t pay offsets. So we’re not buying carbon offsets to do what the city should be doing.

It’s long overdue. Use your own adjective, but it’s far blank time beyond time to do this. Please endorse this. Make it happen and then move on renters.

Alejandro Garcia Iboa: My name is Alejandro Garcia Iboa and I was here last week talking about data centers, their impact, and a moratorium. And I’m back again to talk about something else that’s also very near and dear to my heart: fairness, transparency, and putting people first.

It’s clear that most people don’t know where to start when it comes to reducing emissions, lowering their energy bills, and energy-efficient appliances.

And I want to be clear, it’s not their fault. The barrier of entry for this kind of information is too high for the average person, who most likely will not be able to tell you the difference between a heat pump and a water heater.

This is where home energy scores can help bridge that gap. Similar to a car’s miles per gallon for fuel efficiency, a home energy score provides a rating of a home’s energy efficiency based on a variety of energy features: insulation, heating, cooling systems, windows, and the roof, just to name a few.

It’s a standardized tool developed by the U.S. Department of Energy and can help people understand how their home uses energy and where there are opportunities for improvement, and most importantly, cost saving. Improving energy efficiency, reducing costs, and carbon emissions are all good things, as we all know.

City Council and EWEB have goals related to all three of those key areas, but the issue time and time again is awareness, public education, and outreach.

The great work is already happening. The city of Eugene, specifically the city sustainability manager, EWEB, and the U of O in 2017 partnered and created the SCORE program, which provided free home energy scores to tenants and property owners in EWEB’s service territory. And they reported back on those findings.

Before I go into that, let’s establish a 1 on the home energy score says that a home is expected to use more energy each year than 85% of the homes in the US. A 5 means that that home is expected to use 50%.

Can anyone care to guess the average EWEB customer, what their score landed on? And let’s keep in mind that the majority of these homes, the average was built in 1977. 

That number is 3.7 (out of 10). It’s not fair that homeowners and renters be burdened with higher bills at the end of the month, solely because their homes were built before a certain amount of time.

Bend, Hillsboro, Milwaukie, and Portland require home energy score reports at the time of sale, and it’s about time that Eugene starts doing the same thing. In light of these points, I strongly support the Council’s adoption of the proposed Home Energy Ordinance. 

Presenter: Aya Cockram:

Aya Cockram: I work in the nonprofit sector, and I’m raising my two children here in Eugene. 

And I apologize, I was biking home and I just pulled over to give this testimony. So if there’s any background noise, I apologize.

I’m speaking tonight in strong support of the home energy score policy. I have tracked and advocated for climate policy for years in Eugene, and this is the least we can do to support decarbonization and encourage transparency for Eugene residents.

City staff has done extensive community engagement on decarbonization, and the results were clear. People want to use efficient and clean systems in their homes, but need incentives and information to support this process and take advantage of the amazing programs we have, thanks to EWEB.

This policy would not only give new homeowners a head start by providing a comprehensive overview of their homes, energy use, and where improvements could be made. It is a fantastic educational opportunity to point folks to incentives and programs. Throughout this process this year, I bought a 100-year-old house that if I had been provided a home energy score, would have scored very low. 

Getting a home energy score would not have stopped me from buying this home, but it would have provided me with an important roadmap, which would have been incredibly helpful as we embark upon home improvements. This is about transparency that every prospective home buyer deserves during this climate and cost of living crisis.

Please pass this commonsense policy.

Debra McGee: My name is Debra McGee. I live rurally, but I’ve been breathing the air and living in the community of Eugene for 45 years. The city of Berkeley, California has had a home energy score policy since 2016.

In August of 2022, a study from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (called the Berkeley Lab) found statistically significant relationships between a home’s energy efficiency, home valuation, and mortgage repayments.

Researchers at Berkeley Lab studied over 25,000 homes that had received a home energy score assessment. We know that a home energy score assessment is like a miles per gallon rating, with higher scores indicating higher efficiency. And in the coming months, the Berkeley Lab plans to expand the study to include more than two million homes rated with home energy rating systems.

These studies illustrate why home energy scores are a valuable tool for homeowners and for anyone looking to buy, sell or rent a home. Empowering residents with information about home energy use and costs can help them make informed rental and purchase decisions. home energy scores also allow home sellers to better reflect the market value for their energy efficient homes, while also guiding homeowners through steps to lower energy bills and improve home energy performance.

Everyone wins.

Presenter: Jim Neu:

Jim Neu: The city of Eugene committed to cutting fossil fuel use 50% below 2010 levels by 2030 when they adopted the Climate Recovery Ordinance seven years ago. To date, community carbon reductions have only reached an 11% reduction since the CRO was adopted.

The CRO listed reducing building energy and transportation as key components to reaching the goal. Electrification of building energy and new and existing residential structures would help achieve the goals of the home energy score would be a significant tool in guiding in that direction.

A home energy score helps the homeowner determine energy deficiencies within the structure, and provides alternatives through incentives, programs and correcting those deficiencies with energy-efficient appliances and infrastructure upgrades.

There has been a 31% increase in energy efficiency to more than 200,000 Portland homes that have used the home energy score program.

I urge Council to support implementation of a home energy score here in Eugene, which would provide energy efficiency for homeowners at lower costs while reducing community wide carbon emissions.

Meredith Tufts: My name is Meredith Tufts. In the decades plus that I have lived in Eugene, I have worked in nonprofits supporting this community and helping its members to thrive.

I now work as the coalition coordinator for Fossil Free Eugene, striving to help our community cope with the growing climate crisis. And I’m glad to be here today to voice strong support for the home energy score ordinance.

Every family welcoming a new baby deserves a home with healthy, moderate temperatures, and every elder deserves a home that is safe during the increasingly common extreme summer heat.

Every resident deserves weatherized windows and filled gaps that keep the wildfire smoke out when it chokes our skies. And everyone buying a home deserves transparent information about their expected utility costs, so they aren’t surprised later by massive, unexpected bills.

Those who are energy burdened have the most to gain from this ordinance, as the generous programs offered by EWEB can be confusing, complex, and often out of reach for those who are already stressed trying to make ends meet or dealing with other major life transitions as they sell their home.

Providing information that is specific to each home rather than general suggestions is an incredible value. It is something that I wish I had when I moved into my home. It’s straightforward, transparent information that I wish for everyone in our community. And that’s why I’m here asking you to support this ordinance.

Betzi Hitz: My name is Betzi Hitz. I am testifying in support of the proposed home energy score ordinance. As Eugene and Springfield share the same atmosphere and thus both experience the continuing effects of unchecked burning of fossil fuels, I am compelled to speak tonight. 

Extreme weather is going into uncharted territory across the globe, in our nation and here in our own backyards, because we continue to allow fossil fuel corporations to flood the planet with heat-trapping gases. 

Our environment is getting more dangerous every day. I lived in Eugene for seven years and was active with 350 Eugene in encouraging the Council to craft and begin to enact its climate action plan based on goals of the Climate Recovery Ordinance.

One of the goals is to reduce fossil fuel use, thus emissions, by 50% of 2010 levels by the year 2030. As of the latest greenhouse gas inventory in 2021, there has been an 11% reduction in emissions to reach the goal of 39%. Reduction is needed in less than four years.

This is Council’s ninth work session focused on this ordinance over a span of seven years. At issue is not knowing what the problem is or how to address it. At issue is Council’s responsibility to fulfill the requirements of the CAP 2.0, which includes a mandatory home energy score. I strongly support the Council’s adoption of the home energy score ordinance for the good of all of us.

Thank you for your careful consideration over the past seven years and especially now.

Peter Dragovich: My name is Peter Dragovich, in support of the home energy score. I’ll quote from the article, ‘Home energy score: What are leading Oregon realtors saying?’ published three years after Portland’s mandatory home energy score went into effect.

Theresa St. Martin, principal broker with Windermere Stellar Realty, said a home with an HES provides an additional level of disclosure by an independent source that reduces the seller’s risk. 

Ana de la Rua, Living Room Realty, said, ‘It makes it easier to talk to my clients about things like insulation and the state of the home’s mechanical equipment.’

The home energy score is an additional reference point that speaks directly to the home buyer, and can lead to making a smarter decision on a home. Hillary Bourassa of Think Realty said the home energy score takes the focus away from granite countertops and stainless steel appliances and on to housing affordability by making utility cost information consistently available up front.

Access to the home energy score allows homebuyers to clearly understand the total cost of home ownership and adequately prepare for future costs. Portland’s HES is especially good for first-time homebuyers so they can plan a budget. 

Janet Green, John L. Scott Real Estate, says a score is so simple to understand and offers a warm opener for a deeper conversation about home energy use and associated costs.

These are realtors with direct, not surmised experience, detailing how it helps their clients, both buyers and sellers. They give strong support to the home energy score. 

I urge you to to adopt this program for Eugene. I’ll leave the article with you. It has additional supportive observations by realtors I did not have time to cover here.

Linda Kelley: Linda Kelley and I’d like to speak this evening in support of the home energy score.

First, as a homeowner, we have installed double-paned windows, added insulation both under the house and in the attic. In 2023, we installed a ducted heat pump for which I am thankful on every hot summer day. 

And when I look at my EWEB bill, our house is modest. It’s a manufactured home, only a 1,000 sq. ft.  And yet it lists at $475,000 and up. If we need to sell it to pay for a move into assisted living, for example, I would like to have our energy improvement add some value to our house.

As a person purchasing a home, it’s important that they have the information on energy usage, on their potential purchase, and also be given the information of opportunities for upgrades that EWEB offers.

This is a consumer protection tool and one that is definitely needed with both the price of housing and the cost of energy. 

We have had a climate recovery ordinance since 2014. Under that, there is a mandate to reduce energy use and support methods that can further that positive and necessary piece of legislation.

The cost of a home energy score is around $300. I understand relative to a $500,000 house, it is minuscule. It’s about 0.0006%. Please support the home energy score.

It’s important for both climate and energy and for consumers’ right to know.

Deba Higbee: My name is Debra Higbee, and I am here to thoroughly urge you, urge the City Council to adopt a home energy policy. 

Climate change is real and I’m a mother of two amazing adults with two incredible grandkids. I want them to have a future without rampant heat, floods, and wildfires. So reducing our carbon footprint is the responsible thing to do.

I’m a homeowner and have transitioned my residence to all electric with energy star appliances, heat pump, heater, water heater and solar panels. In addition, I’m a landlord of a few homes and all of my rentals, except one, is all electric with heat pump heaters and water heaters and energy star appliances.

In other words, I’ve already been working on a low home energy score in my residence and the homes that I rent out.

Portland, Hillsboro and Bend have energy score policies. When I lived in Corvallis, I testified and advocated for a home energy score policy for many years. I worked with Marjorie Stevens, who spearheaded a mandatory home energy score ordinance in Corvallis.

She was honored as a megawatt policy educator for her extensive research and policy rebuttals concerning the home energy score. She passed away on Dec.. 24, 2024, but unfortunately, the home energy score didn’t pass in Corvallis during her many years of advocacy. Nor today.

But it shouldn’t be this hard to pass a commonsense law providing a path towards a low-carbon future. Eugene needs to show Corvallis it’s not that hard by passing this ordinance.

I dedicate my testimony in memory of Marjorie Stevens and respectfully ask Council to support and pass this vital policy.

A home energy score policy is practical, a high-impact tool that protects consumers, improves our housing stock, and moves Eugene closer to its sustainability goals.

Tiffany Edwards: My name is Tiffany Edwards and I’m here speaking for the Eugene Chamber of Commerce. 

Our Local Government Affairs Council discussed the proposed home energy score requirement, and one question kept rising to the top: What outcome is this new mandate designed to achieve, and how will we measure that? 

A score might be useful information, but requiring every seller to get one adds another step, another cost, and that cost hits a lower income seller very differently. 

More importantly, getting a score is not the outcome. If the goal is reduced energy use or emissions, then the city should measure whether this policy actually produces that result.

We urge Council to build in accountability, clear metrics, cost tracking, and a two-year review. Good policy is about results, not just implementation. 

Dylan Plummer: My name is Dylan Plummer, and I’m testifying today in my capacity as deputy director of the Sierra Club’s national ‘Clean Heat’ campaign.

On behalf of our over 10,000 members and supporters here in Eugene, I’m testifying to support the proposed home energy score disclosure policy as written.

This is a commonsense consumer protection measure to ensure that homebuyers have important information when making what is often the most important financial decision of their lives.

Home energy score reports not only provide information about the current state of a home’s energy use, but can also provide recommendations for upgrades to reduce costs and increase efficiency, along with critical information about incentives.

Studies have shown that homeowners are most likely to make large capital improvements to their home in the first year of ownership, and this policy would ensure that when making these large financial decisions, homeowners have detailed information about potential actions they can take to lower emissions and their energy bills.

This point is especially important when considering the incentives offered by EWEB to support energy efficiency and electrification, and in light of the city’s commitments in their Climate Recovery Ordinance goals.

Additionally, in 2022, the city established a goal to comprehensively decarbonize existing buildings by 2045.

Residential buildings make up about 11% of the city’s total emissions, primarily due to the use of gas for heating. This proposed policy is a necessary step to supporting the transition off of polluting methane gas by increasing awareness in educating the public about existing incentives.

This is a market-based solution, which I know the Eugene Chamber of Commerce loves.

So since 2017, the city has been working to encourage homeowners to get home energy score reports. Now, almost 10 years since the conversation began, it is time for the city to follow the lead of our four other cities in our state and adopt the proposed home energy score disclosure policy as written without amendments. 

Alexi Miller: I’m Alexi Miller, and I am here today as vice chair of the Eugene Sustainability Commission. 

Last week in our meeting, we unanimously passed a letter to Council, titled support for home energy score ordinance. So I’m just going to go ahead and read that for you, and I’ll leave it here.

The Sustainability Commission is writing to express its support for the proposed home energy score ordinance.

This document reflects the learning and questions posed during Commission discussions regarding the policy and results from similar ordinances implemented in four other Oregon cities since 2018.

This ordinance is intended to increase transparency for those purchasing a home by providing actionable information on the home’s energy efficiency, energy costs, and potential upgrades.

The report provides instructions on simple efficiency actions, and links to local rebate and incentive programs that can help finance energy improvements. 

This ordinance focuses on residential dwelling units planned for sale, many of which were built decades ago, and have inadequate insulation, insufficient heating systems, and outdated appliances.

Providing this info at the point of listing is especially valuable because major home renovation projects often occur between purchase and occupancy or right after.

There’s also an opportunity for this program to support economic development by creating demand for more energy assessments and driving energy efficiency project investment.

It’s the Commission’s belief that low-income homebuyers are likely to benefit from the ordinance because it would provide greater transparency around predicted energy costs. 

This is especially important for the roughly one-third of local residents that are considered energy burdened, that spend a lot of their total income on energy.

The ordinance requires energy assessments, provide homeowners with home investments they can consider, which, when implemented, may help reduce future energy consumption and control energy costs.

Based on Commission discussions, the Council might be mindful of community concerns for how this ordinance could affect low-income community members selling their homes.

For a homeowner who’s financially constrained, the added cost of the assessment and the perceived risk of a low energy score impacting their sale price may generate hardship. Restarting SCORE (that’s an acronym) or a similar program may be beneficial to lower constrained income sellers to reduce or eliminate that direct cost of getting that score.

SCORE was a partnership between the U of O and the City of Eugene, which provided free home energy scores to renters and low income homeowners.

The Eugene Sustainability Commission appreciates this opportunity to provide this feedback to Council. 

Jacob Trewe: Hi there. My name is Jacob Trewe. This proposal that you have in front of you seems like a pretty commonsense proposal. A lot of good sellers or landlords would be disclosing that kind of information anyway. So having a score that is mandatory helps level the playing field. 

It would have been fantastic for me personally. I’ve rented houses in West Virginia, Maryland, and here in Eugene. In each of those circumstances, if I had an energy score, I would have had a little bit of idea of what I was actually going to be paying each month.

And when I bought a house here in Eugene, I would have had a better idea that—it turns out the entire main floor wasn’t insulated when I bought it, and would have found that out instead of when it hit winter, when it was really quite chilly in there.

So, the biggest benefit I see is first-time homebuyers.

Here in the city of Eugene, we’re definitely looking for more people to buy homes. And if we had that home energy score, people would have a better idea of what it was when they were actually getting it. So we’re not just churning mortgages, you know, and people get into houses they can’t afford. 

That’s not what we want. We don’t want foreclosed houses. We want people to be living in places that they can afford and settling down and having families around here. 

I think it’s a pretty simple situation. I’m kind of shocked that the discussions been going on for seven, ten years or however long it’s been. I think it’s a slam-dunk market-based solution. Folks, everybody should be loving it. I urge you to adopt the ordinance as is. 

Carolyn Partridge: My name is Carolyn Partridge. My husband and I have bought three homes in Eugene since moving here in 1982. Two of the three homes needed extensive and costly weatherization upgrades, so it’s no surprise I’m here in support of the proposed clean energy, for all of us have watched the cost of both housing and utilities rise very rapidly. 

One factor homeowners can control is the amount of energy they consume in their home. This ordinance would alert buyers to the energy efficiency of a potential home purchase. That is a fair and reasonable disclosure when selling a home. It also would provide information about rebates and incentives available for upgrades.

As people become aware and more homes become energy-efficient, Eugene will come closer to meeting its climate recovery goals. I do not see a downside to this ordinance.

Here is a personal story. When I was in college in Ohio, I rented an apartment for $95 a month (it was a long time ago). 

That winter was extremely cold. There was no insulation in the attic and the windows were single pane. My heating bill was over $100 a month for several months. That was more than the rent, and it was quite a shock to my budget.

Although I did not become homeless, I ate some pretty meager meals that year. I realized that the current ordinance applies only to home sales, but I would also advocate for a future clean energy score that covers rentals as well.

Bethany Cotton: I’m Bethany Cotton. I bought my home in summer 2021. I paid for several additional inspections, including sewer scoping, because the house was built in 1912.

None of these inspections gave me an idea of the home’s energy efficiency.

Thankfully, I was able to get a home energy score via the now defunct city of Eugene and U of O partnership in the spring of 2024.

The friendly folks who conducted my audit were in my home for about an hour, not remotely burdensome. I then received a customized 3.8 home energy score (Eek!) via email, recommending both low-cost and significant upgrades that would increase my home’s energy efficiency and estimating the associated reduction in energy costs.

The document estimated the annual energy costs for my home, broken down by energy type, helping me budget. The score helped me navigate these much needed upgrades and access available incentives, rebates, and subsidies. 

In the subsequent two years. I have installed several of the recommended upgrades, making my home more livable.

The bigger upgrades would have been much easier for the contractors to finish, and much less disruptive to my life had they been done before move-in. Time of purchase is the perfect time to make upgrades.

The idea that more information about every home on the market being available to purchasers is somehow a negative is hard to comprehend.

Home energy scores aren’t action-forcing, but they are full of useful information for both sellers as they prepare a home for market and potential buyers and new homeowners. Hopefully, scores do lead to more Eugenians taking advantage of EWEB’s and the state’s various subsidies, rebates, and zero-interest loans.

Hopefully, they reduce residential energy demand and lower utility bills, as so many people are struggling with the rising cost of living. This community cares about education, transparency and action on climate. 

The home energy score ordinance is a common sense step, making homeowners more aware of their home’s energy burden and what they can choose to do about it, and the resources available to help them do so.

The city can and should revive the free score program for low-income sellers. Please pass the ordinance with all due haste.

Ryan Moore: I’m Ryan Moore. My husband and I are literally buying a house right now. We move in as early as this Friday. So this is extremely timely and I want to talk about that in this context, because most of you, I think are homeowners currently.

You know, the home buying process—there is a ton of paperwork to read and sign. And I think, paradoxically, that is a reason to do this, to have more information, because my experience of this process has been all this paperwork feels all-encompassing. It feels like it’s supposed to be every little detail we are supposed to know.

Neither my husband nor I have family that can be there to hold our hands through the process. We are lucky to have a very talented realtor helping us and friends who have experience in this sector advising us, but without that, there’s a bunch of information we would have missed.

For example, we didn’t even think about what we’d be paying on our EWEB bill every month until our friend Isaac, who’s our real estate agent, told us to look into this.

So that’s the sort of detail that would be on this report to consider.

There is another really important reason, and that is bargaining power. Sorry to sound like a union organizer, but I am. When you are going into a purchase of a home, there is, you know, a lot of negotiation back and forth between buyer and seller.

As some people have mentioned before me, without this report, we lack certain pieces that we could bargain over and get wins on, right? (Again, sounding like a union organizer.)

So for example, our house that my husband and I are buying:  the garage, the weatherstripping, it’s missing a couple chunks there that’s going to impact the insulation for our garage.

We wouldn’t have caught that. We did because we have a very talented real estate agent, but not everyone does. That’s another detail that would go into this sort of report, that would help buyers and sellers be armed with more information, which I think is a really good thing.

So I hope you pass this ordinance. 

Presenter: Jan Bohman: 

Jan Bohman: I’m here to express my strong support for the home energy score ordinance. I’ve lived in Eugene for about 50 years, and my adult children and my grandchildren live here.

I am a member of your Sustainability Commission. Though I’m speaking tonight as an individual, the climate and nature crisis is becoming more real and more in our faces every day.

It is affecting all of us in personal ways, whether that’s the impact of fires on our forests and the resulting loss of trees or dangerous air quality, increasing temperatures and intensifying weather events, or in many other ways.

The city of Eugene has laudable climate goals, and the city has worked hard to make some progress toward them. But as you all know, we are falling far short. We need to find many more opportunities to make greater progress.

The home energy score program is a simple, practical mechanism to help more Eugene homeowners by providing information and tools. They need to understand the energy impacts of their homes and how they can reduce those impacts to save money and energy and live more comfortably.

The program would also help connect them to existing generous subsidies from EWEB to make improvements such as efficient all electric appliances or heat pumps, and that provide both efficient heating and cooling.

The program will be especially helpful for energy burdened folks or first-time homebuyers who may not have the experience to investigate these options on their own.

The home energy score program already exists in other Oregon cities—Bend, Hillsboro, and Portland. Research shows that homeowners receiving home energy scores are more likely to pursue energy updates and take advantage of rebates.

Please approve the home energy score ordinance, and I would second what some others have said. It would be awesome to be able to restart the SCORE program as well. That would provide free scores for lower income people. 

Timothy Morris: My name is Timothy Morris. I’m an EWEB commissioner for Wards 1 and 8, speaking tonight as an individual commissioner, not for the full board. 

I am in strong support of the home energy score program and the ultimate goal of giving residents better information about the energy performance in their new homes. The top issue as a commissioner that we hear about is affordability, resiliency and reliability of energy.

And the home energy score accomplishes all three of these top issues and is an important key piece in meeting future climate goals for both the city of Eugene and for EWEB. 

For many Eugene residents, energy costs are a significant part of their monthly household expenses. And yet, when people are looking to purchase a home, they often have little information on how to heat, cool, or power that home. And a home energy score program will inform just that. 

In our digital world right now, you all have your cell phones on you. You can pull them out and access your medical records, your financial information, your car reports, and even other things about your home, including if you have Ring cameras or other security devices.

And it makes so much sense that you should be able to access your home energy score as well at point of sale.

I believe this program is complementary to the work that EWEB does to help our community use the energy we have more efficiently, and improving the energy performance in existing homes by reducing wasted energy, helping residents manage their utility bills, and supporting both of our climate goals together.

We are both fighting for a cleaner and more resilient future. Let’s add one more tool to make that happen.

I encourage you to move forward with this energy score program and continue to work with EWEB and community partners to make sure this is reaching all residents here in Eugene.

Presenter: The city considers adding a home energy score to the list of disclosures that must be provided to homebuyers. Eugene residents have a month to learn more and share their opinions. The council could take action Oct. 28.