Residents urge Tumwater to require home energy audits at time of sale

Several residents and climate advocates used the City Council public-comment period to press Tumwater elected officials to place a draft ordinance on a coming agenda that would require a home energy audit at the point of listing for homes for sale. Speakers described the audit as low-cost for sellers but valuable for buyers and for reducing local greenhouse gas emissions.

The speakers said the proposed audit would be a short, inexpensive inspection that shows potential buyers a home's energy performance and gives sellers an incentive to make efficiency improvements before listing. "The $200 cost of a home energy audit is negligible when hundreds of thousands of dollars are changing hands during a home sale," said Charlotte Persons, a resident who identified herself to the council during public comment. "Home sellers can make wise updates before putting the home on the market. Home buyers can negotiate to have energy saving repairs or improvements as part [of] the transaction."

The request ties to a regional climate plan: speakers said the measure is one of the climate-mitigation actions in the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan adopted by jurisdictions in 2021. Lynn Fitzhugh, executive director of Restoring Earth Connection, told the council that housing accounts for a significant portion of the local greenhouse-gas footprint and that point-of-sale audits are an effective time to secure improvements. "It is 26% of our local greenhouse gas footprint," Fitzhugh said. "When a house sells, it is one of the easiest times for improvements to be made."

Several other residents backed the idea and asked the city to move quickly so all nearby jurisdictions would adopt the same rule and avoid inconsistent rules across ZIP codes and listing platforms. Tom Crawford, who described himself as long-involved in local climate work, called the ordinance "a common sense measure" and urged the council to "put it on your agenda, get it passed." Paris McCluskey and Natasha Hayes also spoke in favor of a countywide approach during their three-minute remarks.

Council members did not take immediate action on the request during the meeting. Multiple speakers and proponents asked staff and council to schedule the item for a future council agenda so the city could join a countywide or multi-jurisdictional approach. The speakers repeatedly emphasized that the measure is already in use or under consideration in other U.S. cities, including Portland, Oregon, and jurisdictions in California and Minnesota, and that experience shows audits at sale can motivate pre-listing upgrades and reduce energy bills for buyers and tenants.

What proponents asked the council to do now: place the draft ordinance developed by the Thurston Climate Collaborative on a future Tumwater agenda and coordinate adoption with neighboring jurisdictions to avoid confusion for real-estate agents and the public. No ordinance language was adopted or voted on at the meeting.

Clarifying details from public comment: proponents said an audit would cost about $200; that home-energy improvements are more likely at the point of sale; that the action is included in the 2021 Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan; and that the proposal would apply to homes for sale and to rental housing, potentially reducing tenants' heating bills. Speakers also said existing evidence from Portland shows the requirement can influence sellers to make improvements before listing.

Why it matters: supporters framed the proposal as a low-cost, locally implementable tool to reduce household energy use, lower buyers' operating costs, and help the region meet greenhouse-gas reduction targets. Opponents or other perspectives did not appear during the public-comment time for this topic. The council did not refer the matter to a committee or schedule a public hearing during the meeting; proponents asked the council to do so.

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