I spent 15 years building deeply energy-efficient homes as founder of Green Canopy, a deep green residential developer, and now as co-founder of Helix Build.
In all those years developing, financing and selling high-performance homes, I have never once met a real estate agent who turned away from a tool that helped them close a deal.
That’s exactly what Thurston County’s Ordinance O2025-001 is: a tool.
The ordinance requires sellers to obtain and disclose a Home Energy Score before publicly listing residential properties. The objections have been predictable. It adds burden. It’ll depress the market. Buyers don’t care about energy scores.
Let me take these one at a time.
It adds burden. The assessment costs between $100 and $350, is valid for eight years, and for low-income residents, the county commits to full subsidy — or exemption if funding isn’t available. This is a disclosure. Disclosure is the foundation of every honest transaction.
It’ll depress the market. Every real estate professional knows this: homes are not priced on energy scores. They are priced on three words — location, location, location. After that, it’s functional utility: bedroom and bathroom count, square footage, whether there’s a garage. The energy score adds a nominal category — marginal value in either direction — and marginal value is exactly what real estate agents are in the business of finding.
Research presented to the Eugene City Council in February 2026 found no evidence that buyers avoid lower-scoring homes. Cities with this policy in place have not observed the delays or market disruption realtors fear. Buyers pay approximately 0.5 percent per score point premium for efficient homes — a return that reflects actual investment in the property.
A low score isn’t a liability — it’s a listing. Smart agents will market it as an Energy Fixer — offering the buyer a direct path to lower monthly costs through targeted improvements. Whether the score is high or low, the ordinance gives the transaction one more category to work with. A little more edge. A little more commission. I haven’t known a real estate agent to walk away from that.
Buyers care about utility bills — not scores. There’s a real difference between a property’s efficiency and its prior occupant’s behavior. The prior owner could have been a hermit who never turned anything on. You see that bill and think — great. But you’ve got three teenage daughters. Those hair dryers pull a load.
The Home Energy Score normalizes that — averaging thousands of data points into a reliable indicator of what your monthly costs will actually be.
Thurston County has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions 45 percent below 2015 levels by 2030. Residential buildings are part of that equation.
But beyond the climate math, there’s a human impact: homebuyers deserve to know what a home costs to operate before they sign.
Energy costs are monthly. They compound. They affect affordability long after closing day.
Give real estate agents this score. Give them the language of the Energy Fixer. Watch what they do with it.
Aaron Fairchild
Issaquah
