500 Ann Arbor rentals now in compliance with new green housing ordinance

The Ann Arbor Office of Sustainability and Innovations (OSI) has reported that over 500 rental properties have met the requirements of the Green Rental Housing Ordinance, which enforces more energy-efficient rental spaces in Ann Arbor.

Buildings in Ann Arbor account for close to two-thirds of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. As part of Ann Arbor’s A²ZERO plan, an initiative working to reach carbon neutrality by 2030, Ann Arbor City Council passed the Green Rental Housing Ordinance in June 2025. It took effect in January 2026. Through this program, all rental properties in Ann Arbor are required to meet an energy efficiency baseline at the time of their rental inspections. Properties are graded based on either the Green Rental Housing Checklist or a score from the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) assessment. These changes improve the comfort, health, cost, and efficiency of rental properties in Ann Arbor.

“About 55% of our housing stock is rentals,” says Joe Lange, OSI senior energy analyst. “So it was really important that not only did we focus in the sense that these buildings are part of those emissions, but this is a dominant portion of where people live in Ann Arbor. So it’s something that we really wanted to make sure that we were focusing on.”

To meet the minimum energy efficiency level, property owners are adding air sealing, improving insulation, and installing heat pumps. Improved insulation helps keep hot air out, and air sealing has helped keep pollutants, including wildfire smoke, from entering these spaces. Landlords can receive financial incentives to help fund these improvements. A²ZERO rebates cover some of the costs of these upgrades, and Insulate Ann Arbor, a partnership between OSI and DTE Energy, can cover up to 90% of the cost of air sealing and insulation for multifamily rentals. 

“If you don’t have a properly air-sealed place where you live, that smoke is coming into the home,” Lange says. “Some of those negative health impacts that you could potentially experience from being outside, you could also potentially experience from being inside because the building is not keeping that unhealthy air out. So we definitely see benefits in terms of that.”

Residential landlords interested in this program, as well as renters who want to keep energy costs low, are encouraged to visit the OSI’s Resource Hub.