Green rental housing

The Smart Living Score: A semi-technical overview of a rental sustainability rating system

The Smart Living Score is a simplified system to rate the efficiency, sustainability, and affordability of rental housing for use by...

Tenant power: Be a force for better rental housing

Being a tenant can feel powerless. Your housing options are what they are. In places with high demand for rentals, you’ve got to take...

Talking to your landlord about energy efficiency and stuff

Tenants can't usually make big improvements to rentals themselves, but they can work with landlords to identify and implement upgrades. ...

Utility billing: An underutilized tool to help solve the split incentive problem

Solving the split incentive problem that so deeply affects sustainability in the rental sector is no easy task. The basics of the...

Energy upgrades are good for everyone

It’s really true. Energy efficiency is a win-win-win-win for property managers, tenants, communities, and utilities. Just ask Dallas Wood...

What would catch your attention?

No matter what, energy use and sustainability seem to play second (or third or fourth) fiddle to the other key criteria for tenants. But...

Throwback Thursday: How to be a Smart Renter (circa 2014)

Renters may feel helpless when it comes to cutting utility bills, but if you put in some legwork, you can have an impact.

Data transparency: An opportunity to celebrate the positive

Few people focus on the fact that transparency lets us celebrate the properties that are pulling the community in the right direction.