To Sell a Home in This California City, It Must Be Climate Friendly

The real estate listing for the $1.25 million Mediterranean Revival home in a leafy Berkeley, California, neighborhood, touts the property’s electric heat pumps, solar panels, induction range and an updated electrical panel that’s “EV ready.” The sellers aren’t just green-bragging, they’re showing buyers they’ve complied with a new city ordinance requiring such climate-friendly features.

The Bay Area university town of 120,000 is the first in the US to require sellers and buyers of single-family homes to replace fossil-fuel appliances or make other green upgrades as a condition of sale. It’s one of several cities leveraging real estate transactions to achieve carbon-emissions reduction targets as the Trump administration eliminates climate action. Austin, Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon, are among municipalities that require home sellers to obtain and disclose the results of energy audits to encourage voluntary efficiency improvements.