AC requirement may hit rentals in Portland
You may have seen the news: the City of Portland is preparing to require landlords to provide cooling in rental units. This follows years of advocacy and heartbreaking events. Most painfully, the deadly 2021 heat dome, when 72 people died in Multnomah County alone because they couldn’t escape the heat. And with climate change, we’re only going to see more dangerously hot days like we experienced this week.
As someone who formerly led Verde, a Portland environmental justice organization that has worked on climate resilience and energy equity and now serves as Chair of the Housing & Homelessness Committee, I want to share why I believe this policy matters and how we can do it smartly, equitably, and affordably.
In Oregon, landlords are already required to keep rentals from falling below 68°F. That makes sense: people shouldn’t freeze to death in their own homes. But we now know that extreme heat is just as deadly, especially for seniors, people with disabilities, low-income households, and those living in older, poorly insulated apartments. A maximum heat standard is not about comfort or luxury. It’s about survival. This is why “right to cooling” policies have been moving at the state level, and why Portland’s local action is so important.
Here’s the good news: we have tools on hand to make this work.
When I was at Verde, we installed ductless heat pumps (DHPs) in homes across the city, often for free. Heat pumps are efficient, climate-friendly systems that provide both heating and cooling. My own neighbors benefited from this — they got DHPs installed through programs supported by the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF). But here’s the challenge: Renters can’t access these programs on their own. They can’t decide to install a DHP in an apartment, even if it’s free because that decision sits with the landlord.
That’s why we need to expand access and bring landlords into the conversation. Before I left Verde, we worked with a rental building owner to do exactly that: we retrofitted the apartment complex with DHPs, using available incentives. That’s proof it’s possible.
As Portland moves forward, we should:
✅Partner with landlords, not just regulate them, by helping them apply for PCEF or other retrofit funds.
✅ Expand programs so they explicitly include multi-family buildings, not just homeowners.
✅ Center tenants’ lives and safety, making sure no one is trapped in a deadly indoor heatwave.
This approach delivers multiple wins:
- Tenants get safe, livable homes
- Landlords get help covering upgrade costs
- The city advances climate resilience and housing justice
Who doesn’t love a win-win-win?! 😍
As Housing & Homelessness Committee Chair, I fully support a maximum indoor heat standard for rentals. As a former Verde leader, I know we have practical solutions ready to go.
This isn’t just about rules — it’s about saving lives, cutting carbon emissions, and making sure every Portlander has access to safe, climate-ready housing.
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