Review & submit final comments by Jan. 5, 2026, using the form on the project site: www.a2gov.org/clup
Everything you need to get compliant, save money, and boost property values – all in one place.
In Jun. 2025, Ann Arbor City Council approved the Green Rental Housing Ordinance, setting a minimum baseline for health, comfort, and efficiency in rental housing units. This will be part of all rental inspections starting on Jan. 6, 2026.
This hub helps you stay compliant, cut operating costs, and future-proof your properties—with step-by-step guidance and $20,000+ in potential incentives.
Disclaimer: This page provides an overview of various financial, educational, and guidance resources that are available to property owners. It does not constitute professional tax, legal, or other professional guidance or advice. It should not be used as the only source of information when making purchasing, investment, tax, legal, and other decisions, or when entering into binding agreements.
To comply with the Green Rental Housing Ordinance, landlords must do one of the following by the time of your rental inspection, starting with inspections on Jan. 6, 2026:
For more information on the items in the checklist, and how to obtain points for them, refer to the Green Rental Housing Regulations.
Both pathways are part of the City’s existing rental inspection program and follow routine inspection procedures and schedules. Many properties may already meet these standards with minor or no adjustments – and many qualify for substantial rebates.
Watch: How to Stay Compliant, Simplify Planning, and Save Up to 90% on Capital Improvements (32 mins.)
This comprehensive webinar from OSI and Rental Housing Services shows you:
This webinar is your shortcut to understanding the entire program — time- and money-saving tips included.
Step 2: Earn Quick Points with Renter Education (22 Points in Minutes!)
One of the easiest ways to earn checklist points is to provide educational materials to tenants. OSI has assembled everything you need – just send the packet to your tenants and earn 22 points.
Download the Complete Renter Education Packet
What’s Included:
Step 3: Use Item-Specific Guidance Materials
Looking to get a HERS assessment? Here are some resources to find a HERS rater:
The following materials contain guidance for meeting the requirements for the some of the items on the checklist.
More materials are added regularly. Have questions or suggestions for materials to add? Reach out to GreenRentalHousing@a2gov.org.
Healthy, comfortable, energy-efficient rental units don’t just ensure code compliance – they give you a competitive advantage:
For an overview of Green Rental Housing, watch this Green Light episode with City staff.
Together, the programs below help you to optimize capital improvement projects and dramatically reduce your out-of-pocket costs. Some property owners even combine multiple incentives on the same project – covering 60% to 90% of upgrade expenses.
The Ann Arbor Home Energy Rebates can be used for a variety of items, including heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, induction cooktops and ranges, and insulation, among others. Rebate amounts reset annually and are first-come, first-served, so apply now to maximize savings.
DTE offers rebates for multiple energy efficient appliances, including washers and dryers, windows and doors, insulation, Wi-Fi thermostats, and more. The rebate amount varies based on the appliance, building, and existing systems in the building. Depending on the account structure with DTE, property owners might need to work with tenants who are the account holder to access the rebates.
For properties with 3+ units under one roof.
This energy-efficiency initiative helps reduce energy use and costs.
What You Get:
Designed for commercial and industrial customers to continuously improve performance and reduce energy waste. Qualified DTE customers get technical support and financial incentives.
Note: Not all tax credits are available to all property types or ownership structures. And with recent federal legislation, some of the tax credits are being phased out. Consult with your tax advisor before making any decisions.
Reduces federal income tax liability by covering a percentage of the cost of solar or geothermal systems installed during the tax year.
Installed systems are eligible for:
Important: Projects can qualify for either the Investment Tax Credit OR the Production Tax Credit – not both. Review which option works best for your project. In general, the U.S. Department of Energy says smaller-scale solar projects receive more value by utilizing the Investment Tax Credit. However, this can change over time and is dependent on the system being installed.
Per-kilowatt-hour tax credit for electricity generated by solar and other qualifying technologies for the first 10 years of a system's operation.
Installed systems are eligible for:
Important: Projects can qualify for either the Investment Tax Credit OR the Production Tax Credit – not both. Review which option works best for your project. In general, the U.S. Department of Energy says smaller-scale solar projects receive more value by utilizing the Investment Tax Credit. However, this can change over time and be dependent on the system being installed.
The 179D energy efficiency tax deduction enables building owners to claim a tax deduction for installing qualifying systems in buildings.
Major change under the Inflation Reduction Act: Multifamily buildings that are at least four stories tall are now eligible for both new construction and retrofits.
How it works:
Bonus: If local prevailing wages are paid and apprenticeship requirements are met – the maximum deduction amount increases to five times the savings per square foot amount.
The 45L tax credit provides a tax credit for eligible new or substantially reconstructed homes meeting applicable requirements for the ENERGY STAR Home or DOE Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) programs.
The 45L credit provides:
Michigan Saves is Michigan's green bank and provides affordable financing for energy efficiency, renewable energy, diversification, and carbon-reduction projects for both residential and commercial buildings.
What you get:
PACE is a financing tool that enables cash-flow-positive investments in comprehensive energy-efficiency, water-efficiency, and renewable-energy projects.
Key benefits:
Lean & Green Michigan is the PACE administrator in Michigan.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Market-to-Market program preserves the affordability and availability of low-income rental multifamily properties with federally insured programs by restructuring debts to levels supportable by reduced rents.
The program includes a Green Initiative to assist owners in rehabilitating their properties in the most sustainable way feasible.
To participate, property owners must have four or more dwelling units covered in whole or in part by a project-based Section 8 rental housing assistance contract, among other similar requirements.
The Weatherization Assistance Program helps reduce energy costs for low-income households by increasing their homes’ energy efficiency, while ensuring their health and safety.
Multifamily and rental properties can qualify when:
Online tool that helps property owners and organizations locate financing solutions for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.
The navigator helps you:
Note that the navigator does not explicitly cover financing for single-family residential projects.
Allows users to analyze the financial value of efficiency-related capital investments in commercial real estate.
How it works:
Key benefit: Helps owners and tenants to overcome the traditional “split incentive" barrier, where the owner pays capital expenses for energy efficiency upgrades, while the tenants receive the energy savings benefits.
Offers tips for saving money and energy in homes. The guide provides information on energy-saving, efficient technologies, plus tips for powering properties using clean, renewable energy.
This guide has something for everyone:
The ENERGY STAR Multifamily Housing program helps property managers measure their building's energy use and provides resources to save energy in their properties.
Resources include:
The Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) provides multiple resources for property managers considering adding electric vehicle chargers at their multifamily properties.
The resources can help you:
ENERGY STAR provides guidance on financing energy efficiency projects. This guide covers various financing methods and what to consider when deciding which financing option(s) make the most sense for a project.
This guidance document focuses mainly on electrification strategies for fossil-fuel boilers in existing buildings, which pose greater challenges than in new-construction applications.
The Multifamily Portfolio Carbon Emissions Calculator from the Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF) allows multifamily portfolio owners to calculate their annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in CO2 equivalent.
What it does:
The Multifamily Portfolio Carbon Emissions Roadmap Tool from the Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF) is a free tool designed for the multifamily sector.
It allows national multifamily portfolio owners to:
The National Multifamily Housing Council conducts research and provides information on energy and sustainability efforts in multifamily housing properties.
Resources include:
The Retrofit Decision Tool quickly and efficiently analyzes buildings and provides simple package-upgrade recommendations to achieve zero-carbon status.
How it works:
This guide from the Department of Energy breaks down many tax credits, rebates, and incentives from various federal funding sources – all in one easy-to-use site.
The Toolkit for Tenant Engagement from the Ann Arbor 2030 District provides a working directory of tools that help building owners engage tenants to meet energy efficiency goals.
Can’t find what you’re looking for? These comprehensive databases help you uncover additional programs and opportunities:
DSIRE compiles policies and incentives from federal, state, and local governments to help plan and finance energy efficiency and renewable energy work.
Energy Saver provides financial incentives and assistance for energy efficient and renewable energy products and improvements in the form of rebates, tax credits, and financing programs.
The ENERGY STAR Rebate Finder searches by zip code to find rebates and special offers on ENEGRY STAR certified products.
The ENERGY STAR Utility Rebate Finder searches for rebates on commercial building equipment within product categories where ENERGY STAR certification is not available, including:
IncentiFind is specifically geared towards developers, property owners, and tenants to find funding for real-estate and home improvement projects.
This guide from OSI contains resources and case studies local to Ann Arbor on how to bring solar and electric vehicle charging to multi-unit buildings.
The Ann Arbor 2030 District is a private-public partnership that brings together property owners, local governments, businesses, and community stakeholders to work toward a common goal: reducing the environmental impact of building construction and operations.
Members receive:
The Ann Arbor Home Energy Advisor (HEA) helps support Ann Arbor residents on their journey to decarbonizing their homes. The HEA provides a free energy assessment and energy improvement plan.
The City of Ann Arbor adopted the Energy and Water Benchmarking Ordinance (City Code 104) in October 2021. The ordinance requires that building owners and managers of buildings greater than 20,000 square feet benchmark - or track - their building's energy and water use. This data is reported annually to the City of Ann Arbor through the EPA's ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool.
This program helps commercial properties in Ann Arbor and throughout the County access the benefits of clean, renewable energy.
Created by the Ann Arbor 2030 District and the City's Office of Sustainability and Innovations (OSI), the program provides:
Michigan Saves has developed a tool to find qualified contractors based on the services they provide.
Look for the electrification badge to identify contractors who have undergone training on electrification technologies and are experienced with their installation.
Questions? We're Here to Help.
If you still need more information or want to share your feedback, please reach out to: GreenRentalHousing@a2gov.org.
Know a resource we should add? Reach out – we’re continuously updating the Property Owner Hub.
Reminder: Units must be in compliance by the date of their rental inspection within the above timeline.
Property owners and managers who start now will have the most rebate options – and the biggest opportunities for financial gains.
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