How-To Guide #11 Opportunities For Landlords

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More than half of Brookline’s residents rent their homes, living in a variety of situations including rented single-family homes, apartments or condos in small 2 – 4 unit buildings, and in larger multi-family complexes. As a landlord of any building type, you have opportunities to save energy, reduce costs for you or your tenants, and improve the comfort of your tenants’ homes.  And these efforts will also help reduce the climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions of the Brookline community. 

Even if tenants pay for their own utilities, there are multiple benefits to landlords who weatherize the building, increase the efficiency of its equipment, lighting, and appliances, and replace fuel-burning equipment with modern electric versions: 

Not every electrification solution will apply to every Brookline landlord, depending mainly on whether your rental property is 1-4 units or 5+ units.  This guide presents a range of approaches that may or may not be applicable to your specific Brookline property.  Brookline’s Energy Advocate can help you understand which solutions and incentives may be applicable to your property.   

The recently published Massachusetts 2050 Decarbonization Roadmap includes an ambitious near-term goal of the complete electrification of one million homes across the state by 2030 and ALL homes by 2050, whether owner-occupied or rented. The Roadmap outlines an approach to reach the Commonwealth’s goals to reduce carbon emissions through these key efforts:

Background

  1. Reduce Energy Demand
  2. Use 100% Renewable Electricity
  3. Electrify Everything

All Brookline landlords – whether or not they live in their Brookline rental property – can take actions to address these three areas.

1. Reduce Energy Demand

Even if the appliances and systems in your building run on fossil fuels like gas or oil, you can still take actions to reduce energy demand through efficiency and conservation.  

The most comprehensive step to reduce your building’s energy demand is weatherization – thoroughly insulating the exterior of the building from roof to basement and sealing up leaky gaps at windows and doors. Think of it like this: “Your building is an essential part of your heating system” – the more attention you pay to insulation and air sealing, the less energy you will need to heat and cool the building – and the lower utility bills will be both for you and your tenants if they pay their own utilities.  For more details, see How-To Guide #2: Weatherization: Air Sealing and Insulation.

Mass Save Programs are the place to start.  

Massachusetts landlords may be eligible for up to 100% off the cost of weatherization, plus additional rebates and 0% loans to upgrade heating systems and appliances through Mass Save programs. You must start with a no-cost building energy assessment to be eligible for many of the incentives. For landlords of 1-4 unit properties in the Town of Brookline, call 617-329-4823 to schedule a no-cost Home Energy Assessment. You will need access to the unit(s) at the time of assessment so should coordinate with tenants. You will also need the tenants’ utility account number(s) when you schedule. 

For buildings with 5 or more units, call 800-594-7277 to request a Mass Save Energy Assessment.  The auditor will need access to some units during the assessment. These larger buildings are served by Mass Save’s Multi-family Program.  The Town of Brookline’s Energy Advocate can also help to answer questions through the scheduling process. 

Based on your Energy Assessment and building type, you may be eligible for incentives and rebates on a variety of energy efficiency improvements, including:

If you’re not ready for weatherization, there are some simple steps you can take yourself to reduce energy demand and costs in your building.  

2. Use 100% Renewable Energy

There are two ways – and they can be combined – that help you reach 100% renewable energy.  

Brookline Green Electricity (BGE)

Participate in the Brookline Green Electricity (BGE) program, which can reduce your building’s carbon footprint by as much as 25%!  BGE is an official Community Choice Aggregation program whereby the Town negotiates with an electricity supplier to bulk purchase electricity at stable rates for all Eversource account holders in the Town.  The Program is open to electricity customers in Brookline, whether they be a resident, business, landlord, renter, or owner. 

To see if you’re already participating in the program, check if the “Supplier” listed on your Eversource bill is “Direct Energy Town of Brookline.” Not participating?  Use the online form at brooklinegreen.com or call our supplier, Direct Energy, at (866) 968-8065 to join.

Solar Panels

Installing solar panels brings the possibility of generating all the electricity your building needs from your own roof and even selling some excess electricity back to the grid.  Whether solar panels will work for your building depends on location, the direction the roof faces, shading from adjacent buildings and trees, and the age and type of roof material.  

For more details, read the How-To Guide #8: Renewable, Clean, Green Electricity.

3. Electrify Everything

“Electrify Everything” means swapping out appliances that run on natural gas, oil, propane, and other fossil fuels with more climate-friendly alternatives that run on electricity. This could mean replacing an oil furnace with an electric heat pump, replacing a gas stove with an electric induction stove, or replacing a gas water heater with an electric heat pump water heater.

All of these upgrades will increase your property value in addition to being

Electric Cooking

When a gas stove needs to be replaced, consider switching to an electric induction or conventional electric stove.  Every time your tenants use an electrical appliance instead of a gas stove, they reduce emissions as well as the negative health impacts of gas cooking.  For more details, read the How-To Guide #3: Induction Cooking.

Heat Pump Water Heaters

If you’re a landlord in Brookline, one of these days, you’ll need to replace the hot water heating system, as the average water heater lifespan is around 10-15 years. How old is yours?  If 10+ years, you should be planning ahead to replace it.  For more details, read the How-To Guide #4: Heat Pump Water Heater.

While heat pump water heaters may have a higher initial cost, they offer many benefits:

Heat Pumps for Heating and Cooling

How old is the heating system in your building?  If it is nearing the end of its life, consider switching to energy efficient electric heat pumps. These systems provide heating and cooling from the same equipment, which can reduce maintenance requirements and physical space requirements for two separate systems. In multi-family buildings, heat pumps are generally installed as multiple systems, each one serving a single unit. Depending on the equipment and installation, heat pumps may also offer the opportunity to better manage energy use through different zones. For more details, read the How-To Guide #6: Heating and Cooling with Air Source Heat Pumps.

It is important to keep in mind that installing heat pumps  may cost more upfront than other conventional HVAC technologies, depending on your building’s size and layout, equipment quality, and installation complexity; however, the Mass Save programs offer generous incentives to lower the net cost. In addition, Eversource now offers winter heat pump rates, which lowers the cost of the whole building’s electrical needs from November 1 through April 30 each year. This helps to reduce the operating costs of heat pumps. 

For landlords who may not be ready to fully replace the building’s heating system, there are other options available. Window heat pumps are newer to the market. Installed in a double hung window, similar to a window air conditioner, they are able to provide both cooling in the hot months and heating during cold weather. Portable heat pumps sit on the floor with an air duct connecting to a panel installed in a double hung window; these could even be purchased and installed by a renter if permissible by the landlord, and taken with the tenant when they move.   

Available Rebates and Tax Credits

The incentives that landlords qualify for will depend partly on what type of building you own and what types of tenants are housed. Although the federal government in 2025 eliminated almost all tax credits related to energy efficiency and clean energy, the Mass Save programs still provide rebates and incentives, including enhanced incentives for low-income and moderate-income residents. The Mass Save website outlines programs and eligibility for landlords of 1-4 unit and 5+ unit multifamily properties. Brookline’s Energy Advocate can also assist you with determining your eligibility for different incentives.

How Your Neighbors Made the Switch

Story #1: A Large Brookline Property Owner

One of Brookline’s largest landlords owns and manages hundreds of apartments in multiple buildings in Brookline.  Because of the large number of units they manage, they have a financial incentive to be as energy-efficient as possible.  Tenants pay for their electricity, but the landlord pays for heat and hot water, so any savings there goes straight to their bottom line.  Over the years, they’ve found some tried and true ways to reach their goal, including:

  • Switching their heating systems from oil to gas.
  • Installing electric hot water heaters when it makes sense.
  • Providing LED light bulbs in all common areas.  And when they renovate apartments, they put in LEDs.  They’ve found that the LEDs last longer, which results in fewer calls – a benefit to their maintenance bottom line.
  • Installing programmable thermostats, but put restrictions on how high (for heat) or how low (for cooling) the tenant can set.
  • Over time, they have replaced and upgraded all windows and have found that weatherstripping really helps. 

The biggest bang for their buck has been weatherization.  The landlord worked with Mass Save to do assessments, get pricing for insulation and air sealing, and receive quotes for the work.  

Getting Tenants Involved

A big expense for rental units is the use – or overuse – of water.  They’ve tried to educate tenants on where water can be lost –  If the toilet is running, let us know!  If there’s a leaky faucet, let us know! When an apartment turns over, it receives upgraded showerheads and low-flow faucets.  They also provide tenants with a shower timer to encourage shorter showers.  When a larger project is feasible, they replace toilets with ones that use less water, while still functioning well (no clogs, no second flushes). 

They’ve run contests for lowering water use – building by building.  They’ve measured how much water each building has been using (this is measured quarterly) and then judge the same building against the previous year.  If consumption is reduced by 10%, the building gets a community party or coffee and bagels on the run. 

These contests usually run in the fall quarter when new tenants are arriving.  It’s good messaging for them to see that their landlord cares about water conservation.  It gets the tenants thinking about water use – and any savings go to the landlord’s bottom line.

Story #2: Remodeling a Two-Family Historic House

A large historic home in Brookline, originally built as a single family house, had been converted to a two-unit property when the landlord purchased the house in 1977. In 2016, it sustained a major fire with severe water damage.  The landlord was concerned that if the property was listed for sale, this beautiful and significant 19th century home would be demolished. So he decided to become a developer and restore the building and convert it into five units; his goal was to create modern apartments that preserved the historic architectural features of the house and transform the century-old structure into a more comfortable and energy efficient multi-family building.  

With the design and planning assistance of an architect and an engineering company, the renovations upgraded the electrical service to remove the old knob-and-tube wiring and provide six separate 100-amp electric panels/meters for the five apartments plus one for the common lighting and building systems. With incentives from Mass Save, the landlord weatherized the home and installed a combination of interior storm windows and insulating windows to improve the energy efficiency of the building exterior. In each unit, he added air source heat pumps (using both ductless and ducted systems), ceiling fans to reduce the need for air conditioning, and energy-efficient on-demand water heaters. 

The apartments still include gas stoves, clothes dryers and water heaters as the landlord’s goal was energy efficiency.  The large site maintained the existing 13-space parking lot while also providing room for the five outdoor condensers for the heat pump systems and trash/recycling bins for the added units, as well as some common outdoor spaces. The driveway is served by an electric snow melt system tied into the common meter.

The landlord qualified for $25,000 in tax credits/rebates from MassSave for the water heaters and heat pumps in the five units, even though he converted from two apartment units to five.  The apartments offer architecturally-significant features, such as original fireplaces, original interior doors, and original fenestration and glass; and with modern kitchens/baths/appliances and the comfort of heat pumps, ceiling fans, and programmable thermostats, it is easy to attract and retain tenants.

Story #3: Reaping the Benefits of Solar to Electrify Multiple Apartments

A Brookline couple owns a large house built in 1890 that is divided into three units: on one side, the owner-occupied, multi-level four-bedroom apartment, and on the other side, two rental units – a one-bedroom apartment on the ground floor and a two-level, two-bedroom unit above. In 2015, they were the first on their street to install solar panels. They worked with Energy Sage, an online marketplace for clean energy solutions, that helped them get bids and find a contractor who installed nineteen solar panels on half of their sunny south-facing roof. Taking advantage of federal and state incentives, along with utility payments for the renewable energy they produced, the couple recouped their solar investment in under four years.

They soon discovered that the panels were producing more electricity than they could use in their large unit. So six years ago, after a Mass Save Home Energy Assessment, they installed heat pumps with mini splits in the first and second stories of their unit. They contracted through Costco and were able to get rebates through federal and Mass Save programs, in addition to a Costco incentive, that reduced the cost of the system. They kept their gas heating system as a back-up, and used it to heat the basement and the third floor where they did not install mini splits. On the first and second floors, though, they found the heat pumps worked well, and they did not need to use the back-up gas system. When their aging gas hot water heater stopped working, they replaced it with an electric heat pump hot water heater, saving money through state rebates and lower operating costs.

Three years ago, after their children had all moved out, the owners down-sized to the two-bedroom unit and switched to renting out the larger unit. They arranged for a new Mass Save Home Energy Assessment for this half of the house. Pleased with the electric appliances and heat pumps they had installed in their original dwelling unit, they began to update their two-bedroom apartment and the one-bedroom unit below. This required an upgrade in the electrical service for this half of the building, which ran about $17,000. Next they took on some further weatherization, adding more insulation in the attic and eaves, and using spray insulation at the “rim joist” at the top of the basement foundation wall to seal the gap to the wood framing above. They then removed the 30+ year-old gas heating system and replaced it with heat pumps in both of the apartments. With federal IRA tax credits (now expired) and Mass Save incentives, they saved approximately $20,500, and were able to finance some of the cost with a 0% interest Mass Save Heat loan. They now rely solely on the heat pumps for both heating and cooling. The couple notes that they and their tenants adjusted their habits to use the mini-splits most efficiently for heating, and their tenants especially appreciate the quiet cooling that the mini splits provide in the hot summer weather.

For their next project, they plan to extend the solar panel system across the entire roof, providing additional clean electricity for both themselves and their renters. They are pleased with the savings they’ve accrued through their electrification efforts and the climate benefits that come from reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

IMPORTANT: Verify with your installers that they have the proper licenses and insurance, and confirm that they have or will obtain all required permits and inspections from the Town of Brookline.