Today's Question: How do you convince landlords to be energy efficient?

As Columbia attempts to become more energy efficient, the city is looking into ways of cutting back on energy costs for housing.

There are 21,525 rental property utility customers in the city, which means almost 58 percent of Columbia's total housing is rented. That means much of the burden for making the city's housing energy-efficient will fall on the landlords of rental properties.

There are several arguments for having energy efficiency in housing as a top priority. Energy efficiency in rental housing can help tenants save money on utilities and assist the city’s efforts to reduce energy demands.

The city has yet to come up with new incentive programs or to establish ordinances to address the energy efficiency of rental properties, but Third Ward Councilman Karl Skala said he predicts some program forming within a year.

With many landlords putting the utility bill burden on the renter, it might be difficult to convince them of looking into weatherization projects for their properties.

How do you convince landlords whose renters foot the utility bills to look into energy efficiency efforts?