Smoke-Free Communities: Benefits and Implementation Considerations

Smoke-Free Communities: Benefits and Implementation Considerations

For multifamily housing providers, creating a healthy community and protecting a property often go hand in hand. One policy that can help accomplish both is transitioning to a smoke-free and vape-free community.

For New Mexico property owners and managers considering that transition, there is a valuable resource available right here in our state.

Smoke-Free at Home NM is a collaboration between the Apartment Association of New Mexico and the New Mexico Department of Health. Administered by AANM, the program works with property owners, managers, and residents of multifamily housing to expand access to smoke-free and vape-free living throughout New Mexico.

While AANM is proud to administer the program, Smoke-Free at Home NM is available to multifamily communities throughout New Mexico, regardless of AANM membership.

The program provides education, resources, technical assistance, and support to help housing providers navigate the process from consideration through implementation and certification.

Why Consider a Smoke-Free Community?

A smoke-free policy is about more than eliminating an inconvenience. In multifamily housing, what happens inside one apartment does not necessarily remain inside that apartment.

Secondhand smoke can travel between units through doorways, cracks, plumbing, electrical pathways, ventilation systems, and common areas. Traditional approaches such as opening windows, separating smoking and nonsmoking areas, or relying on air filtration cannot completely eliminate secondhand smoke exposure.

A comprehensive smoke-free policy addresses the problem at its source.

For housing providers, there are also several practical reasons to consider making the transition.

Healthier Homes and Communities

The most important benefit is straightforward: cleaner air for residents, employees, vendors, and visitors.

Secondhand smoke is associated with serious health risks, and certain populations, including children, older adults, pregnant women, and individuals with heart or respiratory conditions, can be particularly vulnerable.

There is also growing awareness of thirdhand smoke, the residue left behind on walls, flooring, furniture, clothing, and other surfaces after smoking occurs. That residue can remain long after the cigarette has been extinguished.

A smoke-free community helps reduce these sources of exposure while creating a healthier living and working environment.

Lower Turnover and Maintenance Costs

Anyone who has managed a unit where significant smoking occurred knows that the effects can extend well beyond odor.

Preparing the unit for the next resident may require additional cleaning, sealing or repainting walls, replacing flooring or window coverings, treating appliances and fixtures, and addressing lingering smoke residue and odor.

Research cited by Smoke-Free at Home NM shows that cleaning and renovation costs can be substantially lower for smoke-free units. For owners managing hundreds or thousands of units, reducing even a portion of those additional turnover expenses can have a meaningful operational impact.

Smoke-free policies can therefore be both a health initiative and an asset-management strategy.

Reduced Fire Risk

Smoking materials also create an additional fire risk for multifamily properties.

Reducing smoking inside apartments, common areas, and other portions of a community can help reduce that exposure. For owners and managers, fewer potential ignition sources can mean greater protection for residents, employees, buildings, and the investment itself.

Property owners may also want to discuss smoke-free policies with their insurance providers. Depending on the carrier and policy, smoke-free properties may qualify for different underwriting considerations or discounts.

Smoke-Free Does Not Mean “No Smokers”

This distinction is important when communicating a new policy to residents.

A smoke-free community does not prohibit someone who smokes from living at the property. Instead, the policy establishes where smoking and vaping are and are not permitted.

In other words, the policy regulates the activity, not the individual.

Clear communication about that distinction can help property teams introduce a new policy without unnecessarily stigmatizing residents who currently use tobacco or vaping products.

Implementation Matters

A good policy is only as effective as its implementation.

Simply announcing that a community will become smoke-free is unlikely to produce the best result. Owners and managers should instead approach the transition as a process involving planning, communication, documentation, resident education, staff training, and consistent enforcement.

Fortunately, New Mexico multifamily housing providers do not have to build that process from scratch.

Through Smoke-Free at Home NM, AANM provides resources and assistance to property owners and managers during the consideration, research, and implementation stages of adopting a smoke-free and vape-free policy.

The program can provide owner and manager education, staff training, implementation presentations, resident education and events, technical assistance, and resources designed specifically for multifamily housing.

For properties pursuing Smoke-Free at Home NM certification, the process generally includes choosing the appropriate policy, communicating with residents, setting an implementation date, and developing the necessary lease and enforcement documentation.

Properties seeking certification submit a letter of intent, a lease addendum addressing the smoke-free and vape-free policy, and a violation policy addressing smoking and vaping.

Give Residents Time to Prepare

Communication is one of the most important parts of a successful transition.

Residents should understand what is changing, when the change will take effect, what areas of the property are covered, how the policy applies to guests, and how violations will be handled.

Advance notice also gives residents who smoke or vape time to determine how they will comply with the new policy.

For residents who are interested in quitting, the transition can also provide an opportunity to connect them with cessation resources. Smoke-Free at Home NM offers resident education, including workshops addressing quitting and the impacts of secondhand smoke.

The goal should not be to shame residents who smoke. It should be to establish clear community expectations while providing information and resources that can help residents successfully adjust to the change.

Consistency Is Critical

Once a policy takes effect, consistent enforcement becomes essential.

Property teams should be trained on the policy before implementation so everyone understands what constitutes a violation, how complaints should be documented, how residents should be contacted, and what steps follow repeated violations.

Just as with other lease requirements, inconsistent enforcement can create confusion and make a policy significantly more difficult to manage.

Owners and managers should also ensure their lease documents, community rules, resident communications, signage, and staff practices all reinforce the same expectations.

Become a Smoke-Free at Home NM Certified Property

One of the unique resources available to New Mexico housing providers is the opportunity to have their communities formally recognized through Smoke-Free at Home NM.

The program currently offers three certification levels:

Platinum Certification is available to properties that have never allowed smoking and new developments that prohibit smoking, including electronic cigarettes, throughout the entire property.

Gold Certification recognizes existing properties that prohibit smoking, including electronic cigarettes, throughout the entire property.

Silver Certification recognizes existing properties that prohibit smoking, including electronic cigarettes, inside residential units and common areas and within 25 feet of building entryways and windows.

Certified properties will also be included on Smoke-Free at Home NM's online map, helping prospective residents identify smoke-free housing options throughout New Mexico.

A Statewide Resource, Administered by AANM

At AANM, we are proud to administer Smoke-Free at Home NM in collaboration with the New Mexico Department of Health. It is an opportunity for our association to use our knowledge of the multifamily industry to support healthier housing and stronger communities across our state.

And while AANM members are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this resource, participation is not limited to AANM members.

Whether you operate one multifamily community or a large portfolio, whether you are an AANM member or not, Smoke-Free at Home NM is available to help New Mexico housing providers explore, develop, and implement smoke-free and vape-free policies.

If your property is only beginning to consider a smoke-free policy, is preparing to make the transition, or already has a policy and would like to pursue certification, the program can help.

Through the collaboration between AANM and the New Mexico Department of Health, Smoke-Free at Home NM provides education, resources, training, and technical assistance to help owners and managers develop and implement policies that work for their communities.

A healthier community, lower potential turnover costs, reduced fire risk, and cleaner homes are all compelling reasons to explore smoke-free housing. With the right planning and support, making the transition can be good for residents, good for properties, and good for communities throughout New Mexico.

For more information: https://www.smokefreeathomenm.org/