This bill requires owners of certain large buildings to collect and report to the Colorado energy office the covered building’s energy use. On or before June 1, 2027, a covered building owner demonstrate that, in 2026, the covered building met performance standards set forth in the bill.
A covered building owner must demonstrate compliance with the performance standards every 5 years after June 1, 2027. A task force consisting of various building owners, building professionals, utility representatives, and local government representatives is authorized to recommend modifications of the performance standards for adoption as rules by the air quality control commission, which is required to adopt rules in 2026 or 2027 that extend or modify the performance standards and waivers and extensions of time related to the performance standards. Thereafter, the commission may, as the commission deems necessary, modify the performance standards by rule.
The Colorado Energy Office will administer the program by:
- Creating a database of covered buildings and owners required to comply with section 1;
- Tracking compliance with the program and providing a list of noncompliant owners of covered buildings to the division of administration in the department of public health and environment;
- Developing publicly available, digitally interactive maps and lists showing the energy-use and performance-standard data reported;
- Coordinating with any local government that implements its own energy benchmarking requirements or energy performance program, including coordination of reporting requirements; and
- Collecting an annual fee from owners of covered buildings of $100 per covered building; except that owners of certain types of public covered buildings are exempt from paying the fee.
The bill imposes penalties for violations of sperformance standards of up to $500, up to $2,000, or up to $5,000, depending on whether the violations are first violations or subsequent violations.
UPDATE: In August 2023, the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission voted 6-1 to adopt rules enacting a building performance standard for large buildings. The rules aim to cut building emissions seven percent below 2021 levels by 2026 and 20 percent by 2030. The building performance standards rule applies to about 8,000 buildings in Colorado. This includes most commercial, multifamily, and public buildings 50,000 square feet or larger. Currently, about 40% of the 8,000 buildings covered under the program already meet standards for the 2026 target, and 20% of the buildings already meet standards for the 2030 target. Owners of buildings that do not meet the standards will need to explore options to use less energy or reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including optimizing energy use in the building, repairing or replacing inefficient equipment or systems, installing efficient electric appliances and heating and cooling equipment, or using renewable energy.