Colorado’s Building Performance Standards:
The following information provides important information regarding the State’s Building Performance Standards.
What are Colorado’s Building Performance Standards?
The “Energy Performance for Buildings” statute (HB21-1286) requires owners of commercial, multifamily, and public buildings* 50,000 square feet or larger to annually benchmark their whole-building energy use and meet set building performance targets. To meet these targets, Colorado has a statewide building performance standards (BPS) program with a goal at increasing energy efficiency and decreasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the building sector by 7% by 2026 and 20% by 2030. This BPS program will not only help building owners reduce their emissions and energy costs, but it will also support workforce training and job growth in Colorado, especially in the fast-growing energy efficiency sector.
*Public building owners are only required to bring their building into compliance with the performance standards if the building undergoes a construction or a renovation project under specific circumstances. See the BPS Technical Guide for details.
Building Benchmarking & Reporting
Benchmarking refers to measuring and tracking energy use in buildings. This helps building owners and tenants better understand their building’s energy performance compared to similar buildings and allows them to identify opportunities to cut energy waste and save money.
Commercial, multifamily, and public buildings greater than or equal to 50,000 sqft within the State of Colorado are required to submit energy benchmarking reports to State by June 1st each year. This year's report is due by August 1st, 2024. 2024 reporting season will open March 15th, 2024. The BPC Help Center will open in March and will email building owners with more information.
Building Energy Targets
Starting in 2026, buildings must also meet energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, which are aimed at improving energy efficiency. The state will determine if these targets are met specifically through the 2026 and 2030 benchmarking report submissions.This means that many buildings in Westminster will need to select a building performance standard compliance pathway by July 1, 2024 and in many cases, complete energy efficiency projects by the end of 2025. Failure to reach these efficiency standards can result in financial penalties issued by the State.