Colorado’s Building Performance
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. Together, these buildings must reduce sector-wide emissions 7% by 2026 and 20% by 2030 from 2021 levels. Building Performance Colorado (BPC) is Colorado’s statewide program aimed at increasing energy efficiency and decreasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the building sector to meet these targets.
Benchmarking FAST FACTS:
In 2022, CEO created a statewide benchmarking program called Building Performance Colorado (BPC). Benchmarking refers to measuring and tracking energy use in buildings. This process 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.
Deadlines:
Annually, building owners are required to submit their calendar year energy consumption data by June 1 through ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager®.
For 2024 reporting (January 1 – December 31, 2023), the timeline was extended and is due to the CEO by August 1, 2024.
Benchmarking reports, waiver and exemption applications, and the annual fee can be submitted on the Building Performance Colorado BEAM Building Owner Portal.
What are the fines?
REPORTING:
- $500 for first violation
- $2000 for each subsequent violation
PATHWAY COMPLIANCE:
- $2,000 for the first violation
- $5,000 for each subsequent violation.
Who Must comply?
- Multi-Family
- Commercial, Public/Government
- ≥ 50,000
Compliance Pathways
Building owners can choose to comply with the BPS requirements by selecting one of the compliance pathways and its corresponding metric. This provides building owners the flexibility to choose what compliance path and corresponding actions are right for their building.
- Building owners who do not select a pathway by the deadline, will be defaulted to the Energy Efficiency Pathway with a property type target.
- After July 1, 2025, building owners who need to change their compliance pathway will need to submit a Pathway Adjustment Form and provide documentation to CEO demonstrating how the building owner has or will achieve compliance through another compliance pathway.