Project Overview

About 200 commercial and apartment buildings, 50,000 square feet and larger, are subject to both local and state energy-efficiency regulations. Under Phase I of the Healthy Buildings, Stronger Community Roadmap, staff is pursuing policy changes to reduce regulatory complexity for buildings of 50,000 square feet or larger.

This project seeks to:

  • Align local and state building performance requirements to reduce overlap and potential conflicts.
  • Better support building owners in meeting statewide energy and emissions reduction targets.

Background

The City of Boulder has a long-standing commitment to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with existing buildings representing the largest source of emissions in the community. Over time, the city and state have adopted policies to improve building efficiency and reduce emissions:

  • SmartRegs (2010): More than half of the housing stock in Boulder is rental units. In 2010, the city adopted SmartRegs (Ordinance No. 7726), establishing basic efficiency standards for rental units.
  • Building Performance Ordinance (BPO, 2015): Two-thirds of Boulder’s GHG emissions from existing buildings are emitted by commercial buildings. Adopted in 2015, the BPO (Ordinance No. 8071) moves beyond voluntary programs to reduce energy use and improve Boulder’s commercial building stock. It requires rating, reporting and energy efficiency for 20,000 square feet and larger commercial buildings.
  • Building Performance Colorado (2021): Colorado’s largest buildings produce most of the GHG emissions statewide. Established through House Bill 21-1286 and later amended by House Bill 25-1269, Building Performance Colorado (BPC) was created to meet state GHG reduction targets of 20% by 2030 in Colorado’s largest existing buildings (compared to 2021 levels) with further reductions to occur by 2040, consistent with the state’s GHG reduction roadmap. The state performance targets for energy use and GHG emission reduction were established by Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission and apply to both public and private buildings 50,000 square feet and larger. Building owners must track, report and benchmark energy use and meet either a GHG reduction target or an energy use intensity (EUI) target by 2030 and a more stringent target by 2040.
  • Healthy Buildings, Stronger Community (2025): The city’s goal is to achieve net-zero emissions by 2035, and existing policies alone will not achieve that goal. The Healthy Buildings, Stronger Community Roadmap provides a 10-year plan to make buildings healthier, more efficient and more climate-ready. One near-term action is updating local building performance policies to align with statewide requirements for existing buildings 50,000 square feet and larger.

Proposed 2026-27 Policy Changes

The proposed updates would align Boulder’s building performance requirements with state standards while simplifying compliance for building owners.

  1. Commercial buildings only (50,000 square feet and larger): Replace the current BPO requirements, including energy audit, one-time lighting upgrades and retro-commissioning, with building performance standards aligned with state energy and emissions reduction targets.
  2. Multifamily apartment buildings 50,000 square feet and larger with shared heating and cooling systems: Update rental licensing requirements so apartment buildings already subject to state building performance requirements are exempt from the SmartRegs requirements and instead comply through the updated BPO.
  3. All commercial and multi-family buildings 50,000 square feet and larger: The city proposes to use authority provided under the state’s Energy Performance for Buildings Act to oversee compliance with and enforcement of 2030 state building performance targets. Compliance with the updated BPO would also satisfy state requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions

Currently, Boulder’s 50,000 and larger buildings are regulated by both state and local ordinance, with each regulatory body imposing differing requirements on building performance. Aligning with the state eliminates potentially competing requirements and positions the city to better support building owners in meeting their obligations to the state.

  • All commercial buildings that are 50,000 square feet and larger and currently subject to both the BPO and Colorado’s Energy Performance for Buildings Act.
  • All apartment buildings that are 50,000 square feet and larger and subject to Colorado’s Energy Performance for Buildings Act.

Targets vary by building type. Read about Colorado’s GHG reduction targets.

  • Benchmarking/yearly reporting: All commercial buildings 50K SF and larger would continue to submit yearly/benchmarking reports to the city of Boulder.
  • Extensions that were granted: Buildings that were granted extensions for lighting or implementation of 2-year or less retro-commissioning measures must meet those requirements. Building owners may seek exemption from the lighting requirement if they can demonstrate that the improvements are not cost-effective based on a 3-year payback.
  • Amortized pass-along costs: Building owners who decided to pass capital costs for BPO compliance along to tenants must continue to amortize cost over the full 10-year period.

Yes. At this time, benchmarking reports would need to be submitted to both the state and the City of Boulder.

Building owners of covered buildings will be notified in writing and via email of all compliance deadlines. The city will also publish information on its website. The city intends to host webinars and provide routine updates via newsletters. Help Desk support will also be available.

The city intends to host educational webinars, will regularly publish information on its website, provide routine updates via its BPO newsletter and provide help desk support for those who need it. If you would like to sign up for the BPO newsletter, email us.

You can find your building’s performance target in the appendix of the state’s technical resource guide.

If this update to the BPO is adopted, the City of Boulder will support each building owner with data verification. We will also support you in updating your target(s) or timeline(s), if needed.

This is a review of a building’s relevant information (examples: square footage, size, energy use, property type, etc.) to ensure that the building information used to assess your building against a target is accurate.

You would be required to submit your yearly report to the city annually on June 1.

Yes. The city does not regulate state-owned buildings, such as schools or government offices. Additionally, neither the state nor the city regulates federal buildings.

Not necessarily. All buildings that were historically subject to BPO would remain subject to its requirements regardless of whether the state has exempted them. This includes industrial campuses and manufacturing facilities. Buildings exempt from the state requirements but covered by the BPO would remain subject to the current prescriptive energy assessment, lighting and retro-commissioning requirements.

The city intends to expand the types of buildings covered under BPO to align with the state. This will ensure equitable treatment of and support for all buildings that are subject to the state requirements.

Consistent with what is already required under the existing BPO, if a commercial building owner chooses to pass the costs of compliance with the required efficiency upgrades through to their tenants, those costs must be amortized over a period of ten years or the predicted payback period (as determined by the service professional), whichever is less.

Under the State Statute on Rent Control (C.R.S. § 38-12-301), local government may not restrict apartment rents. For apartment buildings, the city is considering offering technical and financial support with energy retrofits in exchange for landlords voluntarily agreeing to stabilize rents.

Yes. Through the city’s partnership with Boulder County, the city offers advising services and incentives through Partners for a Clean Environment (PACE). Advisors will assist building owners in identifying energy improvements, finding financing and accessing local, state, federal and utility incentives.

How to Get Involved

Engagement will focus, at first, on the owners of buildings 50,000 square feet and larger. Engagement in August and September will include presentations to member organizations such as the Boulder Chamber and business districts as well as open houses. Planning Board, City Council and Environmental Advisory Board meetings offer additional opportunities to provide public comment.

You may contact Laurel Mattrey, the project manager, at any time.

Sign up for the Healthy Buildings, Stronger Communities list to receive project updates, including upcoming engagement opportunities.

Links and Resources

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