Commercial and industrial buildings are responsible for about 48% of Boulder’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Watch this video to learn more about the benefits of rating and reporting.

National Context

Several cities and counties across the U.S. have adopted rating and reporting requirements, and many of these city policies also require energy assessments and/or efficiency upgrades. In national news, on Sept. 11, 2015, the California legislature passed Assembly Bill 802, which authorizes the California Energy Commission to implement a comprehensive benchmarking policy — including both multifamily and commercial buildings — that will require building energy use to be reported publicly on a regular basis. AB 802 ensures commercial and multifamily building owners and operators will now have access to monthly whole-building energy usage information. Further in national news, it was announced on April 21, 2015, by the American Council for an Energy–Efficient Economy (ACEEE), that the United States House of Representatives, followed by Congress, passed S 535, an energy efficiency bill that promotes commercial building energy use benchmarking and disclosure. This bill requires all federal agencies to benchmark and publicly disclose their energy use. The bill also commits to conducting a study on state and local benchmarking policies and procedures, best practices and shared databases.

Boulder History

A Brief History of Boulder’s Rating & Reporting and Energy Efficiency Journey

  • 1994 to present: PACE (Partners for a Clean Environment): A one-stop shop for businesses and building owners to get free technical assistance, resources and financial incentives to implement sustainability best practices (energy, waste, water and employee transportation options).
  • 2008 to 2012: 10 for Change: Voluntary business challenge and networking opportunities to implement energy saving measures and sustainability best practices, with over 100 members.
  • 2009 to 2010: Designed, piloted and partnered with Boulder County’s award of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Better Buildings Grant to implement EnergySmart countywide
  • 2010: Adopted SmartRegs, the city’s energy efficiency requirements for licensed rental housing.
  • 2010 to present: Boulder started researching, evaluating, educating and providing services to rate commercial buildings’ performance.
  • 2011: Launched EnergySmart, a suite of energy efficiency services to create awareness and to provide technical assistance (advisor service) and incentives to implement cost-effective energy efficiency improvements.
    • More than 3,200 businesses and building owners served countywide.
  • 2012 to 2013: Boulder implemented and evaluated a Commercial Building Energy Rating & Reporting Pilot Program.
  • 2014: Adopted the most stringent commercial energy code in the country – 30 percent better than the 2012 International Energy Conversation Code (IECC).
  • 2014 to 2015: Development of Boulder Building Performance Ordinance.

Pilot Program

In 2012, the city led a program exploring the development of a standard procedure for rating the energy performance of existing commercial buildings using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, a free, online energy rating and reporting tool developed by the Environmental Protection Agency. The pilot demonstrated how participating building owners, tenants and the city can better understand energy use in existing commercial buildings and identify opportunities to save businesses and property owners money through energy efficiency upgrades.

• Pilot program report