The state is one of many with rules that mandate emissions cuts for big buildings. New DOE funding will help Coloradoâs disadvantaged commun
Excerpt from this story from Canary Media:
Colorado just got a big boost to help slash planet-warming emissions from commercial buildings.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the state was selected to receive a $20 million grant to help implement its building performance standards â ambitious rules that limit the amount of carbon pollution big buildings can emit. Colorado adopted the policy, which applies to edifices 50,000 square feet or greater, last year.
The funding will be used to help buildings in marginalized communities, whose owners may be less able to afford deep carbon-cutting measures like insulation and heat pumps, meet the stateâs building decarbonization targets.
âWeâre really excited about this DOE award to ensure the success of Coloradoâs building performance standard,â Dominique GĂłmez, deputy director of the Colorado Energy Office, told Canary Media.
The Colorado award was the largest among the 19 grants to state and local governments announced last week as part of a broader $1 billion Inflation Reduction Act effort to clean up the U.S. building stock. The vast majority of the new round of funding went to helping cities and states design or implement performance standards for buildings, a means of tackling emissions thatâs taking root around the country. From New York Cityâs pioneering Local Law 97 to Seattleâs Building Emissions Performance Standards, these policies set emissions or energy-use intensity caps per square foot in large structures that become more stringent over time.
Building owners have flexibility in figuring out how to meet these standards, whether thatâs switching to LED light bulbs, weatherizing, electrifying heating or all of the above. If they fall short, owners face hefty penalties that are designed to exceed retrofit costs, according to Paulina Torres, research manager at global real-estate services firm JLL.
Performance standards are sticks to the policy carrots incentivizing energy efficiency upgrades that, on their own, largely havenât worked to reduce building sector emissions, said Marshall Duer-Balkind, policy director at the building decarbonization nonprofit Institute for Market Transformation (IMT).
Unlike building energy codes, which generally target new construction, performance standards tackle emissions from existing buildings â a massive source of climate pollution. When you include the electricity they consume, buildings are the largest source of carbon emissions in the country â more than transportation, agriculture, or industry (excluding its buildings), according to the DOE.Â
