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Colorado’s Building Performance Program

The goal of the state’s Building Performance Colorado (BPC) program is to help Colorado building owners understand and track energy use in large buildings and identify opportunities to improve energy efficiency and reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution. Efficient energy use in buildings leads to lower utility costs for building owners and tenants, while also reducing harmful air pollution that causes climate change and a variety of health issues.

This page includes information about the state’s benchmarking and building performance standards (BPS) requirements.

Contact Information

Building Performance Colorado Help Center: building.performance@state.co.us

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The 2024 Building Performance Colorado reporting season is now open!

This season will close on July 1, 2024. Please visit our new program website, which includes information on the requirements, a compliance map, reporting and fee payment links, program forms, and training resources. This website is the most up-to-date source on the State’s requirements and program deadlines.

If you are a building owner, please be on the lookout for an email about the new Building Owner Portal! This portal will allow building owners to view their benchmarking reports, compliance status, and any forms they have submitted, in addition to contact information, tax assessor information, and previous correspondence with the Building Performance Colorado Program.

If you have questions about any of the benchmarking or BPS requirements or need assistance submitting a form or your benchmarking report, please contact the Building Performance Colorado Help Center: building.performance@state.co.us

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.

The BPC 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.

The State’s BPS rules took effect in October 2023. CEO has developed Technical Guidance to help building owners and industry professionals understand these new building performance requirements. The Technical Guidance covers the specific requirements, options for demonstrating compliance, and strategies to reduce energy use and carbon emissions in buildings.

View Technical Guidance

CEO is hosting a series of webinars and office hours to go over the building performance standards requirements and provide training on benchmarking tools. These webinars and office hours are geared towards building owners, but are open to the public. See scheduled dates and registration links below:

What are Building Performance Standards?

To meet statutory, sector-wide greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets of 7% by 2026 and 20% by 2030 from 2021 levels, Building Performance Standards (BPS) create energy performance targets for covered buildings to meet over the coming years, such as specific reductions in energy use or GHG emissions. These standards help drive investments in energy efficiency and beneficial electrification, which will save energy and money while reducing GHG pollution from buildings over time. 

Are the Building Performance Standards finalized?

The Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) adopted the rules for the State’s BPS on August 17, 2023. The rules went into effect on October 15, 2023. Materials from the rulemaking proceeding are available through the Commission's website

Does the State’s Building Performance Standard supersede requirements from local jurisdictions?

No, the State’s program does not supersede or replace local performance standard requirements. Building owners will need to comply with both State and local BPS requirements.

BPS Task Force and meeting materials

BPS Task Force members met monthly from September 2021 through September 2022. 

View Task Force meeting materials

Watch recorded Task Force meetings

What is benchmarking?

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. 

Building owners are required to submit an annual benchmarking report on June 1st every year. More information about the State’s benchmarking program and how to submit your benchmarking report will be available soon.

This program includes training and a dedicated help center to assist building owners in understanding and complying with the benchmarking requirements. Information about upcoming training opportunities will be available soon.

If you are looking for financing opportunities, please visit the Clean Energy Financing webpage. Additional information about funding and financing resources is linked below. This resource will be updated regularly.

View funding and financing resources spreadsheet

In order to educate and prepare utilities to meet future data disclosure requirements under the statewide benchmarking and energy performance statute, CEO created the Utility Data Accelerator Coalition. The Coalition provided information and assistance to utility representatives, and also created the Colorado Utility Data Access Best Practices Guide to support utilities in their efforts to provide building owners with access to whole-building data.

View Utility Data Accelerator meeting materials

Watch recorded Utility Data Accelerator meetings