Aspen City Council Approves Building IQ Ordinance

A City of Aspen Climate Action Program in Partnership with CORE 

Aspen, Colo. – Wednesday, April 13, 2022 – Aspen City Council voted 5-0 to approve the Building IQ program to help the City of Aspen reach its science-based targets for reducing community greenhouse gas emissions. The ordinance applies to commercial and multifamily buildings within city limits and includes two components: energy benchmarking and building performance standards. The City of Aspen joins more than 40 communities nationwide that have benchmarking programs and eight communities with a building performance standard (BPS) policy.

“Because buildings account for 57% of Aspen’s emissions, this program is essential in our Race to Zero pledge and fight against climate change,” stated Tessa Schreiner, Climate Action Manager at the City of Aspen. “After designing the benchmarking component of Building IQ alongside key community stakeholders and experts, the program got put on hold during the pandemic. In August 2021, Aspen City Council set a new climate goal, and reaffirmed the need for significant action in the building sector to reduce carbon emissions. Building IQ directly addresses emissions from the built environment and will help us reduce emissions 63% by 2030 and 100% by 2050. We are thrilled to bring this program to the community, partner with building owners, and work to reach shared goals.”

The ordinance, effective June 1, 2022, will first focus on benchmarking, an annual process where buildings track and report their energy and water consumption over time. The simple act of benchmarking can decrease energy use by 2-3% per year. Deadlines for benchmarking will start in June 2022 for municipal buildings, December 2022 for commercial buildings 20,000 square feet and larger, and will apply to smaller buildings in the coming years, although all buildings are welcome to start at any time. The second phase, a building performance standard (BPS), requires property owners to meet performance targets by actively improving their buildings over time. The details of this phase will be designed through stakeholder engagement and defined by fall 2023.

The program implementation will be led by a local nonprofit, Community Office for Resource Efficiency (CORE) which will be responsible for supporting building owners and managers through every step of the process.  

“We are delighted to partner with the City of Aspen on Building IQ,” stated Katie Schwoerer, Chair of CORE's board of directors. “Benchmarking empowers building owners to make capital improvements that benefit their businesses and the climate. Buildings are the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the city, and CORE has the expertise to put data to work identifying the most impactful solutions for lowering energy consumption.”

For more information visit aspencore.org/building-iq/.