Bill > HB1269

This bill establishes a comprehensive framework for building decarbonization in Colorado, focusing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from buildings. The legislation creates a Building Decarbonization Enterprise within the Colorado Energy Office, which will impose a $400 annual fee on owners of covered buildings (with future adjustments for inflation) to fund technical assistance and financing programs for energy efficiency improvements. The bill modifies existing energy benchmarking requirements, creating more flexible compliance pathways for building owners, and establishes a task force to review benchmarking data and develop recommendations for performance standards by 2040. Additionally, the bill updates civil penalty structures for non-compliance, provides exemptions for certain building types (such as those adopting wildfire resiliency codes), and ensures that electric vehicle charging energy use is not counted against a building's total energy usage. The enterprise will have a nine-member board appointed by the governor and will be funded through building decarbonization fees, with an initial appropriation of $3 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The overall goal is to support building owners in reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, ultimately helping Colorado achieve its 2050 net-zero emission reduction target.

Agriculture and Natural Resources, Budget and Finance

https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb25-1269