Denver, Colorado

Population: 713,252

Denver, the “Mile High” city, is located at the base of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and is experiencing a population boom, growing by more than 115,000 people between 2010 and 2020. Denver’s existing buildings are responsible for nearly two-thirds of citywide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with many more buildings planned for construction in the coming years. To mitigate its climate impacts, Denver has committed to eliminating its GHG emissions by 2040. This includes making all new and existing buildings “Zero Emission by 2030 with Grid Scale Renewables”–which the City defines as highly efficient, all-electric, grid-flexible, and powered by 100% renewable electricity.  

To support its transition to zero carbon, in November 2020 Denver voters approved a ballot initiative to create a $40-50 million annual Climate Protection Fund through a dedicated sales tax increase. Half of the funding from the Climate Protection Fund is prioritized for communities of color, under-resourced communities, and communities most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

In 2021, the City adopted a Net Zero Energy New Buildings and Homes Implementation Plan to ensure that all new buildings are built to the highest standards and released the Energize Denver Renewable Heating and Cooling Plan: Resilient Existing Buildings and Homes, which details the opportunities, barriers, and solutions to equitably decarbonize the City’s existing building stock. The same year, Denver convened the Energize Denver Task Force to provide recommendations for the design of a building performance policy and supporting incentives for existing buildings. Denver’s City Council adopted the resulting and groundbreaking Energize Denver policy in late 2021. The policy requires large multifamily and commercial buildings over 25,000 square feet to become as efficient as the 85th percentile of Denver’s large buildings by 2030 and requires all multifamily and commercial buildings (regardless of size) to electrify heating and hot water systems at the time of replacement when cost-effective beginning in 2025. It also requires prescriptive energy upgrades of smaller buildings that are 5,000-24,999 square feet between 2025 and 2027. 

BEI is now working closely with Denver on equitable implementation of the Energize Denver policy, including a new $41 million building electrification incentive program funded by the Climate Protection Fund that prioritizes funding and technical assistance for Denver’s “equity priority” buildings and communities. BEI is additionally supporting Denver’s Healthy Homes Program, which will collect critical lessons learned needed to scale decarbonization retrofits in small- and mid-sized residential buildings that will also improve resident health and air quality. The buildings prioritized for both programs and the services provided are based on a co-creation process in 2022 to develop an equity index to identify equity priority buildings. They also build on the findings from a “Rapid Assessment” process for ten priority neighborhoods that developed a snapshot of the climate action topics and concerns that matter most to local Denverites and stakeholders.

City staff from the Buildings and Homes team are now collaborating with staff in Denver’s Department of Housing Stability to identify opportunities to protect low- and moderate-income tenants throughout the implementation of these housing retrofits and to preserve more affordable housing. BEI is supporting this work with a combination of quantitative and qualitative research to assess housing affordability impacts from Denver’s policies, which will culminate in the development of recommendations for Denver staff on how to build on the success of its existing programs with enhanced solutions specifically for unregulated or “naturally occurring” affordable housing. With Denver’s track record of enacting ambitious policies and directing historic investments to its under-invested communities, and by focusing on additional solutions for affordable housing and tenants, the City continues to demonstrate its commitment to an equitable transition away from fossil fuels that benefits all Denverites.