HB21-1286: Building Energy Performance Standards

• Requires owners of large buildings (50,000+ square feet) to annually benchmark and report energy use and greenhouse gas emissions data to the Colorado Energy Office starting December 1, 2022, using the Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool

• Mandates qualifying utilities (5,000+ commercial/industrial customers) establish an aggregation threshold of 4 or fewer customer accounts and provide building owners access to energy-use data within 30-90 days of request

• Establishes a task force to develop recommendations for statewide performance standards requiring 7% greenhouse gas emission reductions by 2026 and 20% reductions by 2030 compared to 2021 baseline levels

• Creates the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Fund to collect annual fees ($100 per covered building) and civil penalties, with funds used to support building performance improvements and technical assistance

• Exempts public buildings from annual fees and civil penalties for benchmark violations, though they must comply with performance standards only for construction projects costing $500,000+ that affect 25%+ of building square footage