Building IQ
The City of Aspen has set science-based targets for community greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 63% by 2030 and 100% (zero carbon) by 2050. Buildings account for 57% of Aspen's total greenhouse gas emissions, with 27% coming from commercial buildings and 30% coming from residential buildings. Because of the significant contribution from buildings, we are doubling down on our efforts to reduce our carbon “blueprint”.
Know Your Building. Know Your Power.
Building IQ is a City of Aspen program that helps commercial and multi-family buildings save energy in a community-wide effort to keep our city, and our planet, healthy and thriving. Through Building IQ, Aspen is joining thousands of cities worldwide that are working on innovative policies to reduce building energy use through benchmarking and building performance standards policies.
On April 12, 2022, the City of Aspen passed Ordinance No. 05. This ordinance requires certain property owners to address existing building performance standards through energy and water benchmarking and a building performance standard. This ordinance will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from required buildings, furthering the City of Aspen's climate action goal of zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Benefits of Building IQ
Through the Building IQ program, building owners can expect to:
- Conserve energy
- Help manage your building
- Identify short- and long-term savings
- Support global climate action
- Market as a green building
- Inform City of Aspen energy programs
Benchmarking
The first step to saving energy and water in buildings is to benchmark — that is, to measure and track a property's energy and water consumption over time and compare it to similar buildings. The simple act of benchmarking can decrease energy use by 2-3% per year, a modest but meaningful reduction. The City is using the free EPA tool, ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager.
Start Benchmarking
The City's partner, the Community Office for Resource Efficiency (CORE), is available to help you benchmark your building. Visit CORE’s website for benchmarking help and resources.
Ready to submit your benchmarking report to the City of Aspen? Click Submit.
Do you need to get your utility data from the City of Aspen Utilities Department? Click here to fill out the form.
If you are not required to benchmark and would like to understand your building's energy and water use, start with a building assessment through CORE.
Who is Required to Benchmark?
In 2023, owners of commercial properties 15,000 square feet and larger are required to benchmark their properties by June 1, 2023. For the list of properties, click here Version OptionsBuilding IQHeadline Version Options Building IQ Headline /DocumentCenter/View/9127/CORE-COA-BIQ-Summary-Report-2022v2 Version OptionsBuilding IQHeadline. Owners should contact our partners at the Community Office for Resource Efficiency (CORE) to get started: tara@aspencore.org.
Exemption Requests
Per the Building IQ ordinance, select properties may qualify for certain exemptions and/or extensions. Complete the appropriate form to submit your request. You may need a unique building identifier (UBID) to complete the request.
Building IQ Timeline: Benchmarking
Sector | Property | Properties first notice of upcoming benchmarking due date | Property owners/managers collect property information and utility data | Initial Reporting Date | Calendar year of utility data to report in the first benchmarking year | Date that property benchmarking information is included in annual aggregated community benchmarking report |
Covered City Properties | All covered City properties | N/A | November 2021 - February 2022 | June 30, 2022 | 2021 | September 30, 2022 |
Covered Non-City Properties | Covered Commercial properties ≥ 20k sq. ft. | June 1, 2022 | June 1, 2022 - November 2022 | December 1, 2022 | 2021 | January 30, 2023 |
Covered Commercial properties ≥ 15k sq. ft. | January 1, 2023 | January 1, 2023 - June 2023 | June 1, 2023 | 2022 | September 1, 2023 | |
Covered Commercial properties ≥ 10k sq. ft. | January 1, 2024 | January 1, 2024 - June 2024 | June 1, 2024 | 2023 | September 1, 2024 | |
Covered Commercial properties ≥ 5k sq. ft. | January 1, 2025 | January 1, 2025 - June 2025 | June 1, 2025 | 2024 | September 1, 2025 | |
Covered Multifamily properties ≥ 20k sq. ft. | January 1, 2024 | January 1, 2024 - June 2024 | June 1, 2024 | 2023 | September 1, 2024 | |
Covered Multifamily properties ≥ 15k sq. ft. | January 1, 2025 | January 1, 2025 - June 2025 | June 1, 2025 | 2024 | September 1, 2025 |
Click here Version Options Building IQ Headline for the summary report of the first year of benchmarking: covered City properties and covered commercial properties ≥ 20 k sq. ft.
- Who will be required to benchmark, and by when?
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City-owned properties and large commercial properties (20k sq. ft. +) will be the first properties required to benchmark. Smaller commercial properties and multi-family properties will be phased over time.
This table shows the exact square footage of properties required to benchmark and by when:
Sector Property Properties first notice of upcoming benchmarking due date Property owners/managers collect property information and utility data Initial Reporting Date Calendar year of utility data to report in the first benchmarking year Date that property benchmarking information is included in annual aggregated community benchmarking report Covered City Properties All covered City properties N/A November 2021 - February 2022 June 30, 2022 2021 September 30, 2022 Covered Non-City Properties Covered Commercial properties ≥ 20k sq. ft. June 1, 2022 June 1, 2022 - November 2022 December 1, 2022 2021 January 30, 2023 Covered Commercial properties ≥ 15k sq. ft. January 1, 2023 January 1, 2023 - June 2023 June 1, 2023 2022 September 1, 2023 Covered Commercial properties ≥ 10k sq. ft. January 1, 2024 January 1, 2024 - June 2024 June 1, 2024 2023 September 1, 2024 Covered Commercial properties ≥ 5k sq. ft. January 1, 2025 January 1, 2025 - June 2025 June 1, 2025 2024 September 1, 2025 Covered Multifamily properties ≥ 20k sq. ft. January 1, 2023 January 1, 2024 - June 2024 June 1, 2024 2023 September 1, 2024 Covered Multifamily properties ≥ 15k sq. ft. January 1, 2024 January 1, 2025 - June 2025 June 1, 2025 2024 September 1, 2025 - Do single-family, duplex, or triplex residential homes have to comply?
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No, none of these residential buildings are required to benchmark under Ordinance No. 05.
- What do building owners need to do to benchmark and comply with this ordinance?
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Building owners required to benchmark under the Building IQ program need to input their property information and annual utility bill data into the EPA's ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager tool and share the information with the City of Aspen. The City's partner, the Community Office for Resource Efficiency (CORE), is available to help with this entire benchmarking process. Get started today by clicking here.
Owners of commercial properties 20,000 square feet and larger are required to get a building assessment, which looks at building performance and energy and water usage, and can be done for free through our partners at CORE. To schedule an assessment, click here.
- How do I get my utility bills to enter the data into Portfolio Manager?
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For all help with benchmarking, contact CORE.
- Is my building on the list of commercial properties 20,000 square feet or larger?
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See table below for the list of properties 20,000 square feet or larger. The properties on this list have to benchmark and share the report with the City of Aspen by December 1, 2022.
Physical Address
465 N Mill St
637 E Hyman Ave
601 Rio Grande Pl
420 E Hopkins
520 E Durant Ave
411 E Main St
711 E Cooper Ave
205 S Mill St
300 Puppy Smith St
333 E Durant Ave
300 E Hyman Ave
120 N Mill St
506 E Main St
0076 Boomerang Rd
401 Castle Creek Rd
550 S Spring St
1450 Ute Ave
10 Club Circle
675 E Durant Ave
355 S Monarch St
310 E Main St
845 Meadows Rd
24 Prospector Rd
415 E Dean St
315 E Dean St
- How much will it cost?
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There is no charge to building owners or to the City of Aspen to use the ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager platform to benchmark.
Click here to schedule a free commercial energy assessment and portfolio consultation with the City's partner, the Community Office for Resource Efficiency (CORE).
Building Performance Standards
The second step in the Building IQ program is called a Building Performance Standard (BPS). A BPS is a policy that requires building owners to meet performance targets for energy use by actively improving their buildings over time. Requiring reductions from existing buildings helps achieve decarbonization goals because the majority of commercial and residential building stock that will be standing in 2050 is already built. From a building owner's perspective, BPS provides flexibility as owners can use whatever technologies and operational strategies they decide are most effective and economical to meet the target. Multiple other state and local governments have passed BPS policies, including Washington D.C., New York City, St. Louis, and Colorado and Washington states.
The BPS policy details and guidelines for the City of Aspen are under development. The City of Aspen is convening a BPS Stakeholder Committee from January-May 2023 to provide input on the BPS guidelines. The Committee's monthly meeting agenda, presentations, and meeting summaries will be linked below. Interested in getting involved or learning more? Email clare.mclaughlin@aspen.gov
Meeting 1: January 24th 11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
- https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z5e7PAR_sm3QC6MJSHjMKvndDLAG1sT3/view?usp=sharing Agenda
- https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jIyqySMiBWr0ZKYsPANXGVkGuh8ZdBnw/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104493526520519292401&rtpof=true&sd=true Presentation
- https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WOdenwYcK9G8lQJCwXwhK60xBZfG_aiT/view?usp=sharing Draft Charter
- Meeting Summary
Meeting 2: February 28th 12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Contact
Clare McLaughlin |