Executive Order D 005-05, signed in July 2005, requires all state government agencies and departments to adopt the LEED rating system for existing and new buildings to ensure reductions in energy use to the extent practical and cost effective. The executive order also requires an energy management program within state agencies to monitor and manage utility use and costs. Executive Order D2010-006 expanded this requirement, calling for all state buildings to track energy use, with the exception of higher-educational buildings due to their unique relationship with the state. Under this directive, agencies must provide details from tracking energy and water consumption to paper usage and reduction. K-12 schools are now subject to very high efficiency standards after the passage of SB 13-279 in 2013. The goal of this school efficiency bill is to create resource-efficient schools, which use 33% less energy and 32% less water that their conventional counterparts.

Clean Energy Economy for the Region (CLEER) supports the tracking of energy use in public buildings through its Active Energy Management Program. The program has helped schools and public buildings save 10-30% of their energy use without retrofits. CLEER has assisted over 80 public buildings in western Colorado to track and manage their energy use.

The State of Colorado is in the process of setting one and five year goals in numerous areas including energy and water efficiency, petroleum reduction, environmentally preferable purchasing, and greenhouse gas emission reduction. The State is also developing directives for agencies and departments that ensure successful achievement of the goals. These include the requirement that all agencies prepare annual energy and water management plans and that energy performance contracting feasibility studies be performed for all state-owned buildings.

Colorado's High Performance Certification Program (HPCP) requires that buildings funded with state moneys or with moneys guaranteed or insured by the state where such moneys constitute at least 25 percent of the project cost achieve the highest performance certification attainable as certified by an independent third party pursuant to the high performance standard certification program. Colorado's Office of State Architect has approved the use of three different programs under this policy: U.S. Green Building Council, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design New Construction (USGBC LEED-NC) guideline with "Gold" as the targeted certification level; the Green Building Initiative (GBI), Green Globes guideline with "Three Globes" as the targeted certification level; and for the Colorado Department of Education, K-12 construction, the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (US-CHPS) is an optional guideline with "Verified Leader" as the targeted certification level.

While State buildings are exempt from local ordinances, the State of Colorado buildings are voluntarily participating in Denver's recently passed ordinance on benchmarking and transparency. Starting in June 2018, all State buildings over 50,000 square feet in the City and County of Denver will voluntarily benchmark utility data using Portfolio Manager and make this information available to the public. In June 2018, the State will do the same for buildings over 25,000 square feet.

Executive Order D 2019 016, signed December 2019, amends and replaces Executive Order D 2018 026 concerning the Greening of State Government. This EO builds on the State's prior greening govenrment efforts, and establishes new goals and directives that will save taxpayers money and reduce the impact of State operations on the environment and public health, including:

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 10% below 2014-15 levels by the end of fiscal year 2022-2023.
• Reduce energy consumption per square foot by at least 15% by the end of fiscal year 2022-23.
• Increase the percentage of renewable electricity by 5% by the end of 2022-23. That would come from state-owned renewable energy systems; renewable energy purchased through a power purchase agreement, or through a solar garden subscription; utility renewable energy purchase programs; and/or leased rooftop solar or other renewable energy installation.

Executive Order D2022 016 amends and replaces Executive Order D 2019 016 to establish new goals to reflect the State's continued commitment to efficient and sustainable government operations and to meet and surpass the State's goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving indoor air quality and reducing local pollution across Colorado. The new goals include:

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from State operations by at least 26% by the end of FY2024-25 over the FY 2014-15 baseline.
• Reduce energy use per square foot in State facilities by at least 15% by the end of FY 2024-25 over the FY 2014-15 baseline.
• Ensure that at least 7% of total electricity consumed by State facilities is renewable by the end of FY2024-25.
• Reduce potable water consumption by at least 2% by the end of FY 2024-25 over the FY 2014-15 baseline.

Last Reviewed: November 2024