Climate change is one of the biggest challenges faced by our generation with vast impacts on our planet and public health. Cities are responsible for over 70 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and can therefore play a significant role in climate solutions. With grid electricity and natural gas combined, buildings make up around 50% of Denver’s GHG emissions and must be part of this solution. The City and County of Denver has developed a Climate Action Plan and set out strong goals for buildings including 100% renewable electricity with net zero new buildings by 2030 and net zero for all buildings by 2040.

This presentation will start with an overview of what the City and County of Denver is working on this year to develop a building performance policy for the City with the Energize Denver Task Force and a 2021 code update. Group14 will expand on the initiatives focused on existing buildings including benchmarking, efficiency, and electrification. Group14 will also discuss the new construction elements of energy modeling for net zero energy.