Client case study · State of Colorado
Colorado Energy Office
Touchstone IQ has supported the Colorado Energy Office since 2019, from launching statewide building benchmarking to research and technical assistance for the state's building decarbonization goals.
2019 – 2026
Background
Colorado's approach to building decarbonization
Colorado law sets goals to cut statewide greenhouse gas emissions at least 50% below 2005 levels by 2030 and 100% by 2050. Buildings are central to reaching them.
Building Performance Colorado (BPC), created by HB21-1286, requires owners of commercial, multifamily and public buildings of 50,000 square feet and larger to benchmark energy use every year and meet performance targets by 2030. The Colorado Energy Office (CEO) also runs incentive, financing and technical assistance programs that reach well beyond those covered buildings, including a new initiative for small and medium buildings below the BPC threshold.
Touchstone IQ's role
Three engagements with CEO
2019 – 2023
Building Performance Colorado program support
Support for the design and launch of the state's benchmarking and performance program, and the systems that ran it.
Program details2026
Advanced Building Market Analysis
Research on how programs, financing and technical assistance can help owners across the state decarbonize their buildings.
Study detailsLate 2026
Small and Medium Building Initiative
A technical assistance pilot that carries owners of smaller commercial buildings from assessment through to financed projects.
The timeline
State policy and Touchstone IQ support, side by side
- State milestones
- Touchstone IQ support
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2019
State of Colorado
HB19-1261 sets the state's first greenhouse gas reduction goals.
Touchstone IQ
Begins work with CEO on statewide energy benchmarking.
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2021
State of Colorado
HB21-1286 creates Building Performance Colorado for buildings of 50,000 sq ft and larger.
Touchstone IQ
Supports CEO on the design and launch of the program.
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2022
State of Colorado
Owners submit their first BPC energy benchmarking reports.
Touchstone IQ
Supports first-year reporting with the covered building list, tracking system, help desk and utility collaborative.
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2023
State of Colorado
The Air Quality Control Commission adopts the BPC performance standards in Regulation 28.
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2026
State of Colorado
CEO commissions statewide building decarbonization research and a technical assistance pilot for small and medium buildings.
Touchstone IQ
Conducts the Advanced Building Market Analysis. Touchstone IQ awarded the Small and Medium Building Initiative.
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2030
State of Colorado
Covered buildings must meet their enforceable BPC performance targets.
Building Performance Colorado · 2019 – 2023
Building the statewide foundation
Statewide benchmarking needed a reliable list of buildings before anyone could be asked to report. Touchstone IQ compiled it from city and county assessor records, then built the systems CEO used to track submissions, answer owner questions and publish results.
Utilities hold the data owners need. Touchstone IQ created and managed a statewide utility collaborative on benchmarking and energy data compilation best practices.
8,500
Buildings on the statewide covered building list
50,000
Square-foot threshold for the commercial, multifamily and public buildings the program covers
Services
- Building Energy Benchmarking Program Administration
- Automated Building Report Tracking
- Help Desk and Communication Tracking
- Automated Reporting and Score Cards
- Online Interactive Mapping
Results
- Launched the program management and tracking system
- Compiled a detailed database of 8,500 reporting buildings
- Facilitated the statewide utility collaborative group
Advanced Building Market Analysis · 2026
Studying what Colorado's buildings need next
CEO commissioned the study to learn how existing and new programs, financing and technical assistance can help owners decarbonize their buildings, with attention to the owners who need the most help. Its scope is statewide building decarbonization, not BPC compliance alone.
The analysis drew on four years of benchmarking data, a program-by-program inventory of Colorado incentives, and interviews with organizations that run comparable programs elsewhere.
7,382
Buildings in the 2021–2024 benchmarking data analyzed
100+
Colorado incentive, financing and assistance programs inventoried for building owners
Building use types and compliance pathways
Which property types sit furthest from their 2030 targets, and whether each building is on the pathway that asks the least of it.
Financing and incentives
A program-by-program inventory of what Colorado offers building owners, tagged by funder, instrument and audience. The work also produced visual guides that show owners when each type of funding arrives.
Market research and interviews
Conversations with green banks and BPS agencies about how their programs reach owners and what gets in the way.
Modifications and recommendations
Practical changes to the programs Colorado already runs, and new offerings that build on them.
What Touchstone IQ brings
Knowledge that carries from one program to the next
Building Performance Colorado
Four compliance pathways, a 2021 baseline, 2026 interim goals and enforceable 2030 targets, and how they play out building by building.
City and state alignment
Touchstone IQ has supported Energize Denver since 2017, with direct experience where local and statewide requirements meet.
Benchmarking data
ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® reporting, data quality and the analysis that turns four years of submissions into priorities by property type and utility.
Green bank and financing models
First-hand interviews with green banks and BPS agencies on how capital and technical assistance reach buildings.
Incentive landscape
Colorado's programs set against peer states, each tagged by funder, instrument, audience and use of funds.
Program operations
Covered building lists, help desks, scorecards and disclosure maps. The day-to-day work of running a benchmarking law.
Running a benchmarking or building performance program?
The Touchstone IQ Governments team supports program launch, day-to-day administration and the policy research behind what comes next.