Colorado Well Positioned For Pollution Standards

DENVER (AP) – Out of all the states in the nation, Colorado offers the best sneak peek at what the nation would look like once President Barack Obama’s energy regulations take effect. But critics warn it’s too soon to say Colorado’s energy plan won’t have negative consequences. Colorado got high praise Monday in a plan from the Obama administration aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by nearly a third over the next 15 years. Colorado was cited repeatedly as a model for reducing carbon emissions while managing to “dispatch power effectively in the short term and to ensure adequate capacity in the long term.”

I started this site to help others with tips in Renewable Energy awareness. Contact me Tradd Duggan, LinkedIn profile. To Network,  Provide Network Solutions or to talk more. 

One Giant Leap – Green Denver Scrambles on Building Energy Codes!

Greenest City Denver
By Melissa Baldridge

Denver touts itself as one of the nation’s greenest cities — from bike ridership to outdoor lifestyles to mass transit to number of LEED buildings per capita. As recently as 2011, was named fifth nationwide in an overall green-city ranking, sixth for its buildings, and first for environmental governance. But that which doesn’t grow, dies.

The Queen City is now a laggard – both in its building energy codes, which haven’t changed for years, and in enforcement. Many of the metro area building departments have moved their building codes to the 2012 version. That means their energy codes are 15 percent more stringent than the 2009 codes. Denver’s residential energy codes are stuck in time in 2009, and its gutted residential requirements don’t require building envelope or duct testing – labor-intensive work that shows whether homes and duct systems leak. Nor does Denver require “commissioning” of commercial building systems like hot water heating, lighting and the building “shell” – making sure they function as designed.

Yet the city plans to implement 2015 building and energy codes next year – a gigantic leap for builders trying to squeak by swamped code officials doing clipboard walk-throughs, to an era of advanced home and building performance testing.




I started this site to help others with tips in Renewable Energy awareness. Contact me Tradd Duggan, LinkedIn profile. To Network,  Provide Network Solutions or to talk more.