Page 68 - Colorado Construction & Design Magazine - Spring 2023

Colorado is a leader in green building practices and policies as evidenced by the state’s consistent ranking
in the Top 10 States for LEED among other indicators. Through the first Greenhouse Pollution Reduction Roadmap released in 2021, the state has set a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 50 percent by 2030 from 2005 levels, continuing to engage the public and all major business sectors in updating the roadmap.
There is no single solution to meet this target, and it will take movement in all sectors with all tools available to meet the state’s roadmap goal. Designing and operating net-zero buildings is a significant piece of the puzzle, and progress is being made on that front. Good old- fashioned education and collaboration continue to be important to share best practices and spark innovation as we look toward achieving our goals.
Improving the performance of our existing buildings must be one of the biggest priorities that our communities take on to achieve aggressive carbon emission reductions. Transparency in the market and accountability to established goals and benchmarks are at the center of the strategy to make progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from existing buildings. Using data and tools like Arc Skoru and its many technology integration partners are fundamental to these transparency and accountability efforts.
It is also critical that we make performance-at-scale achievable with tools and systems that ensure a rigorous accounting of performance and accuracy. These tools help building managers asses their buildings’ performance, including energy use and water use, among other factors and provide critical information to make decisions to improve the space’s efficiency. U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Green Building Certification Inc. (GBCI) are currently focused on verifying performance at scale to match both the climate urgency and the steep growth curve of corporate ESG commitments.
To that end, USGBC Colorado is convened practitioners and community members at a Spring Summit on May 24, hosted at the Colorado State University Spur campus. One of the 10 presentations was focused on the State
of Colorado's path to low carbon and model green codes, while others focused on building materials, local government policy, electrification, grid emission scenarios and LEED certification. The event wrapped up with a technical tour of all three Spur buildings.
Human health is also important to green buildings. In
an effort to elevate the focus on human and community health while driving toward climate solutions, USGBC announced a streamlined certification pathway for
LEED and WELL certification in collaboration with the International Well Building Institute. This new pathway will make it easier to accelerate the market adoption and impact of these two complementary rating systems.
For 30 years, USGBC and our members have focused on improving the health and environmental performance
of buildings and communities. We are at a pivotal time
in human history with the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from our built environment paramount, and the good news is that progress is being made and momentum is building.
68 | Colorado Construction & Design
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Building Green
Ramping up Colorado Building Practice and Policy to Meet Our Climate Goals
by Charlie Woodruff
Charlie Woodruff, Mountain Regional Director, U.S. Green Building Council
COLORADO