House panel advances bill to adjust Colorado building performance rules, create technical‑assistance enterprise

The Colorado House Finance Committee on Oct. 12 advanced House Bill 12‑69, a measure that revises the state’s building performance standards and creates a fee‑funded Building Decarbonization Enterprise to provide technical assistance to owners of large commercial buildings.

Supporters say the bill eases near‑term compliance burdens while preserving longer‑term greenhouse gas reduction goals. Opponents — largely building‑industry trade groups — said the underlying regulatory program and some aspects of implementation remain legally and economically problematic.

The bill modifies the statutory and regulatory framework created in 2021 (House Bill 21‑1286 and the Air Quality Control Commission’s Regulation 28). Key changes adopted in committee amendments include returning civil penalties to the prior penalty structure (with inflation indexing), making the 2026 interim target a goal rather than an enforceable deadline in many cases, allowing use of a 2019 pre‑pandemic benchmarking year for buildings that saw reduced occupancy, and establishing a task force to…