Denver Regional Council of Governments proposes $34 million grant program to help cities adopt building decarbonization policies

Greg, a DRCOG staff member, presented a proposed “jurisdictional support” subgrant program on a DRCOG webinar that would distribute roughly $34 million to local governments to help implement building decarbonization policies funded through the EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG). The proposal would front‑load a first round of formula awards this summer and run a competitive second round in 2026.

The proposal matters because Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) staff said local governments face a “patchwork” of codes and limited staff capacity to adopt and enforce new building policies. Greg said the Building Policy Collaborative — the DRCOG program funded inside the CPRG — is intended to help jurisdictions adopt consistent, above‑state‑minimum measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings and to lower energy cost burdens for occupants.

Under the current draft, staff said about $34.8 million (alternately reported in the presentation materials as $34.2 million) would be available in subawards for jurisdictions over the five‑year CPRG period. The draft formula places jurisdictions into eight award tiers ranging from $50,000 to $2,000,000 based on a composite score of current population, current jobs, projected population (2050) and projected jobs (2050). Greg described a planned expedited review for…