Boulder advisory board hears Healthy Buildings roadmap as landlords warn electrification could raise costs, confront grid limits

City of Boulder staff on June 25 presented a Healthy Buildings road‑map to the Housing Advisory Board, emphasizing the city’s 2035 net‑zero goal and a suite of policies, programs and funding options to reduce emissions and increase building resilience. The meeting included public comments from local rental‑housing representatives and small landlords who said electrification requirements would be costly and face utility grid constraints.

Carolyn Elam, senior manager for the city’s Climate Initiatives, told the board the city’s mitigation target “is to reach that neutrality point by 2035” and that buildings are the single largest local source of greenhouse gas emissions. Elam and her colleagues described a multi‑pronged approach: continued code updates, deeper rental housing standards (SmartRegs), targeted rebates and incentives, programs for manufactured homes and partnerships to help property owners access rebates and technical assistance.

The presentation identified existing programs and partnerships the city uses to support upgrades: SmartRegs (rental energy‑efficiency standards implemented in 02/2018), the Healthy Resilient Mobile Home program, a partnership with Boulder County called EnergySmart that provides a one‑stop for improvements, and work with Partners for a Clean Environment and PACE. Staff said EnergySmart and PACE together have delivered energy savings “equivalent of about 1,600 homes” and “about 2,500 homes” annually, figures staff used to illustrate scale.

Public commenters said the cost, utility timelines and uneven benefits to renters require caution. “Rents are declining. Vacancies are rising,” said Megan Vansteel, identified in the meeting as government‑affairs coordinator for the Boulder Area Rental Housing Association, which represents roughly 16,000 rental units in the Boulder area. Vansteel urged the city to “prioritize electrification in owner‑occupied housing” and to favor “a flexible incentive‑driven approach” for rental properties, including a dedicated city liaison to help with permitting, planning and rebates.

Small landlords described higher‑than‑expected upgrade costs and long utility waits. Kel Varnell, a local owner of several older houses, said she had paid $14,322 to upgrade two meters and still lacked service for a garage 10 months later. Varnell explained that many 100‑year‑old houses need 200‑amp electric service for full electrification and vehicle charging, and said Xcel Energy (the utility) has been unable to deliver new service or meters quickly: “Excel cannot provide 200 amp service right now,” she said.

Board members raised affordability concerns and tradeoffs. Board member Chip said he is “generally opposed to increasing the regulatory burden that property owners in Boulder face” and warned new requirements would raise costs that could be passed to renters. Other board members and staff pushed back that the city should “lead with efficiency” — improving envelopes, insulation and passive measures before or alongside electrification — and that well‑designed incentives and financing can lower incremental costs to property owners and tenants.

Staff described possible policy tools under consideration: refining SmartRegs to add cooling and heat‑pump requirements at end‑of‑life, building performance standards (with attention to how state rules and local objectives intersect), time‑of‑sale energy requirements, preapproved high‑performance accessory dwelling unit (ADU) designs, and one‑stop permitting and technical assistance. Elam said staff are not proposing immediate rules to force wholesale replacement of gas equipment but are focused on “what’s feasible” within current financial constraints and on sequencing measures that target equity priority groups.

Staff acknowledged utility constraints and said they are participating in regulatory proceedings. Crystal Lander and Carolyn Elam described ongoing engagement with Xcel Energy’s filings at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission that the city hopes will lead to grid investments to reduce the need for customers to individually finance costly upgrades.

Funding and incentives were discussed repeatedly. Staff said the city has used the climate tax to support rebates — “roughly $2 million a year” in recent years — and has previously used grants and stacked incentives to reduce costs for landlords complying with SmartRegs. Staff outlined other options — group buys, low‑interest financing, and targeted larger incentives for equity priority buildings — but emphasized the city cannot “buy its way out” of building upgrades alone and will layer programs to reduce incremental costs.

Board members recommended practical supports: better, simple guidance for owners on low‑cost, high‑impact sequences of upgrades; more hand‑holding for small landlords and manufactured‑home owners; and incentives for voluntary deed‑restricted rent commitments tied to upgrades so investments do not immediately result in higher market rents.

No final regulations were adopted at the meeting. Staff said the presentation was a stage for feedback and that they will return with more detailed program design after continued public engagement and additional technical work.

At the meeting’s close the board set other items for upcoming meetings, including a proposed tour and panel on manufactured housing and a forthcoming external report the board expects to review.