Pitkin County staff propose tiered energy code; commissioners move to first reading Feb. 12

Pitkin County building officials presented a proposed update to the county’s residential energy code on Jan. 14 that would lower the HERS Energy Rating Index baseline, add size-based tiers tying performance to home square footage, and require on-site renewable offsets and battery storage for larger homes or those that continue to use fossil fuels for exterior loads.

Chief Building Official Jeff Erickson and technical staff described a three-tier house-size system: Tier 1 for homes up to 3,250 square feet; Tier 2 for 3,251–5,750 square feet; and Tier 3 for 5,751–9,250 square feet (with a plus provision for replacements at existing authorized footprints). Under the proposal the county’s baseline HERS/ERI requirement would move from 60 to 50 for all new single-family construction. Larger homes in tiers 2 and 3 would then face additional post-renewable ERI targets that effectively require more on-site solar and battery storage or else participation in an exterior-energy budget/mitigation program.

Key technical provisions presented:

- Baseline ERI: adopt ERI 50 as the pre-renewable-energy baseline for new residential buildings (county currently follows HERS ERI pathway…