Energize Denver Ordinance: Targets, Benchmarking, and Penalties

The Energize Denver Ordinance requires most commercial and multifamily buildings in Denver to benchmark their energy use every year and meet energy performance targets that tighten through 2032, with penalties for missing targets or failing to report. The rules sit in Chapter 10, Article XIV of the Denver Revised Municipal Code, and they apply differently depending on how large your building is and what it’s used for.¹

Which Buildings Are Covered

Coverage is driven by gross floor area as recorded in the Denver Assessor’s records. Three tracks exist:

Large buildings of 25,000 square feet or more, which face annual benchmarking and Energy Use Intensity (EUI) targets.
Small buildings between 5,000 and 24,999 square feet, which follow a prescriptive checklist rather than a calculated target.
Manufacturing, agricultural, and industrial (MAI) buildings at 25,000 square feet or more, which benchmark but may use an alternate compliance path reflecting higher baseline energy use.

Check your Assessor square footage before you do anything else. A misclassification sends you down the wrong compliance track and the wrong penalty schedule.

Energy Performance Targets for Large Buildings

Large buildings must meet an EUI target measured in kBtu per square foot per year, with the number varying by building type. Current final targets include:²

Office: 48.3 kBtu/sf/yr
Multifamily housing: 44.2 kBtu/sf/yr
Retail store: 43.5 kBtu/sf/yr
Hotel: 61.1 kBtu/sf/yr

Under the updated timeline, there’s an interim target in 2028 and a final target in 2032. The interim number is the checkpoint; for older buildings, hitting the final number often requires HVAC replacement, envelope work, or lighting retrofits scoped well in advance of the deadline.

Prescriptive Requirements for Small Buildings

Buildings between 5,000 and 24,999 square feet skip the EUI calculation and work through a checklist instead. The core requirement is converting at least 90% of the building’s lighting to LED or equivalent low-power technology.³

You also need to source a share of your energy from renewables, which can be satisfied by generating the equivalent of 20% of annual energy use through on-site solar or a community solar garden subscription. The May 2026 amendments extended small-building due dates, so pull the current deadline from the city’s technical guidance page before you plan around it.⁴

There’s a shortcut worth knowing. Installing qualifying heat pump equipment for primary space heating can satisfy the small-building requirements on its own under a prescriptive electrification pathway.³ If your furnace is already near the end of its life, one swap can handle the whole compliance obligation. The ordinance doesn’t force you to retire working gas equipment early.

Annual Benchmarking and the June 1 Deadline

Benchmarking is the recurring piece everyone owes. Gather the previous calendar year’s complete utility data for every energy source feeding the property, including electricity, natural gas, steam, and chilled water, and every meter tied to the building. Enter the data into ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, the EPA’s free benchmarking tool, which generates the EUI score the city uses to measure you.⁵

Submit through the Denver Benchmarking portal by June 1. Keep the submission confirmation. The city reviews the report and sends back a compliance notification.

Third-Party Verification

Your benchmarking data must also be verified by a qualified third party twice during the compliance cycle: once by June 1, 2026, and again during the year your final target is measured, which is typically 2032.⁶ Qualified verifiers include licensed Professional Engineers, Registered Architects, Certified Energy Managers, Building Energy Assessment Professionals, and Energy Management Professionals. The verifier cannot be the building owner or an employee of the owner. For the 2026 deadline, verifying either the 2024 or 2025 calendar year report satisfies the requirement.

Penalties for Non-Compliance

Penalties for missing an EUI target are calculated per kBtu per square foot above target, at tiered rates:²

$0.15 per kBtu for buildings that didn’t opt into the updated timeline, buildings that fall out of compliance after previously meeting a target, and newly constructed buildings.
$0.23 per kBtu for buildings on the standard updated timeline with 2028 and 2032 targets.
$0.35 per kBtu for buildings on a timeline extension with only one target year.
$0.10 per kBtu surcharge on top of the applicable rate for extension requests filed after December 31 of the target year in question.

The outlier is the benchmarking failure penalty: $10.00 per square foot of Assessor-listed area for buildings that have never submitted a benchmarking report or whose most recent report predates 2019. On a 50,000-square-foot building that comes to $500,000. Filing on time, even if the building isn’t yet meeting its EUI target, avoids the worst-case exposure by orders of magnitude.

Target Adjustments and Exemptions

Not every building can realistically hit the standard target, and the city reviews adjustment applications case by case with supporting documentation.⁷ Grounds include:

High-intensity uses such as data centers, hospitals, and broadcast studios.
Financial hardship, including buildings that have received a notice of default or are in active foreclosure.
Significant recent upgrades where the performance data hasn’t yet caught up with the retrofit.
Planned demolition or a major change of use within a defined timeframe.

Historic Buildings

Buildings designated as landmarks by the Denver Landmark Preservation Commission or listed on the National Register of Historic Places can apply for an alternative compliance plan with a modified target or exemption from specific requirements, if meeting the standard target would compromise historic integrity.⁸ The standard is technical or economic infeasibility tied to the designation, not simply that compliance would be expensive.

Disclosure When Selling

Selling a covered commercial building triggers a disclosure obligation before transfer closes. You must provide the buyer with:⁹

Current compliance status with benchmarking requirements.
The building’s current EUI.
Future energy efficiency targets the building must meet.
Any approved target adjustments or alternate compliance arrangements.
Copies of existing compliance plans.

The city provides an online Energize Denver Disclosure Tool that generates the compliance report from the building address. Buyers should read it carefully during due diligence, because a non-compliant building carries its penalty exposure into new ownership. A building that has never benchmarked arrives with the $10-per-square-foot risk already in place.

What Changed in May 2026

On May 18, 2026, Denver City Council approved amendments to the ordinance covering four areas: simplifying compliance processes and definitions, extending due dates for small buildings between 5,000 and 24,999 square feet, formalizing reduced penalty structures and appeals processes, and aligning the ordinance with updated national building performance standard best practices.⁴ Updated rules and technical guidance were expected the week of June 8, 2026. Small-building owners should pull the revised deadlines directly from the city’s technical guidance page before relying on older schedules.

1
City and County of Denver. Energize Denver Task Force
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City and County of Denver. Performance Requirements
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City and County of Denver. Energize Denver Ordinance Update Overview for Buildings 5,000 – 24,999 sq ft
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City and County of Denver. Rules and Technical Guidance
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ENERGY STAR. Benchmark Your Building With Portfolio Manager
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City and County of Denver. Energize Denver Data Verification Guide
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City and County of Denver. Benchmarking and Setting Your Energy Efficiency Target
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City and County of Denver. Energize Denver Building Performance Policy
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City and County of Denver. Information for Selling Your Commercial Property