Boulder, Colorado, has long been on the cutting edge of environmental action. A picturesque community nestled among the flatirons; Boulder has leveraged a variety of land use strategies to manage climate change impacts equitably.
In 2006, Boulder made history by passing the nation’s first voter-approved carbon tax, and proceeds from that tax have gone to funding environmental action ever since. An impactful outcome of Boulder’s commitment to fund local climate and resiliency efforts is in title 10, chapter 2, appendix C of the municipal code. This law provides requirements for minimum energy efficiency standards that must be met for properties to receive and maintain rental licensing. Failure to comply will result in denial of licensing until the requirements are met, and any properties that continue to rent without such licensing will be subjected to fines.
Boulder committed to implementing energy efficiency standards that they coined “SmartRegs” in their 2010 climate action plan, with full compliance required by the end of 2018. SmartRegs compliance is measured by the SmartRegs prescriptive pathway, which was developed in reference to the 2004 & 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and refined by Boulder’s SmartRegs case study, completed in 2010. This case study, completed by an independent sustainable design firm, considered six homes in the City of Boulder and determined that a score of 100 points on the SmartRegs prescriptive pathway equated to an efficiency rating roughly 20% below the 2004 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). This rating was decided to be both realistic and obtainable for most properties within the City of Boulder.
Appendix C of Boulder’s municipal code on property maintenance provides the developed SmartRegs pathway, which is used to evaluate the energy efficiency of units, as well as a few narrow exceptions to the requirement to comply. It also specifies that a total score of 100 points is required for SmartRegs compliance, with an additional 2 points needed from the independent water conservation category.
The SmartRegs pathway allocates point values based on the percent reduction of CO2 emissions attributable to each improvement and is broken down into 15 categories. These categories include walls, windows/fenestrations, attic, ducts/radiant, heating, cooling, fans, lighting, hot water, and refrigeration, among others. Within the water conservation category, each of the following measures is worth one point: low flow showerhead, low flow lavatory faucets, self-closing faucet valves, high-efficiency or dual flush toilet, ENERGY STAR washing machine, and ENERGY STAR dishwasher. Compliance with these standards is reviewed as part of the process of renewing and obtaining licensing for all rental residential properties within the city. Beyond the code and SmartRegs pathway itself, Boulder has also developed a “SmartRegs Guide,” which contains resources for landlords, realtors, SmartRegs inspectors, tenants, and contractors.
Boulder has been able to implement measures such as these due to the confluence of major enabling factors. As of 2020, Boulder had a population of approximately 330,000, with a median household income of $99,770 (national average $75,149). It is also notable that within this population, 63.2 percent of people aged 25 and older have received their bachelor’s degree or higher (national average 34.3 percent). Data from the 2020 election also sheds light on Boulder’s political affiliations. In the 2020 elections, 77.1 percent of voters voted Democrat, and 20.6 percent voted Republican. In 2015, Boulder Housing and Human Services reported that 37 percent of households in Boulder County are renters, and of that renter population, 55 percent were housing-cost-burdened, meaning 30 percent or more of their income went to pay for housing. This data paints a picture of a relatively affluent, highly educated, democratic, and rental-reliant population, which has paved the way for the passage of this local ordinance.
The requirement to meet minimum efficiency standards to receive and renew rental licensing plays primarily to the equity consideration of the Climate Resilient Development (CRD) framework. This regulation allows the tenants to cut costs on utilities, as increased efficiency translates to lower consumption. The cost-cutting benefit is especially relevant when considering that over half of renters are spending 30 percent or more of their income to secure housing, leaving only nominal funds to provide for basic needs such as food, clothing, etc. Placing the burden of establishing such measures on property owners allows tenants to manage their consumption in a way that would otherwise be unattainable.
Mitigation is also well served by Boulder’s policy, as Rocky Mountain Institute reported that the City of Boulder’s rental properties were expected to save “4,200,000 kWh and 940,000 therms annually, leading to $1,100,000 in energy bill savings and 8,300 metric tons of avoided carbon emissions after full compliance by the end of 2018.” While this rental efficiency law is not Boulder’s only action towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the city reported that its emissions have been reduced by 30% against a 2005 baseline as of December 2022. Of Boulder’s 2022 community emissions, building emissions contributed to 38% of emissions, with building natural gas use contributing a further 23%. Boulder themselves report that buildings are responsible for their largest share of emissions, making it a high-impact area to improve within.
The combination of characteristics that exist in Boulder have propelled actions such as these and created a set of enabling factors that have allowed for innovative and effective land use laws to emerge. Boulder’s utilization of land use techniques to promote energy efficiency and equity within the community is a monumental showing of how CRD can be implemented at a local level. The policy highlighted here will be valuable to communities across the nation that are searching for ways to make energy efficiency in dwellings accessible to all.