City of Aspen and CORE release 2024 benchmarking annual report

Aspen, CO - October 21, 2024 – The City of Aspen, in partnership with the Community Office for Resource Efficiency (CORE), has released its 2024 benchmarking annual report.

Benchmarking is a process in which building owners track and compare their building's energy and water use to similar buildings over time. Benchmarking is a component of Building IQ, an ordinance passed by the city in 2022, and helps owners and occupants understand their building's performance and identify areas for improvement.

According to the city’s environmental health and sustainability department, 57% of Aspen’s greenhouse gas emissions stem from the built environment, with commercial buildings accounting for over 60% of energy consumption.

Together with CORE, the city successfully completed three years of benchmarking. The report outlines these three years of energy and water consumption in Aspen’s largest buildings, including hotels and office buildings.

“Benchmarking has been a first step and tool for our community to forward our environmental stewardship and climate impact goals,” said Mayor Torre. “This report brings us one step closer to a more sustainable future while enabling building owners to make informed decisions that enhance efficiency, improve building performance and save money.”

So far, in 2024, 119 buildings have been benchmarked. CORE provided each building with a scorecard outlining individual building energy use and options to reduce consumption to support building owners in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. CORE provided $190,000 in funding to support 10 building retrofit projects under the Building IQ program.

The 2024 benchmarking annual report underscores Aspen’s commitment to meeting its climate action goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 63.4% by 2030 and achieve a 100% reduction by 2050. As the city continues its benchmarking efforts, more buildings will be included in the process. The next phase of benchmarking will include commercial properties greater than 5,000 square feet and multifamily properties over 15,000 square feet.



For more information and to read the full report, please visit aspen.gov/Building-IQ. 

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Contacts:

Clare McLaughlin, Sustainability Programs Administrator, city of Aspen Environmental Health and Sustainability department, Clare.McLaughlin@aspen.gov, 1-970-429-1782

Jami McMannes, Communications and Engagement Manager, Community Office for Resource Efficiency
jami@aspencore.org, 1-970-925-9775, ext. 1006