Press Release
City of Aspen and CORE complete benchmarking onboarding for Building IQ program
Aspen, CO – The city of Aspen, in partnership with the Community Office for Resource Efficiency (CORE), has completed the phased onboarding process for benchmarking, indicating a key development in the progression of the city’s Building IQ ordinance.
Benchmarking is the annual tracking of energy and water use of buildings to establish baselines and identify opportunities for efficiency and emissions reduction. Benchmarking is phase one of the city’s two-part Building IQ ordinance passed by Aspen City Council in 2022 to support the city’s climate goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 63.4% by 2030 and 100% by 2050. Completing the onboarding phase means that 173 buildings have been benchmarked, including all commercial buildings over 5,000 square feet and all multifamily buildings over 15,000 square feet.
"At CORE, our mission is to urgently reduce carbon emissions in the built environment, and effective benchmarking is key to unlocking energy efficiency in our buildings," said Ofek Bruhis, project manager at CORE. "We’re committed to helping property owners turn insights into action and access the tools needed to improve building performance and to support Aspen’s climate goals."
Key findings in the 2025 Building IQ benchmarking annual report include:
- 97% of Aspen’s covered buildings participated in the benchmarking program, one of the highest compliance rates in Colorado.
- Hotels are the largest emitters, contributing 41% of all benchmarked building emissions, with 73% of those emissions tied to natural gas use.
- Multifamily buildings account for 19% of emissions from benchmarked buildings.
- Since last year, CORE has provided technical advising and $229,000 in funding support to Building IQ participants completing five new building retrofit projects.
“This onboarding process would not have been possible without the wide-spread community support for this program and CORE's exceptional customer service,” said Baker Casagrande, the city’s sustainability analyst. “Now, the fun (and complex) part begins: Watching Aspen's buildings become more efficient as our community implements projects with support from CORE and the city."
With onboarding complete, the program will begin tracking annual shifts in building efficiency while connecting owners with technical guidance and funding opportunities. Benchmarking data will play a key role in developing phase two of the Building IQ ordinance, which City Council will consider at a future date.
For more information about Building IQ, visit: aspen.gov/1245/Building-IQ.
To view the 2025 Building IQ community benchmarking report, visit: aspencore.org/building-iq.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, please contact:
Baker Casagrande, city of Aspen sustainability analyst
Phone: 970-379-2606
Email: baker.casagrande@aspen.gov
Ofek Bruhis, CORE project manager
Phone: 970-925-9775 x1001
Email: ofek@aspencore.org