You will find vital information below about this program and the required energy efficiency mandate that property rental owners will have to comply with by January 2019.

SmartRegs Boulder is a new energy policy for all rental properties to comply within the city limits of Boulder.  This program is designed to help reduce the carbon output and reduce the amount of energy rental properties consume.  The advantages this program creates for the owner is a more efficient rental property, making it more marketable to potential renters and increases the value of the property.  There are over 20,000 rental doors in Boulder of those about 4000 have been certified, leaving a lot properties left to do.

We highly recommend getting an inspection with one of the City of Boulder Rental Inspectors done sooner rather that later, this way you know what you are up against in making your property compliant.  As we get closer to 2019 the demand will be high on contractors to get the improvements completed, creating higher cost and longer wait times.  Right now there are rebates available through Xcel that can be used to upgrade the improvements.  When the City of Boulder becomes it own municipality, those rebates are highly unlikely to exist.

The cost of a SmartRegs inspection is $120 per unit, depending on the number of units this number can drop dramatically.  Right now there is a $30 rebate from the city that goes towards the inspection bringing the cost to $90.  Included in the inspection is an energy advisor that will be assigned to you to help with contractors, rebates and provide a road map on becoming compliant (if necessary).  They will also provide CFL and low flow shower heads for free. Once you have completed the energy upgrades I will come back to confirm the improvements.  Take advantage of these services before they are phased out from lack of funding.

SmartRegs Boulder Requirements

• Rental License Boulder CO (new or renewal) after January 2019 will not be reissued without a SmartRegs Certificate.
• SmartRegs requirement is only required to pass once, no re certification is necessary.
• SmartRegs certification is transferable with the property.
• Property owners can comply with the energy efficiency requirements by following either a prescriptive or performance path.
  1. Prescriptive Path: The SmartRegs prescriptive path involves a checklist of energy measures that meet a certain criteria. The checklist relies on trained and certified Energy Efficiency Inspectors like Green Energy Audits (City of Boulder Class “G” license). To meet the requirements, each unit must achieve 100 points on the checklist along with two water conservation points.
  2. Performance Path:  Home Energy Rating System (HERS) is typically used for construction permits and requires a score of 120.

Cary Leech is a certified Rental Energy Efficiency Inspector for the city of Boulder SmartRegs program and a BPI Certified Building Analyst, he will help guide you in obtaining the City of Boulder SmartRegs Certificate for your rental property.  His goal is to help assist you in understanding the current efficiency status of your property and what energy upgrades may be needed to reach the 100 points.  The inspection report will provide a complete overview of how each energy measures is scored.  If the rental doesn’t meet the requirement, the report will detail a prescriptive path on how to obtain the necessary points.

Remember there is an inspection rebate available right now!

Call Cary before the rebates end at 303-261-6797 and get your appointment set up today!

If you have any questions about SmartRegs please contact us and we will give all the details needed to get you on the path to compliance. You can visit their website for additional information https://bouldercolorado.gov/plan-develop/smartregs

Related Topics:

City of Boulder Rental License Renewal
P&Ds Forms Database
Energy Smart Boulder
Boulder Rental License Inspectors
EnergySmart