Denver City Council Approves Green Code and Lists Passive House Certification as Compliance Path

We are pleased to share some exciting news from our home city – Denver, Colorado. In the City’s efforts to push forward its 80×50 Climate Action Plan, and with the goal of Net Zero new construction by 2035, City Council has approved a voluntary, incentivized “Green Code”.

Having identified Passive construction as a critical part of being able to realistically reach Net Zero goals, the Denver Green Code has listed Passive House certification – both through PHI or PHIUS – as a compliance path. The City Council voted the change on December 23rd, 2019, and Mayor Hancock signed the bill on December 26th, 2019. Read more about the proceedings on the City website here.

The Denver Green Code is expected to eventually become mandatory in a future code update, serving as a “stretch code” to help encourage local construction companies to get on board. The writing on the wall is that Passive standards are the future of the building industry, and more and more cities are looking for ways to support reaching those standards.

Read more on Emu’s blog about how we and others intend to support Denver area professionals train for the future: https://emu.systems/2020/01/16/denver-green-code-passive/