Why We're Watching

Training, Model Energy Code Adoption, Municipal Outreach to Building Community

Colorado Energy Status

Updates

May- Rifle is preparing to hold a training session to explain to builders how to apply for the $700 per new home rebate offered by the local utility, Xcel Energy. The utility offers the rebates for new homes that achieve a HERS rating of 85 or less. Members of the planning department in tandem with representatives of CLEER will lead the training, which will include energy efficiency technologies that provide the most “bang for the buck” for builders.

Background

A thriving city of 9,000 in Western Colorado’s Garfield County, Rifle encapsulates the old and new west. Named for a trapper’s misplaced firearm, the town center is a throwback to the old west, a collection of small brick buildings built by the ranches and mineral wealth of the surrounding arid plateaus and river valleys. To avoid going the way of other boom and bust towns, Rifle has made a commitment to developing a sustainable, diverse economy.  Mainstays of the city’s past, like cattle ranching and oil and gas exploration, have been joined by new industries, including recreation and construction. Rifle also seeks to leverage its location at the heart of the fossil fuel industry to become a bridge to the clean energy economy of the future.  This vision was demonstrated by the construction of the largest municipally-owned solar array in Colorado on the site of the Energy Innovation Center, a former brownfield site where uranium mill tailings were once stored.  Among other sustainability efforts, Rifle is committed to improving the energy efficiency of new homes and commercial buildings through both partnerships with the building community and an upgraded energy code.

Rifle in 2010

Partnerships with the Building Community

Successful energy code improvements in Rifle have been achieved through a series of partnerships with the local building community. In 2008, the city launched an effort to improve education and training for both City staff and the building community. With funding provided by the state of Colorado’s Governor’s Energy Office and a local group, Clean Energy Economy for the Region (CLEER), the town partnered with a large local homebuilder, who volunteered to build three of their Habitat for Humanity homes to Energy Star standards.

Based on the success of the Energy Star program with the builders who participated in it, the city staff recently recommended to the City Council that it create a two-year program requiring all new homes to be built to Energy Star standards. To help smooth the process, the town has applied for a $5,000 grant available from CLEER, which will provide incentives for builders to build Energy Star homes, and cover some of the additional training costs for builders. 

Model Code Adoption

City staff have also moved forward to upgrade the model energy code. In April at a workshop held by town staff, the city council will consider the adoption of the 2009 IBC and the 2009 IECC to replace the current 2003 codes. For commercial buildings, town staff will consider ASHRAE 90.1-2007, but intend to conduct additional outreach to commercial builders to evaluate their receptiveness to the new code.

Program Contact

More Information

City of Rifle

Garfield County

Colorado Governor's Energy Office

Clean Energy Economy for the Region