NEWS RELEASE
BOULDER COUNTY
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EnergySmart, Boulder County’s residential energy advising service, is now offering free and unbiased expert guidance on building a high-performance home to homeowners impacted by the Marshall Fire. EnergySmart advisors can provide advice on high-efficiency electric heating and cooling, as well as other considerations when building a high-performance home.
Building a high-performance home has many benefits, including:
- Healthier indoor air quality; no natural gas combustion by-products to breathe
- A more comfortable and quieter home
- Increased resistance to future wildfires and smoke damage
- Fewer maintenance concerns
- Energy costs reduced by 10% or more
- Reduced contribution to the climate crisis
To speak with an EnergySmart advisor, call 303-544-1000 or email [email protected].
EnergySmart is also developing a Rebuilding Better website that will launch in early April. The website will feature clear, easy-to-follow guidance on subjects such as:
- Building a healthy and comfortable home
- Building a more resilient home
- Identifying incentives, discounts, and financing
- Finding a design and construction team
- Planning your rebuild
- Choosing materials and equipment
- Implementing water and wildfire resistant landscaping and outdoor elements
The Rebuilding Better website will also feature incentives*, discounts, and financing available for high-performance home elements, including those available from Xcel Energy. EnergySmart is working with Xcel Energy to define program participation details for direct-to-homeowner rebuilding incentives for homes that were a total loss in the Marshall Fire. Xcel announced the following incentives that are currently under development:
- $7,500 for meeting International Energy Conservation Code 2021 standards, where adopted by the municipality and if the homeowner does not opt out
- $10,000 for meeting ENERGY STAR® Home v3.2 standards
- $12,500 for meeting Department of Energy “Zero Energy Ready” Home v2 standards
- $17,500 for meeting ENERGY STAR® New Certification Program standards
- $37,500 for meeting Passive House standards
*These incentives apply to homeowners who want to rebuild to replace properties destroyed in the Marshall Fire. Homeowners can only receive one of the incentives, depending on the highest level of performance their home achieves. Xcel is still sorting out implementation details for this brand-new program. More information will be shared on the steps necessary to claim the incentives as it becomes available.
For media inquiries, please contact: Zac Swank, Built Environment Coordinator for Boulder County’s Office of Sustainability, Climate Action & Resilience at [email protected] or 303-441-1143.
For more information about the program, please contact EnergySmart at [email protected] or 303-544-1000.
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