High Performance Design

The Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) is working to change the way buildings are designed and built to capture environmental improvements from the start of the project, before opportunities are lost forever.

"High performance design" helps reduce consumption of natural resources and minimize environmental impacts, increases productivity of building occupants, decreases maintenance and utility expenses, and provides an overall better building within the constraints of typical construction budgets.

For information about High Performance Design in K-12 schools, see the For Schools section of this website. The state of Colorado passed Senate Bill 07-51, which sets a goal of LEED Gold certification or better for all capital construction projects that receive 25% or more of their funding from the state of Colorado.

GEO is committed to working with building project managers to help them utilize the principles of high performance design to maximize the performance of their new buildings. GEO provides project managers with LEED consulting for Senate Bill 07-51 compliance and incorporation of distributed generation technology, such as solar power. GEO will also help project managers take advantage of the growing array of rebates and incentives for high performance projects.

If you are interested in working with GEO to implement high performance design in your project, please submit the High Performance Design program interest form found on our Partnership Opportunities web page.

Read more details about high performance design projects in Goals of High Performance Design. Also read GEO's reports: Using LEED-NC® in Colorado: Tips, Resources and Examples and and The Costs and Benefits of LEED-NC® in Colorado for more information about LEED. For more information about the High Performance Certification Program (HPCP) visit the Office of the State Architect website.