Energy Audits for Performance Requirements

Listed below are the minimum requirements for different types of energy audits. In all cases, you must upload your energy audit into the Audit Template tool.

Energy Audits for Timeline Extension Requests

Energy Audits are not required for all buildings under the performance requirements, but if you hope to use your audit as part of a Timeline Extension application, it must meet the minimum requirements, outlined below:

The energy audit must be completed by a third-party and the auditor who completes the audit for your building must have one of the following credentials:

Professional Engineer (licensed in the United States)
Certified Energy Auditor (AEE)
Certified Energy Manager (AEE)
Building Energy Assessment Professional (ASHRAE)
High-Performance Building Design Professional (ASHRAE)
Multifamily Building Analyst (BPI)
Energy Management Professional (EMA)

The auditor must be a third-party individual or company and not be employed by the organization that owns or operates the building.

Energy Audits for Individual Buildings

For energy audits conducted on a single building, the audit must:

Follow ANSI/ASHRAE/ACCA Standard 211-2018 Level 2
Be created through the online Denver Audit Template tool and downloaded through the “City PDF” option
Include an inventory of all existing equipment
List all energy efficiency measures or solutions needed to reach 2030 final target
Use calendar year 2019 or other approved year as the baseline for energy calculations
Use Weather-normalized Site EUI as the baseline EUI
Include cost and site EUI savings and simple payback at the individual measure and total project cost levels in the investment analysis
Audits completed since January 1, 2020 will be accepted. Check the technical guidance for more information on accepting older audits

See Section 7.2.2.1.1 in the Technical Guidance for more details about energy audits for individual buildings.

Energy Audits for Campuses

Campus energy audits must cover the requirements listed above but the audit does not have to contain detailed information on each individual building over 25,000 square feet. Campuses should note that compliance with EUI targets will be evaluated on an individual building basis based on how the buildings on campus are benchmarked.

See Section 7.2.2.1.2 in Technical Guidance for more information about energy audits for campuses.

Energy Audits for Custom Targets

Energy audits for custom targets need to be more robust than audits used for a Timeline Extension request. It must meet the requirements for an energy audit used for a Timeline Extension request, plus:

Measurement of the energy use or energy modeling of the existing, pre-retrofit systems
- These measurements must follow ASHRAE 211-2018, section 5.5.1
An investment analysis with these minimum requirements:
- ADD - Life-Cycle Cost Analysis of each EEM following ASHRAE 211-2018, Section 5.5.3
- ADD - At least two (2) contractor bids for each energy efficiency measure
The audit must have been completed on or before November 22, 2021.

See Section 5.6.2.3.1 in Technical Guidance for more information about energy audits used for a custom target.

Using the Audit Template Tool

We use the Audit Template Tool provided by the Department of Energy as a standardized method to collect the audit information from building owners. Follow these steps to create and submit your report:

Register to create an account
Select “Audit Template”
Click the “Add Building Report” dropdown and select “Denver Report”
Enter your building information or use the "Import Building" tool to upload your building information
Submit your audit once all of your information is entered correctly
Download your submission as a PDF
Upload the PDF with your timeline submission

You can find more information on the steps to create a report here.

When adding a building in the Audit Template Tool, it must be submitted through the Denver Energy Audit Report. You can add the report in two different ways:

Manually add each field through the website
Utilize the import feature to upload your building audit.

You can utilize the import spreadsheet, which highlights the required fields needed in order to submit your report. It is the auditor's responsibility to review and ensure all fields are added and correct prior to submitting the report.