§ 10-400 — Definitions

Sec. 10-400. - Definitions.

The following words and phrases, as used in this article XIV, shall have the following meanings: (a) Benchmarking: measuring a covered building's energy performance using the ENERGY STAR portfolio manager tool or other platforms as CASR may designate. (b) Benchmarking submission: the data submitted each year via the ENERGY STAR portfolio manager tool, or other platforms as CASR may designate, using a template and submission link to be distributed and publicized by CASR. All information expressly denoted as mandatory by either ENERGY STAR portfolio manager or CASR shall be included in the submission. (c) CASR: the office of climate action, sustainability, and resiliency. (d) Covered building: every building or structure that is regulated by the Denver Building and Fire code and that is not a detached one- or two-family dwelling or townhouse not more than three stories above grade plane height with a separate means of egress, and their accessory structures are not more than three stories above grade plane in height as defined in Section [A] 101.2 Scope section of the 2021 International Building Code. (1) For purposes of benchmarking requirements in section 10-403, a covered building does not include the following, as must be demonstrated by the owner: i. A building that was not occupied, or did not have a certificate of occupancy or temporary certificate of occupancy, for all twelve (12) months of the calendar year for which benchmarking is required; ii. A building that was not occupied, due to renovation, for all twelve (12) months of the calendar year for which benchmarking is required; iii. A building for which a demolition permit for the entire building has been issued and for which demolition work has commenced on or before the date the benchmarking report is due; iv. A building that is presently experiencing qualifying financial distress, as defined; v. A stand-alone parking garage; or vi. A building that is used for the generation of power produced and sold commercially to other parties and that meets the definition of the Energy/Power Station building type, as defined by ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. (2) For purposes of existing building performance requirements in Section 10-404, a covered building does not include the following, as must be demonstrated by the building owner: i. A building for which a demolition permit for the entire building has been issued and for which demolition work has commenced on or before the particular compliance date; ii. A stand-alone parking garage; or iii. A building that is used for the generation of power produced and sold commercially to other parties and that meets the definition of the Energy/Power Station building type, as defined by ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. (3) For purposes of existing building performance requirements in section 10-405, a covered building does not include the following, as must be demonstrated by the building owner: i. A building for which a demolition permit for the entire building has been issued and for which demolition work has commenced on or before the building's prescribed compliance deadline; or ii. A building that had received their Certificate of Occupancy or Temporary Certificate of Occupancy on or after November 22, 2021. (e) Covered manufacturing/agricultural/industrial building or covered MAI Building: a covered building where energy is consumed in process loads for manufacturing, agricultural, or industrial purposes. Process loads are energy consumed for bona fide purposes other than comfort heating and cooling, ventilation, domestic hot water, cooking, lighting, appliances, office equipment, small, or other plug loads. This classification also includes buildings with Class A data centers as defined by rule, food manufacturing, and the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager building types Drinking Water Treatment & Distribution, Other - Utility, and Wastewater Treatment Plant. Multi-use buildings with at least one (1) tenant that meets this definition may be classified as a Covered MAI Building. (f) Covered municipal building: a covered building that is owned and/or operated by the City and County of Denver. (g) ENERGY STAR portfolio manager: the online tool created by the U.S. Government used to measure and track a building's energy use, water consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions. (h) Executive director: the executive director of the office of climate action, sustainability, and resiliency. (i) Existing building performance: the energy efficiency and renewable energy of a covered building measured by site energy use intensity (EUI), or EUI adjusted for renewable energy using data reported via the ENERGY STAR portfolio manager tool or other platforms as CASR may designate. (j) Financial solvency concerns: a vacancy rate for the covered building that reduces the net operating income so that the debt-service coverage (DSCR) ratio is less than 1.25; the non-renewal of a tenant, costs to renew a tenant, or costs of finding a replacement tenant would reduce the DSCR to less than 1.25; or loan maturities, interest rate resets, capitalization rate movements, and insurance rate changes that reduce the DSCR to less than 1.25. This definition also includes if the covered building does not currently meet the definition of qualifying financial distress and the requirements of D.R.M.C. section 10-404 or section 10-405, but owner can demonstrate that the required upgrades would cause the covered building to go into qualifying financial distress. (k) Gross floor area or GFA: the total property building square footage, measured between the outside surface of the principal exterior fixed walls of a building. GFA should include lobbies, tenant areas, common areas, meeting rooms, break rooms, atriums (base level only), restrooms, elevator shafts, stairwells, mechanical equipment areas, basements, storage rooms. GFA should not include exterior spaces, balconies, patios, exterior loading docks, driveways, covered walkways, outdoor play courts, parking, or crawl spaces. (l) High-performance existing buildings program: the administrative program implemented by CASR requiring the benchmarking, reporting, and existing building performance in commercial and multifamily buildings that are located within the City and County of Denver. (m) Lighting load: the energy used to power electric lights in a building's interior, exterior, and parking areas as measured in kilowatt hours. The calculation of lighting load shall include all lighting that is connected to the building's electrical meter(s). (n) Lighting power density or LPD: the lighting power in watts per square foot. (o) New covered building: a covered building equal to or greater than twenty-five thousand (25,000) square feet in gross floor area that received its certificate of occupancy after November 22, 2021. (p) New covered MAI building: a covered building equal to or greater than twenty-five thousand (25,000) square feet in gross floor area that meets one of the following criteria: (1) New construction where the building received its certificate of occupancy after November 22, 2021 and meets the definition of a covered MAI building. (2) A covered MAI building that undergoes an alternation or change of occupancy/use as defined by Denver Energy Code (DEC) Chapter 5, and has updated their building to comply with DEC Sections C403, C405.1, C405.2, C405.3, C405.4, and C408 as applicable to the type of occupancy and project type. (3) A covered MAI building that has substantially upgraded their energy-using systems and has petitioned CASR and received approval for the building to be considered a "new covered MAI building" for performance requirements in section 10-404. (q) Owner: the person or entity having a legal or equitable interest in real property and its fixtures and appurtenances, which shall explicitly include but not be limited to a homeowner's association. (r) Performance measurement period: the defined timeframe of benchmarking data that is used for evaluation of energy performance requirements, usually January 1 to December 31 in the year the target is due. (s) Qualifying financial distress: any of the following: (1) the building is the subject of a qualified tax lien sale or public auction due to property tax arrearages; (2) the building is controlled by a court appointed receiver; or (3) the building has been acquired by a deed in lieu of foreclosure. (t) Renewable energy: useful electrical, thermal, or mechanical energy converted directly or indirectly from resources of continuous energy flow or that are perpetually replenished and whose utilization is sustainable indefinitely and can be measured in kilowatt hours (kWh). The term includes, if it can be measured in kWh provided, sunlight, wind, geothermal energy, hydrodynamic forces, and organic matter available on a renewable basis such as forest residues, agricultural crops and wastes, wood and wood wastes, animal wastes, livestock operation residue, aquatic plants, and municipal wastes. (u) Residential condominium: if the property is a condominium or cooperative, each as defined in the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act, C.R.S. § 38-33.3-101 et seq., as amended, the responsible party shall be the association, as defined in the act. (v) Site energy use intensity or EUI: a building's weather normalized site energy use expressed as energy per square foot per year as a function of its size, normalized for weather and other characteristics that are significant drivers of energy performance as feasible with the reporting platform used. A building's EUI is calculated by dividing the total energy consumed by the building in one (1) calendar year (measured in kBtu) by the total gross floor area of the building. (w) Tenant: a person or entity having a legal or equitable interest in the possession, occupancy, or the benefits of real property and its fixtures and appurtenances under a lease or similar legal instrument. (x) Transportation energy use: for use in this chapter, energy sourced from building utility meters that is sub-metered and consumed in vehicles that take people or goods from one place to another. This includes but is not limited to electric vehicles, compressed natural gas fleet vehicles, and electric or compressed natural gas forklifts, but does not include elevators or escalators. Transportation energy use is considered non-building energy use in this chapter.

(Ord. No. 1310-21, § 4, 11-22-21; Ord. No. 565-26, § 1, 5-18-26)