Leading by Example

Sustainability is a path, a journey, not an end result.  Greening Government is on that path.  Here is a sampling of recent accomplishments toward meeting the Greening Government goals.

Greening Government has released the June 2008 Status Report. Read the report here ( 448 KB).

The Governor’s Biofuels Coalition (GBC) and its partners such as Pester Marketing, Western Convenience, and the Colorado Corn Growers opened a total of 50 new stations in 2007. As of July 1st, 2008, 65 stations are opened, 28 were under construction with dozens more in the planning process. A complete list of stations can be found in the GBC section of this website, and for more details on station location, including hours and fuels sold, visit The Department of Energy's Station Locator.

The Governor's Energy Office, the State Purchasing Office, and multiple state agencies and colleges have completed the 2008 RTD Eco Pass renewal process. The number of organizations participating in the program increased from 36 to 40. More than 14,000 state employees now have an Eco Pass for the 2008 calendar year. See details for each organization in the State Agency 2008 Renewals report ( 30 KB).

Greening Government has completed a survey of state employees regarding commuting to work. The survey results will be used to determine the best strategies for working with state employees to reduce emissions from commuting and work related travel. Take a look at the Employee Commute Survey results ( 36 KB).

The Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) announced on June 27, 2007, the release of a new report to help building owners and design teams better understand the costs and benefits of constructing high-performance, green buildings in Colorado. “Cost and Benefits of LEED-NC in Colorado” is now available at no cost, on the GEO website in the Publications Section. LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and is the standard for green building rating systems. This report provides results based on the study of 11 Colorado green building projects certified by the USGBC.

State buildings account for approximately 17 percent of all Colorado LEED certifications.  As of July 2008, ten state facilities were LEED New Construction (NC), Existing Building (EB), or Commercial Interiors (CI) certified:

• Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (NC)
• State of Colorado Human Services Building (EB)
• Colorado State Services Building (EB)
• Colorado Judicial and History Museum Complex (EB)
• University of Colorado Memorial Center, Boulder (EB)
• University of Colorado, Boulder Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society (ATLAS) Center (NC)
• Colorado State University Guggenheim Hall Classrooms (CI))
• Western State College Borick Business Building (NC)
• University of Colorado Leeds School of Business, Boulder (NC)
• Colorado State University Transit Center (NC)

The State of Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration is one of thirty one organizations participating in the USGBC's Portfolio Pilot Program to develop volume certification submittal documentation, quality control, education plans, policy language and other resources that will help integrate the adoption of LEED into the design, construction and operations practices of participating organizations. Since volume certification is a key element of making LEED integration possible, during the pilot phase most of the participants and the USGBC are focusing on testing the volume certification processes.