The Denver Energy Challenge helps residents make home energy upgrades easy and affordable. Free, neutral Energy Advisors work with Denver residents to identify energy goals, develop a tailored Energy Action Plan for each home, provide guidance on rebates, tax credits and low-interest financing, review bids, select a contractor and act as an expert resource until the work is complete.
Participants in The Denver Energy Challenge are saving an average of 23% by doing upgrades.
To date over 10,320 residents are saving money and energy because of the Denver Energy Challenge.
The City and County of Denver was originally a sub-recipient of a $25 million grant, managed by Boulder County, for seed funding from the Department of Energy's BetterBuildings Neighborhood Program in 2011. This funding was derived from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
The Denver Energy Challenge was designed to stimulate local economic growth, increase energy efficiency investment in Colorado, and advance the state's energy independence through large-scale energy upgrades.
Getting started is simple. You drive the process and timing, we provide expertise and support.
When you sign up for the Denver Energy Challenge you will be assigned one of our Advisors. They provide free, non-regulatory advising to help you to identify means for making your home more comfortable, affordable and efficient.
Here’s what an energy advisor can do for you:
Paul Koepke
B.Envd. Environmental Design, University of Colorado Boulder
paul.koepke@clearesult.com, 303-446-7898
Paul is a Colorado native, born and raised in Boulder. For as long as Paul can remember he has been fascinated with design work focused on residential buildings. Paul attended the University of Colorado and received a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Design with an emphasis in Architecture. During his time at CU, Paul also attained a Renewable and Sustainable Energy certificate through RASEI (Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute). While working as an energy advisor, he successfully completed training and testing to earn BPI (Building Performance Institute) Building Analyst certification. Paul is always looking to expand his knowledge and loves helping others find solutions to their home energy and comfort problems.
Jason Greene
Associates of Applied Science for Digital Media Production and Print Design, Peninsula College, Washington State
jason.v.green@clearesult.com, 303-446-7884
Jason transplanted to Colorado in 2011 from the West Coast. As a child, Jason tinkered with mechanical and electrical devices and designed and built aesthetically-pleasing futuristic Lego dwellings. Eventually in his 20s and 30s, he expanded his creative skills, improving his methods of learning, listening and teaching while instructing youth-at-risk and working with adults with developmental disabilities. Jason applies a 'People First' approach when developing Energy Efficiency recommendations for Denver Energy Challenge homeowners. In his free-time, he actively participates in environmental and sustainable community activities along the Front Range.
Your advisor has information on all of the latest rebates and tax credits to bring down the cost of home energy projects.
Residential Rebates
Xcel Energy is the administrator of rebates for Denver Residents. We recommend checking with your energy advisor to see which rebates are available through Xcel Energy for the upgrades you choose to do.
Residential Tax Credits
View the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency to see if there are available tax credits for Colorado.
Tax credits available for purchases made in 2016 can be viewed here.
Low Cost Measures
There are a lot of simple, non-invasive upgrades that will give you a lot of bang for your buck. Your Energy Advisor can help you identify these in your Action Plan.
If you need to replace your water heater, appliances, windows, or make other larger scale energy-improvements, the Denver Energy Challenge offers low-interest energy loans to residents starting at 2.75% thanks to funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.
The application process is easy and your Advisor can help. The steps to getting an energy loan:
Measures that qualify:
*These eligible measures must be pre-approved.
Full List of Home Energy Loan Eligible Measures
Call your advisor to get started: 720-865-5520
The Denver Energy Challenge maintains a partnership program with contractors who wish to obtain mentoring and quality assurance checks to improve the quality of their work. You may elect to use one of these contractors, or any Xcel trade ally. Here’s an overview of what the process normally looks like:
The following is a list of contractors participating in the partnership program. The City does not endorsone company over the other. You may choose to work with any company you choose.
Solar Contractors
The City does not maintain a list of Solar Contractors, but we recommend choosing a solar contractor who is NABCEP certified. You can also check with COSEIA at www.coseia.org.
Denver Energy Challenge will focuses its efforts on serving single-family homes and no longer offers advising services for multi-family buildings.
These resources can help you improve energy efficiency in your multi-family building:
City Programs
Additional Resouces in Denver
Energy advisors are a free, neutral resource provided by the City. They are available to assist you at any point when making your energy improvements.
No, your advisor will provide you with an Energy Action Plan but you may choose to get an energy audit in addition. An energy audit is a more comprehensive 3-4 hour test of your home that is performed by a certified energy auditor. It will identify specific areas of heat gain or loss, air penetration and ductwork leaks that can define the scope of work for a contractor. Home audits currently cost $185 or more. Click here to see how your advisor can assist you throughout the process.
Having “Denver” in an address does not guarantee that your home is within City/County limits, use the Denver Address Locator to verify that you are within the City/County boundary.
In order to provide advising to all of our Denver residents the City & County of Denver has put in place a contract to provide phone and in-person advising to our participants. Advisors are not employed through the City but represent the City when providing services to you through the Denver Energy Challenge. Advisors work for CleaResult.
Not only are your advisors knowledgeable about all types of upgrades, but all upgrades to historic homes can be reviewed so that the upgrades you implement do not affect the historical character of your home. This review ensures the longevity of the property and the comfort of the homeowner.
The Denver Energy Challenge does not provide any free energy improvement services however there are many organizations in the Denver area that do provide free services. Visit Denver's Nonprofit Energy Efficiency Supprt website for more information.
Visit Denver's Nonprofit Energy Efficiency Supprt website for more information.
Yes. If you rent a home you are eligible to participate though please note that some energy upgrades may require property owner approval. Your advisor will work with you to determine what measures are applicable to your home and advise on how to get property owner approval. If you are a renter and qualify for any existing income qualified resources your advisor will be sure to connect you with those resources as well.
Denver Energy Challenge Advisors strive to make your home more efficient, comfortable and safe. Please see our full safety guide for details.
If you live in Boulder County, Contact EnergySmart, which offers similar services. If you are an Xcel Energy customer contact their Solutions Center for energy advising.
DEC and EnergySmart in Boulder County are pleased to offer the Residential Contractor Partnership Program. We are dedicated to a renewed focus on workforce development as we continue to evolve our energy efficiency programs to better serve our communities.
Mandatory Minimum Qualifications for Partners
Please fill out the application found at link below.
For questions, please contact the Manager of Contractor Services listed on the application or call 720-865-5520.