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I. Introduction <br />Colorado is a home -rule state in which local jurisdictions adopt building codes at the <br />jurisdictional level to suit the needs of their community. Over the past twenty years Colorado <br />has seen an increase in the number of communities adopting green building programs and <br />codes. This has resulted in a patchwork of building and energy codes across the state. <br />This concern was addressed in 2008 when the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project and <br />Greenprint Denver convened meetings with building code officials to discuss the possibility of <br />developing a green building code for the Front Range of Colorado. Since the first meetings <br />were held in 2008, new products have become available, including the National Green Building <br />Standard (NGBS), International Green Construction Code (IGCC) and Standard 189.1. The <br />original project concept was repurposed in 2010 when a group of building industry stakeholders <br />participated in a six month process to reach agreement on a nationally developed code or <br />standard that could be used as the foundation for green building programs in Denver Metro. <br />Some communities participating in the process had little to no experience with green building <br />programs or codes, while other communities had been national leaders for many years. This <br />toolkit contains the recommendations of the stakeholders that outline incremental steps to <br />deploy a green building program. Jurisdictions that have a green building program can use this <br />toolkit to adopt the codes and standards that are recommended by the stakeholder group, <br />thereby promoting consistency across the region. <br />The intent of this toolkit is to assist the building code official by providing a product to present <br />to their council or commissioners outlining the incremental steps the jurisdiction can take to <br />ultimately adopt a green building program. The building official can use the toolkit to adopt a <br />regionally- consistent program, and to use as a reference the implementation strategies and <br />educational resources. <br />This project was funded by the Colorado Governor's Energy Office and Hewlett Foundation. <br />I. <br />12 <br />