Colorado District Court Dismisses Corporate Landlord Lawsuit Against Clean Buildings

Denver, CO - Last Friday the District of Colorado dismissed a lawsuit from Colorado corporate landlord groups aimed at overturning performance standards for large buildings, ruling the plaintiffs were unable to meet the threshold requirement to prove they are harmed. They will have until April 18 to provide evidence establishing their standing to bring the lawsuit, or the court’s dismissal will become permanent. 

"Energize Denver and Colorado’s Building Performance Standards benefit all of us by providing modernized, more energy-efficient housing and improved air quality to the community, and as the court ruled, there is flexibility to how owners meet these goals, including by using solar energy to provide clean electricity" said K.C. Becker, President and CEO of the Colorado Solar and Storage Association. "We're confident that the common-sense rules will remain in place and ultimately help drive down climate and air pollution around the city and State." 

"Despite the claims from a small subset of landlord groups, these types of decisions are made with careful consideration to long-term affordability and include multiple compliance pathways to provide flexibility for building owners," said Kevin Cray, Vice President of Existing Markets and Regulatory Affairs at the Coalition for Community Solar Access. "People want to live and work in buildings that have modern equipment to keep energy prices low while maintaining a comfortable environment. Community Solar and virtual net metering can provide relatively hands off options for achieving these goals, and can be paired with a variety of the other compliance options to help any given building comply with these requirements." 

Last June, Sierra Club joined the Colorado Solar and Storage Association, the Coalition for Community Solar Access, and NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) in seeking to intervene in the lawsuit and asking the court to dismiss it. 

In September, Sierra Club sought to intervene in and dismiss a similar lawsuit brought by fossil fuel interests challenging provisions of Denver’s energy code, following a letter by 14 groups urging Denver to vigorously defend the code. Sierra Club is represented by Earthjustice in that separate lawsuit, and the court has not yet ruled on our intervention.