Lakewood is Jefferson County’s largest city and one of the Denver metro area’s most significant commercial markets — home to major office parks along West Colfax, large retail corridors, and a growing number of mixed-use developments near the light rail stations. If you own or manage a commercial building of 50,000 square feet or more in Lakewood, Colorado Regulation 28 (5 CCR 1001-32) applies to you, and your compliance deadline is approaching faster than most building owners realize.
This guide covers what Regulation 28 means specifically for Lakewood building owners: your deadlines, how benchmarking works in Jefferson County, which utility programs are available, and how to select the right compliance pathway for your building type.
Does Regulation 28 Apply to Your Lakewood Building?
Regulation 28 applies to all commercial, multifamily residential, and public buildings at or above 50,000 gross square feet in Colorado — including Lakewood. The regulation is statewide; there is no Lakewood-specific exemption or local opt-out.
If your building meets the size threshold, you are required to:
- Benchmark your energy use annually in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and report to CDPHE by March 31 each year
- Select and implement a compliance pathway to meet building performance standards by the applicable deadline
- Demonstrate compliance with your chosen pathway by December 2030
If you haven’t started benchmarking yet, you are already out of compliance with the annual reporting requirement.
Compliance Deadlines for Lakewood Buildings
The compliance deadlines under Regulation 28, as modified by HB 25-1269:
- Buildings 50,000–99,999 sq ft: Performance pathway selection or EUI target by December 2026
- Buildings 100,000+ sq ft: Performance pathway selection or EUI target by December 2027
- All covered buildings: Final performance demonstration by December 2030
With December 2026 roughly eight months away, Lakewood building owners in the 50,000–99,999 sq ft range need to be moving on compliance now. Energy audits, HVAC upgrades, and LED lighting projects — the most common improvement measures — typically take 3–9 months from procurement to completion.
Lakewood’s Commercial Building Landscape
Lakewood’s commercial inventory is heavily weighted toward properties that tend to score below average on energy efficiency:
Suburban office parks — particularly along the US-6 / West 6th Avenue corridor and near the Federal Center — are home to many single-tenant and multi-tenant office buildings built in the 1970s through 1990s. These buildings frequently have aging pneumatic HVAC controls, oversized boiler and chiller plants, and little or no building automation. They tend to have Site EUI values well above the Colorado median for office.
Retail and strip commercial along West Colfax and Wadsworth Boulevard includes a mix of big-box and inline retail. Retail buildings are often more energy-efficient on a per-square-foot basis than older office, but large-footprint retailers with extensive refrigeration systems may still face compliance challenges.
The Belmar and Lamar Station area has seen significant mixed-use and multifamily development over the past decade. Newer buildings in this area often already meet or come close to the Regulation 28 EUI targets. Check your actual benchmarking data before assuming you’re compliant — actual vs. designed performance often diverges.
Light industrial and flex space in Lakewood’s industrial corridors is generally below the 50,000 sq ft threshold but not always. Verify your gross floor area before assuming you’re exempt.
Utility Service in Lakewood: Xcel Energy Territory
Virtually all of Lakewood is served by Xcel Energy for both electricity and natural gas. This is good news for Regulation 28 compliance because Xcel offers some of the most robust commercial energy efficiency incentive programs in the state.
Xcel Energy Commercial Rebates Relevant to Lakewood Buildings
Custom Efficiency program — Xcel’s flagship commercial program for larger projects. Covers HVAC system replacements, variable frequency drives, chiller and boiler upgrades, building automation system (BAS) installations, and custom lighting projects. Rebates are calculated per unit of energy saved, not per equipment cost. Projects over $50,000 in expected rebates go through a custom project application process.
Prescriptive rebates — Fixed-dollar rebates for common upgrades: LED interior lighting, occupancy sensors, high-efficiency motors, programmable thermostats, and variable speed drives on HVAC fans and pumps. These are faster to apply for and receive than custom project rebates.
Energy Design Assistance (EDA) — For buildings undergoing significant renovation. Xcel’s engineering team works with your design team to optimize systems during the design phase, then pays for the efficiency improvements incorporated into the project. This is an underused program for Lakewood office owners planning renovations.
Energy Audits — Xcel offers a cost-shared energy audit program for commercial customers. This covers much of the cost of an ASHRAE Level 1 or Level 2 audit, which is the baseline requirement for Pathway 2 compliance under Regulation 28.
To access Xcel’s commercial programs, call their Commercial Energy Efficiency program line or work through a Xcel-approved contractor. Your building’s Account Executive at Xcel can provide current rebate schedules and connect you with the right program.
Colorado C-PACE Financing
In addition to Xcel rebates, Lakewood commercial buildings are eligible for Colorado C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) financing through the Colorado Energy Office. C-PACE provides long-term, fixed-rate financing for energy efficiency improvements, repaid through a property tax assessment.
C-PACE is particularly useful for large projects — full HVAC replacements, building envelope work, rooftop solar — where upfront capital is the constraint. The financing stays with the property, not the owner, which makes it less complicated for buildings that may be sold before the improvements are fully paid off. Jefferson County is a participating C-PACE jurisdiction.
For more detail on available incentives, see our Colorado energy incentives guide.
Choosing a Compliance Pathway for Your Lakewood Building
Regulation 28 offers four pathways to compliance. The right one for your Lakewood building depends on your starting EUI, your available capital, your lease structure, and your timeline. Here’s a quick orientation:
Pathway 1 — Meet the EUI Target: Your building’s Site EUI must be at or below the CDPHE-published median for your building type. This is the cleanest, most straightforward pathway if your building already performs reasonably well or if you have capital for targeted improvements. Most Lakewood office buildings built after 2000 with updated HVAC may be able to hit this target with LED lighting and controls upgrades.
Pathway 2 — ASHRAE Level 2 Audit + Implement Measures: Commission an ASHRAE Level 2 energy audit and implement the measures that achieve a defined percentage improvement in energy performance. This pathway is designed for buildings that can’t realistically meet the absolute EUI target but can demonstrate meaningful improvement. It requires working with a qualified energy auditor.
Pathway 3 — Energy Improvement Plan: Demonstrate ongoing energy performance improvement toward the target, with a documented plan and interim milestones. This is the most flexible pathway but also the most administratively intensive — CDPHE reviews your improvement plan and progress documentation.
Pathway 4 — Renewable Energy: Meet your performance obligation through on-site renewable generation (solar), a green power purchase agreement, or renewable energy credits (RECs). This pathway works best for buildings that have difficulty reducing energy consumption through efficiency alone — for example, buildings with process loads or high-density occupancy.
See our compliance pathways guide for a detailed breakdown of each option.
What to Do Right Now
If you own a covered building in Lakewood and haven’t started, here’s the immediate priority list:
1. Benchmark first. You can’t know where you stand without benchmarking data. Set up your ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager account, enter 12 months of energy data, and look at your Site EUI. This tells you whether Pathway 1 is realistic or whether you need to look at Pathways 2–4.
2. Get your utility data. Request 24 months of historical consumption data from Xcel Energy. They can upload it directly to Portfolio Manager — ask your commercial account rep to set up the automatic transfer.
3. Understand your deadline. If your building is 50,000–99,999 sq ft, December 2026 is your deadline. Eight months is enough time to complete an audit and implement lighting and controls improvements, but not enough time to replace a chiller or boiler. Know your building’s timeline before you commit to a pathway.
4. Talk to an energy auditor. Even if you’re pursuing Pathway 1, an auditor can quickly tell you whether your building can realistically hit the EUI target and what it would cost. Most auditors offer a free initial assessment.
If you want an outside perspective on your building’s compliance position and the most cost-effective path forward, contact us for a free consultation. We work with commercial building owners across Lakewood and Jefferson County.