Boulder Valley School District On Its Way To Net-Zero Energy

This case study describes the Boulder Valley School District's (BVSD) strategy to achieve net-zero energy and an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050 through a combination of deep retrofits, retrocommissioning, and new construction funded by a 2014 voter-approved bond.

• The Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) has set a long-term goal to reach net-zero energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050. To achieve this, the district aims to lower its average energy use intensity (EUI) to less than 30 kBtu/SF by 2050, which is a significant improvement over its current average EUI of 65.
• In 2014, voters approved a $576.5 million bond to fund capital improvements. This funding is being used for deep retrofits at eight schools, retrocommissioning at 38 schools, and the construction of four new schools and three district support facilities.
• BVSD is targeting an EUI of 25 for its new construction projects, including one K-8 school and three elementary schools. Preliminary modeling indicates these four schools will achieve an average energy savings of 67 percent and an EUI under 30. If all bond goals are met, the district expects to be 29 percent more efficient, resulting in nearly $500,000 in annual utility bill savings.
• The district's approach involves an integrative design process and a Sustainability Management System (SMS) created in 2009, followed by a Sustainable Energy Plan (SEP) in 2013. The SEP includes a short-term target to reduce energy use by 20 percent below 2008 levels by 2019.

APA

RMI (2016). Boulder Valley School District On Its Way To Net-Zero Energy. https://rmi.org/resources/boulder-valley-school-district-way-net-zero-energy/

Chicago

RMI. Boulder Valley School District On Its Way To Net-Zero Energy. 2016. https://rmi.org/resources/boulder-valley-school-district-way-net-zero-energy/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Boulder Valley School District On Its Way To Net-Zero Energy |date=11 February 2016 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/boulder-valley-school-district-way-net-zero-energy/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2016boulder, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Boulder Valley School District On Its Way To Net-Zero Energy}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2016}, month = feb, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/boulder-valley-school-district-way-net-zero-energy/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }