Colorado Developers Lead the Way on Affordable, All-Electric Housing

The document highlights how Colorado developers are adopting all-electric designs for affordable housing to reduce climate impact and operational costs. Through projects like Oxford Vista, Kestrel, and 30 Pearl Street, it shows that avoiding gas infrastructure can offset upfront costs and provide long-term savings in utilities and maintenance. These developments also improve indoor air quality and equity for low-income tenants while aligning with Colorado's state-level greenhouse gas reduction goals and city-level net-zero plans.

• All-electric housing provides health and equity benefits by eliminating gas appliances, which improves indoor air quality and lowers asthma rates, while granting low-income tenants access to efficient technologies.
• Electrification is often a cost-effective alternative to gas, particularly for new developments on land lacking gas connections or for retrofits of older buildings with outdated mechanical systems that would otherwise require expensive new gas line installations.
• The Oxford Vista retrofit in Aurora, Colorado, utilized a geothermal variable refrigerant volume (VRV) system, LED lighting, and a 440 kW solar panel array, resulting in electricity use that is nearly 92 percent lower than the national average per square foot. This transition enabled estimated savings of $20,000 in gas, $40,000 in electricity, and $15,000 in maintenance.
• The Kestrel project in Louisville, Colorado, and the 30 Pearl Street complex in Boulder demonstrate that geothermal systems and mini-split heat pumps can balance upfront costs by avoiding the need for gas infrastructure across the property.
• Colorado's building sector is moving toward phasing out natural gas to meet state greenhouse gas emission goals, supported by local initiatives such as Denver's Net Zero Implementation Plan.

APA

RMI (2021). Colorado Developers Lead the Way on Affordable, All-Electric Housing. https://rmi.org/resources/colorado-developers-lead-the-way-on-affordable-all-electric-housing/

Chicago

RMI. Colorado Developers Lead the Way on Affordable, All-Electric Housing. 2021. https://rmi.org/resources/colorado-developers-lead-the-way-on-affordable-all-electric-housing/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Colorado Developers Lead the Way on Affordable, All-Electric Housing |date=1 April 2021 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/colorado-developers-lead-the-way-on-affordable-all-electric-housing/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2021colorado, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Colorado Developers Lead the Way on Affordable, All-Electric Housing}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2021}, month = apr, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/colorado-developers-lead-the-way-on-affordable-all-electric-housing/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }