Hansen’s Bill to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Building Construction Clears Committee

Legislation to provide sales and use tax exemptions for heat pumps and green building materials passes out of committee

DENVER, CO – Yesterday, the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee voted unanimously to advance Senator Chris Hansen’s (D-Denver) legislation to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through incentives for energy efficient heat pumps and green building materials.

SB22-051 implements a new sales and use tax exemption for energy efficient heat pumps and qualified environmentally friendly building materials. If the bill becomes law, anyone who installs a heat pump in the next 10 years will receive an income tax refund of 10 percent of the cost of the heat pump, accelerating our state’s transition away from fossil fuels while saving Coloradans money.

“Construction materials and heating and cooling systems account for a significant portion of Colorado’s annual carbon emissions. Settling for the status quo will prevent us from reaching our climate goals, and something has to change,” Hansen said. “This legislation builds on our progress over the last two years by incentivizing heat pumps, building electrification and the use of clean construction materials and practices, allowing us to tackle a major source of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.”

Buildings account for nearly 40 percent of annual GHG emissions, from operations including heating and cooling, maintenance, materials and construction, and demolition. Transitioning away from outdated operations and towards electrification and clean material use will reduce GHG emissions and improve public health, helping put Colorado on track to meet its ambitious GHG reduction goals.

SB22-051 will now head to the Finance Committee for further consideration. Track the progress of the bill here.