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Steamboat Springs — Routt County and Steamboat Springs officials are collaboratively investigating how to boost municipal green building efforts.

The city and county recently received a grant of $25,250 from the state of Colorado to assist them in developing and adopting an energy efficient building code and program. The two governments have agreed to work in tandem.

Senior city planner Bob Keenan and the county's assistant building department official, Ted Allen, are coordinating the program. They are hosting an open house to introduce the consulting team of Architectural Energy and What's Working, who have been selected to research the green building codes of other cities.

Allen and Keenan agree that the local building community should be consulted closely during the six- to nine-month process.

"That's the key," Keenan said. "We need to get everyone's buy-in."

With help from the Yampa Valley Construction Trades Association, a technical advisory committee has been assembled to contribute to the planning process. The committee includes stakeholders and construction professionals.

The local green building program could provide incentives, and establish requirements, for energy-efficient practices. Green building programs typically scrutinize a building's foundation, landscaping, exterior finish, insulation, plumbing and appliances among other qualities, Keenan said.

Building contractors could provide an impetus for the program.

"If contractors got on board and started to compete for green points, they could become the driving factor," Allen said.

Allen said that for the past decade, the Routt County Regional Building Department has offered a $350 fee rebate to homebuilders who achieve an Energy Star rating when one of their structures passes a "blower door test," which gauges how weather-tight the structure is.

The town of Carbondale adopted its new "efficient building program" in June. The program requires builders of residential structures - commercial buildings are not affected - to score a certain number of green building points based on the size of the house. The builder can score points in various ways described on a checklist. Up to 10 percent of the points can be satisfied with a cash payment if an owner does not wish to fully comply.

Keenan said if the city and county adopted a similar points system, he would like to see the local program evolve to contractors competing to see who could achieve the highest ranking. Taking it a step further, Keenan said he could envision a day when homes for sale on the Steamboat Springs Multiple Listing Service reflected those same rankings.

Ultimately, Allen said, it will be up to elected public officials at the city and county to determine what, if any, green building program to adopt.

Dates for a series of public hearings concerning the research into a green building program have not yet been set.