Colorado’s clean building standards are crucial for clean air July 11, 2024

Bridget Foy, Medical Student & PSR Colorado Board Member | Colorado Newsline

While we know that oil and gas production itself is the single largest contributor to our air quality problem, a little-known culprit of this health-harming pollution is Colorado’s largest buildings. Many of these buildings have inefficient and aging gas-based heating systems that spew toxic, ozone-forming emissions into the air outside, burdening Coloradans living in apartment buildings with poor indoor air quality and high energy bills. These pollutants are associated with worse health outcomes ranging from cardiovascular and respiratory disease to negative impacts on reproductive and cognitive health — not to mention the potential to shorten and degrade quality of life.