Owners of residential buildings in Montgomery County must now adhere to energy performance standards that previously applied only to commercial buildings under new rules approved Tuesday by the County Council.
Proposed by County Executive Marc Elrich (D), the new Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) require commercial and residential buildings to reach a certain level of efficiency with the aim of reducing carbon emissions, according to the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
The new rules expand the county’s 2022 Energy Benchmarking Law, which requires the tracking and reporting of energy use, according to DEP. That law applied to county and privately owned nonresidential buildings measuring 50,000 gross square feet or more. The biggest change is that now residential buildings must comply.
The law requires building owners to report energy use data annually on June 1. Benchmarking data provides the baseline for each building and determines whether buildings are meeting BEPS. Energy use in buildings accounts for about 50% of community-wide greenhouse gas emissions, according to DEP.
Four types of buildings must comply with BEPS: county and privately owned nonresidential buildings that measure 25,000 to 50,000 gross square feet, county and privately owned nonresidential buildings measuring 50,000 or more gross square feet, residential buildings measuring 25,000 to 250,000 gross square feet, and residential buildings with 250,000 or more gross square feet.
Each type of building is subject to a standard based on its size and type as outlined in a county DEP chart. However, the goal is for all buildings to reach the same standard of compliance when it comes to energy efficiency, according to county officials. This means some buildings may have to upgrade to more energy-efficient infrastructure to remain compliant. If they don’t, they could be fined thousands of dollars.
Deadlines for reaching specific BEPS benchmarks vary based on the type of building and its size, as well as its previous benchmarking data. The earliest deadline is Dec. 31, 2028, and the latest is Dec. 31, 2036. Multifamily residential buildings have the most time to reach compliance. A deadline chart is available on the DEP website.
‘A big, bold step’
The council’s approval of the regulations follows its passage of legislation to allow BEPS to be created in April 2022. The standards were developed in partnership with a community advisory committee that was appointed by the council.
“This is a big, bold step, but it is not being done from the government perspective only,” councilmember and Transportation and Environment Committee Chair Evan Glass (D-At-large) said prior to the council’s vote. “We are also bringing dollars to this effort to make sure our energy sources are cleaner and greener.”
According to DEP, the Montgomery County Green Bank, a publicly chartered nonprofit corporation, will be offering services to help building owners assess energy performance and connect them to potential financing incentives, which is where the majority of available funding will come from. Some options include the Commercial PACE financing program, the Maryland Energy Administration, and the EmPOWER Maryland program, which all aim to help lessen the financial burden of upgrading to more energy-efficient infrastructure.
BEPS adjustments have been historically controversial. According to the council staff report, the council held six stakeholder meetings last year following the submission of Elrich’s proposal in January 2024. While most who testified supported the goal of reducing impacts on the climate, they expressed concerns about the infrastructure costs required to meet the standards, according to council documents.
According to Glass, the goal of the standards is to decrease the county’s carbon emissions by 80% within the next few years, and for the county to become carbon neutral by 2035.
A change since Elrich’s initial BEPS proposal is the addition of a 30% energy performance cap, making it easier and more financially feasible for some buildings to meet their benchmark. This means that if a building is far from reaching its energy use target, a 30% improvement in energy efficiency is enough to meet the next compliance deadline, according to council staff. This change was added after officials heard concerns from property owners about the difficulties that could arise with retrofitting their buildings.
“I think this was an excellent example of our county government working with key stakeholders in our community to all come together,” council President Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) said before the vote on Tuesday.
Elrich thanked the council for approving the new standards in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
“Passing these regulations is a major step forward in our Climate Action Plan,” Elrich said. “We are striking the right balance—reducing carbon pollution and supporting jobs while giving building owners a clear, flexible, and fair path to compliance. Montgomery County continues to make significant, measurable progress toward a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable future.”
The council’s approval was met with applause by climate advocates in the council chambers, but not everyone is happy with the new standards.
More than 300 people signed a petition hosted on the Montgomery County Republican Central Committee (MCGOP) website opposing the proposed BEPS.
“The Montgomery County regulations would be massive and require upgrades to building electrical services that Pepco can’t provide, requiring completely rewiring of the buildings to accommodate electric appliances and HVAC while often requiring the displacement of occupants for months at a time,” MCGOP’s petition said.
DEP will also be focusing its 2025 Energy Summit, which will be held April 8-9 at the Silver Spring Civic Building in downtown Silver Spring, on how buildings can comply with the new standards.
“Thank you to our advocates who recognize we are in a climate emergency and keep pushing us to do the right thing,” Glass said.
