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Over the past year, the Montgomery County Council has adopted several legislative measures that impact energy usage and consumption at commercial and multi-family buildings. This update is being provided due to the recent benchmarking deadline of June 1, 2023 for a substantial number of buildings in Montgomery County, and in anticipation of the County’s release of Executive Regulations implementing benchmarking requirements in the next several months. Here are the legislative measures that we will consider: (a) Bill 13-22, known as the Comprehensive Building Decarbonization Bill, which was approved in December of 2022; and (b) Bill 16-21, which amended the Building Energy Use Benchmarking and Performance Standards and was approved in May of 2022.
Comprehensive Building Decarbonization
This bill addresses the use of fossil fuels in new construction and bans the use of fossil fuels in certain new buildings, in order to further the County’s climate change goals. Specifically, almost all new residential and commercial construction, as of December 31, 2026, must use solely electric-powered equipment; no gas-powered equipment will be permitted. This bill makes Montgomery County one of the first counties in the Mid-Atlantic region to ban gas in most new construction. The District of Columbia has also banned gas in most new construction beginning in 2026.
As required under the legislation, the County Executive will issue new all-electric building standards by the end of 2026. Once adopted into the building code, these new building standards will require that all new commercial and residential buildings, minus the exceptions list, are equipped with electric hot water systems and heat pumps for space heating and cooling, instead of gas-powered appliances, including stoves. Exempt from this ban are hospitals, wastewater treatment plants, crematories, and facilities needing emergency backup systems or high-energy industrial commercial cooking facilities. In addition, major renovations and new additions to buildings do not fall within this ban in the legislation. Moreover, private schools, public housing, and residential housing with four or more stories have additional time to make the change, with an extended deadline of the end of 2027. Gas fireplaces and outdoor grills also fall outside of the legislation and are not banned. Although the County has not banned gas stoves, except in new construction as described above, it hopes that residents and building owners will switch to electric power stoves of their own accord.
Building Energy Use Benchmarking and Performance Standards
In December 2017, the Council adopted a Climate Action Plan which established a climate goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2027, and reaching 100% elimination by 2035. The Climate Action Plan encompasses several initiatives, including a workgroup review of five technical areas: Clean Energy, Buildings, Transportation, Adaptation and Sequestration, and Public Engagement. Bill 16-21 focused on energy-efficient improvements for buildings usage – a step toward meeting climate goals.
Bill 16-21 modified the County’s benchmarking law to include additional County-owned and privately-owned commercial buildings, and expanded the law to include multifamily buildings to meet long-term energy performance standards. While County-owned buildings and privately-owned commercial buildings with more than 50,000 square feet of gross floor area have been reporting energy usage for several years now, June 1, 2023 marks the initial reporting deadline for commercial buildings that include between 25,000 – 50,000 square feet of gross floor area. A full summary of the reporting dates and deadlines for the various building groups is provided in the chart below.
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