Energy Benchmarking Requirements
Energy Benchmarking is the process of tracking a building's annual energy use and using a standard metric to compare the building's performance against past performance and to its peers nationwide. Benchmarking improves our understanding of energy consumption patterns; helps identify energy saving opportunities within a portfolio of buildings; and manages business bottom line through consistent data collection and tracking.
Montgomery County's Energy Benchmarking Law requires building owners to:
- Track the energy use of buildings 25,000 gross square feet and greater in the county in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager,
- Have data verified by a Recognized Data Verifier the first year and every three years thereafter, and
- Report data to the County annually for public disclosure.
- *NEW* For public access to benchmarking data, the Montgomery County Building Energy Performance Map is an interactive and user-friendly tool to investigate compliance status and energy performance data for each covered building. It also provides comparisons of each building's latest energy performance to proposed Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS). This report updates as new information is reported to DEP.
- Meet long-term site energy use intensity performance standards. For more information on compliance with Building Energy Performance Standards, visit DEP’s BEPS website.
Covered Buildings and Deadlines
Public and privately-owned buildings 25,000 gross square feet and larger are covered by the energy benchmarking requirement and must report energy data to DEP by June 1 each year.
DEP’s Covered Buildings Inventory lists buildings that are covered by the law. This inventory is an approximation, meant to raise awareness about the law and help identify the buildings covered by the law. Each building owner will need to confirm their own building square footage to determine coverage under the law.
Buildings first begin benchmarking per the following timeline:
Building Benchmarking Timeline
Buildings first begin benchmarking per the following timeline and then report in subsequent years by June 1:
| Group | Building Coverage | First Calendar Year Benchmarking Period | First Benchmarking Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| County | County-owned buildings 50k+ gsf | 2014 | June 1, 2015 |
| Group 1 | Commercial buildings 250k+ gsf | 2015 | June 1, 2016 |
| Group 2 | Commercial buildings 50k – 250k gsf | 2016 | June 1, 2017 |
| Group 3 | Commercial buildings 25k – 50k gsf; County buildings 25k – 50k gsf; Previously exempted buildings of all sizes |
2022 | June 1, 2023 |
| Group 4 | Multifamily residential buildings 250k+ gsf | 2022 | June 1, 2023 |
| Group 5 | Multifamily residential buildings 25k – 250k gsf | 2023 | June 1, 2024 |
Exemptions and Waivers
An exemption can be applied for in the cases where:
- The building is less than 25,000 gross square feet. For benchmarking purposes, a "building" is any single structure utilized or intended for supporting or sheltering any occupancy, except if a single structure contains two or more individually metered units operating independently that have stand-alone heating, cooling, hot water, and other mechanical systems, and no shared interior common areas. Your building may be exempt if it contains individually owned or leased spaces where: This Covered Buildings Guide may help you determine if your building meets the County's definition of a building.
- each space is less than 25,000 gross square feet, and
- each space does not share and is not connected by any interior space (even hallways), and
- each space has its own energy systems (like HVAC and hot water heating) and there are no shared energy systems between spaces, and
- each space has separate energy utility meters.
- More than 50% of the total gross floor area of the building is used for:
- Public assembly in a building without walls; or,
- Industrial uses where the majority of energy is consumed for manufacturing, the generation of electric power or district thermal energy to be consumed offsite, or for other process loads; or,
- Transportation, communications, or utility infrastructure.
A waiver can be applied for in the cases where the property:
- Is in financial distress, defined as the building is subject of a tax lien sale or public auction due to property tax arrearages; is controlled by a court appointed receiver; or was recently acquired by a deed in lieu of foreclosure;
- On average, less than one full-time-equivalent employee occupied the building during the calendar year being reported;
- The covered building is newly constructed and has received its certificate of use and occupancy during the calendar year for which benchmarking is required; or
- The covered building was demolished or received its demolition permit during the calendar year for which benchmarking is required
Instructions for submitting a Waiver (PDF, 302 KB)
Request an Extension
If you would like to request an extension for benchmarking and reporting to the County's Benchmarking Law, please follow instructions for submitting an extension (PDF, 352 KB). Extensions are available for periods of 14 days or 30 day
Benchmarking Law Compliance
Compliance with the County's Benchmarking Law is a multi-step process that must be completed annually. By following the steps below, you’ll be able to benchmark your building, have the data verified, and report data to DEP.
DEP requires the use of ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to enter and report data each year. Please review the Montgomery County Building Energy Benchmarking HOW-TO GUIDE (PDF, 2.94 MB) for full instructions on reporting.
Need help?
Book a Benchmarking Support virtual meeting with one of DEP staff. Please book a 30 minute time slot and add your Montgomery County Building ID, building address, and a brief summary of your question in the "Notes" section.Benchmarking Help
Email the Benchmarking Helpdesk or call us at 240-777-7707 for questions about the benchmarking law, building coverage, and to be connected with resources at EPA’s Portfolio Manager or at local utilities.
You can also book a Benchmarking Support virtual meeting with one of DEP staff here. Please book a 30 minute time slot and add your Montgomery County Building ID, building address, and a brief summary of your question in the "Notes" section.
Sign-up for the Commercial Energy News, a newsletter that includes all of the Benchmarking Law updates, as well as Commercial PACE financing news, green building news, and commercial energy events.
Guides and Resources
- Official Guide: DEP has put together a comprehensive, set-by-step guide for complying with the Building Energy Benchmarking Law in Montgomery County, which includes background information, clarifying instructions, and details about reporting benchmarking data to the County. Please review the Montgomery County Building Energy Benchmarking HOW-TO GUIDE (PDF, 2.94 MB) for full instructions on how to report.
- Determine Building Coverage and Locate the Montgomery County Building ID:
- DEP’s Covered Buildings Inventory lists buildings covered by the law.
- An online GIS map created from Maryland tax assessment records may help to locate the parcel that your building sits on, and see what other buildings share your parcel.
- Montgomery County Building Energy Benchmarking Reporting Portal: Reporters must use the Montgomery County Building Energy Benchmarking Reporting Portal to submit your annual benchmarking report to Montgomery County. Within the Portal, you can:
- Claim your building(s)
- Enter and manage contact info
- Submit an extension, waiver, or exemption request
- Submit your annual benchmarking report
- Re-report data for previous calendar years or submit revisions to benchmarking data
- View compliance status and disclosed data for each building
- Apply for Technical Assistance: Montgomery County Green Bank provides technical assistance to help connect building owners to qualified benchmarking vendors and can also help offset the cost for first-time benchmarkers.
- Find a Vendor: Montgomery County Benchmarking Ambassadors have completed training about complying with Montgomery County's law and learned how to access data from utilities.
- Request Aggregated Data from Utilities:
- Pepco customers can find information on getting their Pepco data at Pepco Energy Benchmarking.
- Washington Gas customers can find information on getting aggregated gas bill data at Washington Gas Energy Benchmarking
- Potomac Edison account holders can log-in to their account on the First Energy website to retrieve their data electronically or send an email with a list of meter numbers servicing your property for commercial aggregated usage data requests.
- BG&E offers information on getting electronic BGE energy data at Automated Benchmarking.
- Submit Benchmarking Data to DEP: Review our quick guide on submitting your benchmarking report to DEP (PDF, 1.03 MB) with screenshots of how to submit data to DEP to close out your reporting.
- Common Issues: The Montgomery County Building Energy Benchmarking HOW-TO GUIDE (PDF, 2.97 MB) contains a list of common issues that building owners may experience that prevent a benchmarking report from being accepted. See the section starting on page 48.
Portfolio Manager Help
- EPA maintains a number of How-To Guides on various topics, including:
- Portfolio Manager Quick Start Guide offers the basics to setting up your Portfolio Manager account, including adding your property, entering your energy data, and seeing your results.
- Data Collection Worksheet to lookup the data needed to benchmark your property in Portfolio Manager. Additionally you can create a PDF with this information that you can use as a data collection worksheet.
- Details on Entering Your Utility Bill Data walks you through the steps to set up a meter and correctly enter data, add data to an existing meter, complete spreadsheet uploads, and information on Web Services (automated benchmarking).
- Portfolio Manager Trainings offers both live and recorded webinars, written and video tutorials, and how-to’s for specific functions of the software.
- Portfolio Manager Technical Support offers expert advice and guidance on how to benchmark your building(s) in Portfolio Manager.
Enforcement
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is responsible for the implementation of this law. The Benchmarking Law is enforceable under Method 2 regulations (including fines for noncompliance), and any violation of the law is a Class A violation. DEP will send out Notice of Violation to any building owner of a covered building that does not comply with the Law. Note that DEP is available to assist any building owner to help them comply with the law.
