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Thursday, February 17, 2022 | Department of Environmental Protection
Calendar year 2021 energy use data for non-residential buildings 50,000 square feet and greater must be reported by June 1, 2022. The 2021 reporting link is now online and open. You must use this link to submit your completed report to the County: **Calendar Year 2021 Reporting Link for All Covered Buildings 50,000 Square Feet and Greater**. Whether you are a pro or new to the benchmarking process, we are here to help!
To prepare for a successful report please review the instructions below:
- Review Montgomery County Building ID
- Collect Energy Data
- Review Property Type Inputs
- Use Portfolio Manager’s New Verification Fields to Verify
- Opt to Submit a Waiver
Review Montgomery County Building ID
Montgomery County DEP has moved to a new system for energy benchmarking data management that makes it critical that you update your Montgomery County Building ID (MBID) number to exactly match our records, including the leading zeros. If you had entered multiple IDs before, we have also assigned one “parent” property to the submissions such that only the parent ID should be entered. Please contact DEP if you are unsure about your ID.
Collect Energy Data
Your utility can help you collect energy data from January 1 through December 31, 2021. The utility data aggregation service is especially beneficial to building owners with several buildings and many meters, particularly where tenants pay the utility bills. Utilities will provide whole-property, aggregated data, and in many cases sync it with Portfolio Manager automatically.
- If you have 5 or more meters, you can request whole-building/aggregate data without tenant authorization.
- If you have 4 or fewer meters, you can request data from your utility but must obtain authorization from any tenants to obtain their energy data.
Utility benchmarking pages and contacts:
Review Property Type Inputs
Property use details should be reviewed and updated each year to ensure ENERGY STAR scores and other benchmarking metrics are accurately calculated. Most important is to ensure your Property Type is entered accurately.
Also, as COVID-19 changed the way many buildings were operated, it is important to review Weekly Operating Hours and Number of Workers on Main Shift before reporting to DEP. For more information, please review DEP’s instructions and step-by-step guidance for updating use details.
Use Portfolio Manager’s New Verification Fields to Verify
Data verification is required the first year of reporting and every three years thereafter. Properties that last had calendar year 2018 data verified are due to complete and report updated data verification information with this year’s submission. When submitting 2021 benchmarking data be sure to double check whether you are due for data verification or email us if you are unsure.
To better track data verification, the EPA has added additional data verification fields to Portfolio Manager. For more information, please review DEP’s instructions and step-by-step guidance with screenshots for entering verification details.
Opt to Submit a Waiver
DEP encourages building owners to report benchmarking data as normal to avoid gaps in data and so that we may analyze changes to Montgomery County building stock brought about by COVID-19. However, if your property had average physical occupancy less than 50% throughout 2021, you may opt to file a waiver application and may do so here any time between now and May 1, 2022. Select 2022 for the reporting year.
The BEPS technical report to inform regulations that will follow Bill 16-21 is now available on DEP's BEPS website.
The report contains a review of building stock and energy data, a recommended method for setting building performance standards with a range of possible targets, case studies detailing how different standards can be achieved, and an estimate of the total capital investment to reach the standards and resulting energy and GHG reductions.
Download the full BEPS Technical Report or sections:
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Each year over the President’s Day weekend, Maryland shoppers can take advantage of our state’s Shop Maryland Energy Tax Free Weekend and save the 6% sales tax on qualifying ENERGY STAR appliances; beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, February 19, through midnight on Monday February 21, 2022. |
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