Thank you to all who attended the Montgomery County Energy Summit! The summit serves to prepare the commercial building community for energy benchmarking compliance, building performance standards and building codes.

Exhibitors from different organizations and companies showcased their own services. Speakers included Council President Evan Glass, Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Deputy Director Vicky Wan, and Chief Administrative Officer Rich Madaleno, who spoke on behalf of County Executive Marc Elrich. 

If you missed it, check out a video about the summit. Presentation slides are available under the agenda item for each topic on the Energy Summit website.

Calendar year 2022 energy benchmarking reports must be submitted to DEP by June 1. 

This year, commercial buildings 25,000 gross square feet and greater and multifamily buildings gross square feet and greater must report, many of them for the first time!

Please visit the Energy Benchmarking website for more information and resources. We have been busy fielding questions so if you need help or get stuck, please contact us at Energy@MontgomeryCountyMD.gov.

DEP spoke with Craig Pardini, CSAAC’s Director of Infrastructure Operations, about their numerous solar installations. 

CSAAC manages 3 commercial campuses and 76 residential group homes in Montgomery County and has developed ground-mount and rooftop solar projects. 

The ground-mount system at the Jane Salzano Center for Autism provides 100% of electricity for the 37,000 square foot building and 10 residential group homes. 

With their current solar systems and three new systems in the works, most of CSAAC’s locations will be powered by offset by the energy from the sun, freeing up money that can be used throughout CSAAC in other program areas. Learn more.

The Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Clean Energy Center will be hosting an online Commercial Building Retuning class starting on May 3, 2023. Building retuning is a systematic process to identify and correct building operational problems that lead to energy waste. The goal is to identify measures that can be implemented at no or low cost other than the labor required to perform the re-tuning process. Principles and techniques covered in this course have the potential to save between 5% and 25% of all energy used in a commercial building.

The cost of this 8-hour virtual course is $749. Interested students should contact their utility provider to find out if they qualify for incentive pricing through the EmPOWER Maryland Program (like Pepco's O&M Training). 

If you were at the Energy Summit, the audit demos were a small preview of some of the topics that will be covered. Register online by April 26. For questions or assistance, email Lindsey Harner at lah17@pct.edu.

ASHRAE Tech Awards provide an opportunity to have your project and design team recognized by ASHRAE, from the chapter level, to the regional level, even up to ASHRAE society level. Have you worked on a project that incorporated innovative design approaches, or achieved noteworthy sustainability metrics? New construction, existing building renovations, and existing building commissioning projects are all welcome. 

Apply by April 30.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) opened a request for proposals (RFP) for multi-disciplinary expert teams to address hard-to-solve technical challenges of decarbonizing the existing U.S. residential housing stock.

Applicant teams will consist of community organizations, research institutions, utility and industry trades, and other appropriate experts. Teams selected through the RFP will develop projects focused on reducing carbon emissions from homes through retrofit solutions. They will collaborate with DOE, the National Labs, and other industry experts to support community-focused retrofit projects. These projects will address technical challenges through field validation and demonstration, measurement and verification, and workforce training. 

The RFP is open through May 9, 2023 and responses should be submitted online. Apply today!

Lots of exciting opportunities available! Check out My Green Montgomery’s Green Job Portal for climate and sustainability jobs, including open positions with the County Department of Environmental Protection, Department of General Services, NASA’s Earth Science Division, and more. 

Maryland is Leading the Transition to All Electric Buildings (Green Building Law Update)

Maryland can build more than 3,500 MW of energy storage by 2033: report (Utility Dive)

Moore: State to partner with UMD research center to help implement ambitious climate goals (Maryland Matters)

What Is the Role of Renewables in Building Electrification and Efficiency? (Facilities Net)

Here’s where renewable power is increasing (and where it’s not) (Maryland Matters)

The heat pump revolution is here. This is what you need to know (The Guardian)

EIA: Several factors will force continued decline in U.S. energy CO2 emissions (Daily Energy Insider)

Efficiency, demand response and EV charging are priorities for commercial building sector: GridPoint survey (Utility Dive)

Geothermal Heat Pumps — Clean Energy 101 (CleanTechnica)

USGBC and IWBI Release Streamlined Certification Pathway for LEED and WELL (USGBC)