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Wednesday, May 7, 2025 | Department of Environmental Protection
Less than a month remains to before the June 2nd deadline to submit your 2024 Montgomery County Building Energy Benchmarking Report.
To date, over 30% of covered buildings have already been reported. If you need help, we have compiled resources to help you comply.
- Green Bank Technical Assistance
The Montgomery County Green Bank provides benchmarking technical assistance to connect property owners with a service provider to benchmark the building and verify data if required and provide financial support to help cover the costs.
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.
Need a quick refresher? The Benchmarking HOW-TO GUIDE has detailed guidance and step-by-step instructions. Once you're ready to submit, this quick guide walks you through the process to submit your benchmarking report to DEP.
If you have any questions or need any further assistance, please contact us at energy@montgomerycountymd.gov. You may also find answers to your questions by visiting the DEP's Benchmarking Website.
The 2025 Montgomery County Energy Summit, "Beyond Benchmarking: Navigating Energy
Performance," successfully brought together over 300 industry professionals, sustainability experts, and community leaders for a dynamic two-day event focused on energy innovation and environmental stewardship. The Summit fostered meaningful networking opportunities, facilitated valuable knowledge exchange, and ignited conversations that will drive positive industry change.
Whether you joined us in person or are revisiting the content, we’ve made it easy to access more information.
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Session presentations can be viewed and downloaded online
- Catch up with exhibitors from Innovation Alley
- Order plenary speaker Carl Elefante's book, Going for Zero
- View and share photos from the event
- Don't forget to self-report the CEUs for sessions attended on Wednesday 4/9
Save the date for next year! The 2026 Energy Summit will be held April 28 - 29, 2026 at the Silver Spring Civic Building.
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Beginning in 2025, many buildings 35,000 gross square feet and larger are subject to the State of Maryland's benchmarking and building energy performance standards requirements. Building owners are required to annually benchmark buildings subject to the performance standards and must submit previous calendar year whole building energy consumption data online through ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager by June 1 each year, starting in 2025. For 2025 only, the benchmarking deadline has been extended to September 1, 2025.
Legislation (HB 49) passed by the Maryland General Assembly this session would exempt buildings in Montgomery County from having to comply with the State's benchmarking and BEPS requirements. Buildings covered by the County's benchmarking/BEPS program would instead be subject to County requirements. The bill is currently awaiting the Governor's signature, but if signed (or not vetoed) this exemption would go into effect on October 1.
DEP recommends focusing on meeting the County’s June 2 benchmarking deadline first. DEP's benchmarking website will be updated with additional guidance from MDE regarding the September 1 Maryland benchmarking deadline as soon as it becomes available.
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The Montgomery County Green Bank launched its Technical Assistance (TA) Program in
2023 to accelerate clean energy and resiliency investments in commercial and multifamily buildings
across Montgomery County. The program helps property owners assess the feasibility and value of energy conservation measures, comply with Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS), and improve building performance through subsidized technical studies.
To support this growth, the Green Bank is seeking a Technical Assistance Program Administrator to oversee and manage the TA Program’s operations. The selected firm will be responsible for intake management, technical assessment, subsidy evaluation, tracking, reporting, and coordination among stakeholders including TA vendors, property owners, and Green Bank staff.
Responses will be accepted on a rolling basis. Service providers are encouraged to submit responses by May 16, 2025 for priority consideration. Learn more.
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The Maryland Clean Energy Center (MCEC) is supporting the City of Takoma Park in the development and procurement of a rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) generation system to comply with the requirements of the Public Facilities Solar Grant from the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA), of which the City of Takoma Park is a recipient.
The desired outcome of this effort is the successful installation of a 64.8kW rooftop solar system at the City’s new library, with the City retaining ownership of the system.
Learn more and view the RFP here. The proposal submission deadline is 12:00 p.m., Friday, May 30, 2025.
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The UU Church of Silver Spring, a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Silver Spring, MD, is set to undergo energy efficiency upgrades through Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy, or C-PACE, financing. The energy efficiency upgrades include a 25kW roof top solar system, LED lighting, HVAC heat pumps, upgraded insulation and high efficiency windows. Over the next 20 years, these energy conservation measures will result in 1,326,140 kWh in energy savings and $321,680 in reduced electricity bills for the church.
Read the case study.
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6.1 MW Community Solar Power Project Completed In DC (CleanTechnica)
County Council lifts cap on downtown Bethesda development (Bethesda Magazine)
Other News
Trump admin plans to shut down money-saving Energy Star program soon, sources say (CNN)
How to decarbonize every building everywhere — just not all at once (Canary Media)
Resilient Design: 4 Apartment Case Studies (Multi-Housing News)
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May 9 | Affordable Housing Conference of Montgomery County
34th Annual Affordable Housing Summit, The Future of Affordable Housing: Weathering the Storm
May 10, 9 am - 5 pm | Electrify DC
Healthy Homes Fair
May 13, 4 - 5 pm | Montgomery County Green Bank
Going Solar in Montgomery County: Your Options
May 22, 3:30 - 6:30 pm | Asian Americans in Energy (AE2C)
Energizing the Future – What Might the Future Power Market Look Like?
Jun 17, 10 am - 2 pm | Greater Washington Region Clean Cities Coalition
Environmental Justice Summit 2025
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