Council hears DEP and Green Bank on revised Building Energy Performance Standards; vote set for Feb. 25

The Montgomery County Council on a Feb. 2025 work session reviewed amended executive regulation 17-23 (Building Energy Performance Standards, BEPS) and heard Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Montgomery County Green Bank staff explain implementation details, funding and technical assistance. The Transportation and Environment Committee recommended approval 3–0; the council scheduled action for Feb. 25, with a statutory 60‑day method-2 deadline of Feb. 28 noted in the session.

Why it matters: BEPS implements a county law directing large commercial and multifamily buildings to benchmark energy use and meet interim and final performance standards over a long timeline. The regulations define how standards are calculated, include compliance options and set explicit flexibilities to account for building differences and concerns raised by hospitals, life-science firms, affordable-housing providers, common-ownership communities and others.

Department presentation and key changes: John Monger, director of the Department of Environmental Protection, said the regulations were revised after year-long stakeholder engagement and emphasized the program's role in meeting county climate goals. He described the addition of a 30% performance cap and other modifications as responses to stakeholder input: "This provides flexibilities for those buildings that are furthest away from their standard," Monger said. Emily Curley, DEP's Building Energy…