The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has released the latest Energy Benchmarking Report that highlights properties between 25,000 and 250,000 square feet for the first time. The report shows a high reporting rate for the fifth consecutive year and illustrates energy savings. It also includes new tools to help building owners and residents better understand the benchmarking data.     

The Energy Benchmarking Law was adopted in 2014 and requires building owners to track and report the energy usage of commercial and multifamily buildings 25,000 square feet or greater. Reporting requirements began in 2015. Under the law, buildings are required to meet building energy performance standards (BEPS), reducing energy use over time.   

“Montgomery County was the first County in the nation to adopt a building energy benchmarking and transparency law.” said Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich. “Benchmarking is the first step to saving energy in buildings.  It takes the information from utility bills and helps building owners understand it better, allowing them to see their energy savings from year to year. I appreciate the work done to make the data accessible to the public.”  

The Energy Benchmarking Report highlights results and trends from the 2023 calendar year. The report was created to deepen understanding of energy consumption patterns, identify energy-saving opportunities and help businesses bottom lines through consistent data collection and tracking.  

Highlights include:  

• Group 5 Success from the Start: Multifamily properties between 25,000 and 250,000 square feet (Group 5) reported for the first time this year. This new group is comprised of more than 400 buildings totaling 36 million gross square feet. Seventy-five percent of Group 5 buildings have reported. Many first-time bench markers received support and subsidies through the Montgomery County Green Bank’s Technical Assistance Program for benchmarking, data verification and gross floor area measurement to ensure accurate, high-quality data.  

• High Reporting Rate: Eighty-seven percent of covered buildings have submitted energy benchmarking reports, totaling more than 225 million gross square feet of commercial and multifamily area. Ninety-three percent of covered buildings have reported or filed an extension while they work to comply. This is the fifth consecutive year with a more than 90 percent reporting rate among covered buildings.   

• Persistent Savings: Benchmarking data for consistently reported properties shows a 14 percent decrease in weather-

• 
  

• normalized site energy use intensity (site EUI) between 2018 and 2023, an average of three percent per year. County results

• mirror U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) research showing persistent energy savings in benchmarked properties. 

• 
  

• Preparing for Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS): The report provides an overview of the County’s BEPS Program. The new data tools include detailed information about projected County standards, which are currently under review by the County Council. 

The two new data tools help building owners and the public access and understand energy benchmarking data:

• 
  

• Montgomery County Building Energy Performance Map provides an interactive and user-friendly tool for investigating compliance status and energy performance data for each covered building’s current and historical benchmarking data. It also compares each building’s latest energy performance to proposed building energy performance standards.  

• 
  

• Performance Requirement Look-Up Tool provides a more in-depth view of historically reported benchmarking for each building, provides each building’s BEPS baseline and projects interim and final BEPS standards based on proposed regulations.  

“The new data tools better bring that information to the public to increase market transparency,” said DEP Director Jon Monger. “DEP appreciates building owners’ responsiveness to the benchmarking requirements and we look forward to continuing to work together as they prepare for building energy performance standards.”