Montgomery County BEPS requires annual benchmarking via EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, due June 1st of each year and requiring the reporting of energy usage data for the entirety of the previous calendar year.

Covered buildings must also meet site energy use intensity (site EUI) standards, a measure of the energy use per square foot, based on each building’s property type or types.

There are two options for compliance:

1. Meet the interim and final performance standard by reducing energy consumption and/or adding onsite renewable energy. All onsite renewable energy is provided with a “credit” towards the performance target. or
2. Create and implement a Building Performance Improvement Plan (BPIP). This path requires an ASHRAE Level 2 energy audit and an assessment of electrification and renewable energy feasibility. Based on the results of the audit, the building owner must submit a retrofit plan that outlines “cost effective” energy improvement measures with a simple payback of less than or equal to the effective useful life of the measure (or less than 10 years for specially designed buildings), along with the year(s) or qualifying event(s) that will prompt the implementation of each measure. Buildings pursuing the BPIP pathway are still required to submit annual benchmarking and complete their retrofit plan but are not subject to meeting a site EUI performance target.