The Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) has released draft guidance on the implementation of its state-wide Building Energy Performance Standard (BEPS) regulations.
The guidance, linked here, provides deadlines and instructions related to reporting building energy use and emissions beginning in July 2025, definitions of exempt building types and uses, special instructions for reporting by buildings served by district energy facilities, and formulas on how to calculate energy use limitations and non-compliance penalties.
The draft guidance will be followed by publishing the proposed regulations in September with a target of December 2023 to adopt final regulations. Background on the BEPS can be viewed on the MDE BEPS website, linked here.
The BEPS will require multifamily and commercial buildings 35,000 square feet or larger (with some exceptions) to reduce direct greenhouse gas emissions 20% by 2030 and reach net zero direct emissions by 2040. The regulations also establish energy use limitations, reporting requirements, exemptions, and waivers. It also establishes a non-compliance fee based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s draft social cost of carbon, which would penalize building owners $230 per ton of greenhouse gas emissions that exceed established limits beginning in 2030.
NAIOP and 60 other organizations submitted comments to MDE during an informal comment period that ended in June. In response, the department made some minor changes but did not address the central concerns raised by the industry or many of the other commenters. A copy of NAIOP Maryland’s June 6th comment letter is linked here.