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(a) The edition of the ICC International Building Code designated under Section 8-13 is the basic County building code. The construction, alteration, addition, repair, removal, demolition, use, location, occupancy, and maintenance of all buildings and structures or parts thereof, on-site access facilities to buildings and structures, and their service equipment must meet the standards and requirements in that Code, or as amended under Section 8-13.
(b) The closure of any private road must meet the standards and requirements of Chapter 22 and Chapter 49. (1975 L.M.C., ch. 1, § 2; 1975 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 4; 2003 L.M.C., ch. 16, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 35, § 1.)
Editor’s note-The above section is interpreted in Permanent Financial Corporation v. Montgomery County, 308 Md. 239, 518 A.2d 123 (1986).
(a) In this section, "County building" means any building for which the County government finances all or part of the cost of construction.
(b) All County buildings contracted for design after September 1, 1985, must meet the energy performance standards required under this section.
(c) The County Executive must adopt regulations under method (2) to establish:
(1) Minimum building energy performance standards that meet or exceed the energy performance standards established by the State of Maryland under State law;
(2) A procedure for evaluating and monitoring the appropriateness and effectiveness of the standards;
(3) A procedure for evaluating building life cycle costs during the design development phase; and
(4) An incentive program which gives the County Executive the discretion to award bonuses if the building actually performs better than the energy performance standards required under this section.
(d) The Director of General Services may grant a variance or modification of an energy performance standard if:
(1) The architect applies for the variance or modification in writing; and
(2) The Director gives notice of and a chance to comment on the application to:
(A) The County Council;
(B) The Department of Permitting Services; and
(C) The energy conservation advisory committee. (1985 L.M.C., ch. 47, § 1; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 20, § 1; 1998 L.M.C., ch. 12, § 1; 2001 L.M.C., ch. 14, § 1; 2002 L.M.C., ch. 16, § 2; 2008 L.M.C., ch. 5, § 1.)
Editor’s note—Section 8-14 is cited in Manian v. County Council for Montgomery County, 171 Md. App. 38, 908 A.2d 665 (2006).
See County Attorney Opinion dated 10/16/96 discussing an executive regulation that applies to any building for which the County finances all or part of the construction.
2008 L.M.C., ch. 5, §§ 2 and 3, state:
Sec. 2. Any responsibility or right granted by law, ordinance, regulation, delegation of authority, contract, or other document to the Department of Public Works and Transportation in connection with designing, building, and maintaining County facilities (except maintaining or renovating public parking facilities under Chapter 60, as provided for under Section 1 of this Act), maintaining County vehicles and equipment, acquiring and disposing of real property not associated with roads, bridges, and other related transportation facilities, and operating mail, printing, and duplication services, is transferred to the Department of General Services.
Sec. 3. Any regulation in effect when this Act takes effect that implements a function transferred to another Department or Office under Section 1 of this Act continues in effect, but any reference in any regulation to the Department from which the function was transferred must be treated as referring to the Department to which the function is transferred. The transfer of a function under this Act does not affect any right of a party to any legal proceeding begun before this Act took effect.
(a) Definitions. In this Section, the following words have the meanings indicated:
County building means a building which is owned or leased by the County.
Energy baseline means the amount of energy consumed each year by a County building based on historical metered data, engineering calculations, submetering of buildings or energy consuming systems, building load simulation models, statistical regression analysis, or any combination of those methods.
Energy cost savings plan means a plan to reduce a County building’s energy costs, including related operation and maintenance costs.
Energy performance contract means a contract which provides for the performance of services for the design, acquisition, installation, testing, operation, maintenance, or repair of an identified energy conservation measure or series of measures in a County building.
ENERGY STAR rating means the ENERGY STAR rating developed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency which reflects a building’s energy efficiency.
Energy unit savings plan means a plan to reduce the amount of energy used by a County building, as measured in kilowatt hours or British thermal units.
National energy performance rating system means the rating system developed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency under which a building may obtain the ENERGY STAR rating.
Office of Energy and Sustainability or Office means the Office of Energy and Sustainability in the Department of General Services created under Section 18A-14.
(b) Requirements. The Office of Energy and Sustainability must:
(1) develop an energy baseline, energy unit savings plan, and energy cost savings plan for each County building;
(2) submit an initial report to the County Executive and County Council by February 1, 2015 which summarizes the energy baseline, energy unit savings plan, and energy cost savings plan for each County building; and
(3) submit an annual report to the County Executive and County Council by February 1 of each year that summarizes the steps taken in the preceding fiscal year to implement the energy unit savings plan and energy cost savings plan for each County building.
(c) Energy performance contracts. Each energy unit savings plan and energy cost savings plan that the Office prepares under subsection (b) must include a plan to use an energy performance contract unless the Office finds that the cost of using an energy performance contract outweighs the benefit. (2008 L.M.C., ch. 7, § 1; 2014 L.M.C., ch. 15, § 1.)
(a) Definitions. In this Section, the following terms have the meanings indicated.
County building means a building, whether existing or newly constructed, that is owned or leased by the County where County employees work.
County employee has the meaning stated in Section 33-6.
Department means the Department of General Services.
Director means the Director of General Services or the Director’s designee.
Lactation room means a designated sanitary room, other than a bathroom, made available for expressing breast milk, that:
(1) is shielded from view;
(2) is free from public or coworker intrusion;
(3) displays appropriate signage that indicates “lactation room” or “nursing room;” and
(4) contains the following:
(A) a chair;
(B) a flat surface to place a breast pump;
(C) can be locked or secured from the inside;
(D) a small refrigerator;
(E) a microwave;
(F) at least one or more electrical outlets; and
(G) any other related supplies as provided in regulations.
(b) Lactation room – required.
(1) New Construction. The Department must provide at least one lactation room that includes a sink with running water in each newly constructed County building that is available for use by any County employee to express breast milk.
(2) Existing Buildings. Except as provided in subsection (c) or (d), the Department must provide at least one lactation room in an existing County building that includes a sink with running water and plumbing systems. If a sink with running water and plumbing systems cannot be provided, the lactation room must have nearby access to running water.
(c) Alternative Accommodation. If the Director determines that a County building does not have a room that could be repurposed as a lactation room, at a reasonable cost, the Department must consider alternative accommodations. Alternative accommodation includes installing or creating a space for a portable lactation room or station.
(1) The Executive may enter into a memorandum of understanding between the Department and an owner that offers, for sale or lease, a portable lactation room or station to meet the requirement for subsection (c).
(d) Exceptions. A County building may be excluded from the requirement under subsection (b), if the building:
(1) is solely a warehouse;
(2) is primarily used for archives; or
(3) would require new construction to create a lactation room and the cost of such construction is unfeasible.
(e) Regulations. The Director may promulgate Method (2) regulations to implement the requirements of this Section.
(f) Assessment. The Department must complete, or cause to be completed, an assessment and survey of all applicable County buildings for the inclusion of a lactation room.
(g) Reporting. The Department must report to the County Council any findings, outcomes, and progress of the assessment required under subsection (f). (2022 L.M.C., ch. 26, §1.)
Editor’s note—2022 L.M.C., ch. 26, §2, states: Sec. 2. Effective Date. The County Executive must issue any policy and regulations required under this Act within 6 months after the effective date of this Act. Subsection (f) of Section 8-14(C), added under Section 1 of this Act, an assessment must take effect 3 months after the Act becomes law. Subsection (b)(2) and (c) of Section 8-14(C), added under Section 1 of this Act, requires complete planning, design, construction, or installation of lactation rooms in the highest occupancy buildings, as identified in the assessment report, this must take effect 9 months after the Act becomes law [8/7/2023]. Subsection (b)(2) of Section 8-14(C), added under Section 1 of this Act, requires all remaining existing buildings to include a lactation room, this must take effect 21 months after the Act becomes law [8/7/2024]. Subsection (g) of Section 8-14(C), added under Section 1 of this Act, periodic reporting must occur at 3 months, 9 months, and 21 months after the Act becomes law.
Former Section 8-14C, Private buildings - incentives, derived from 2008 L.M.C., ch. 7, § 1, was repealed by 2014 L.M.C., ch. 15, § 1.
(a) Definitions. In this section, the following words have the meanings indicated:
All-electric building means a public or private building that contains no combustion equipment, or plumbing for combustion equipment, installed within the building or building site.
Combustion equipment means any equipment or appliance used for space heating, service water heating, cooking, clothes drying and/or lighting that uses fuel gas or fuel oil.
New construction means the construction of any new stand-alone building, with no remnants of any prior structure or physical connection to existing structures or outbuildings on the property.
(b) Standards. The County Executive must issue Method (1) regulations to establish all-electric building standards for all new construction as part of the building code.
(1) The regulations must include a code modification process. A code modification must only be granted if the resulting building is carbon-neutral or net-zero.
(2) The regulations may include additional exemptions not listed in section 8-14D(c) if all-electric building standards cannot be applied to the system or use due to practical difficulty or undue hardship.
(c) Exemptions. All-electric building standards do not apply to:
(1) the emergency backup systems of buildings that require an emergency system and hence backup power;
(2) buildings primarily used by a utility regulated by the Maryland Public Service Commission for the generation of electric power or steam;
(3) buildings used to treat sewage or food waste;
(4) commercial kitchen equipment in an eating and drinking establishment that satisfies the requirements of Chapter 15;
(5) gas-powered fireplaces and gas-fired outdoor grills;
(6) applications for building permits submitted to the Department prior to the effective date of the regulation;
(7) district combined heat and powers facilities; and
(8) buildings used for the following uses, as defined in Chapter 59:
(A) Manufacturing and Production uses;
(B) Crematory;
(C) Life Sciences;
(D) Hospital; and
(E) Farming and Farm Alcohol Production.
(d) Reports.
(1) The County Executive must submit a report to the County Council regarding the system capacity needs and investments required for an all-electric building code standard no later than September 30, 2024, and not before December 1, 2023. This report must include a review of any studies issued by the Public Service Commission and should include information provided by the utility companies that service Montgomery County.
(2) The Department of Permitting Services must arrange for an annual audit that assesses a representative sample of new construction that complies with this section. The audit must include the number of applications submitted for new construction, the number of waivers granted, current electric rates for consumers, and an analysis of any alternative energy sources used. A complete copy of the audit findings must be submitted to the County Council on June 1 each year, beginning June 1, 2028. (2022 L.M.C., ch. 38, §1; 2023 L.M.C., ch. 21
, § 1.)
Editor’s note—2022 L.M.C., ch. 38, §§ 2 and 3, as amended by 2023 L.M.C., ch. 21
, § 1, state: Sec. 2. Effective Date. The County Executive must issue all-electric building standards for new construction no later than December 31, 2026.
Sec. 3. All-Electric Transition. Section 8-14D(b) of this Act must not apply to building permit applications submitted before December 31, 2027, for: (1) housing development projects where 50 percent or more of the dwelling units are moderately priced dwelling units as defined by Chapter 25A, or a similar instrument with a federal, state, or local government for the creation or preservation of income-restricted or market-rate affordable housing; (2) public or private schools; or (3) residential buildings with four or more stories.
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