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In order to be eligible for this Program, the following criteria must be met:
(a) Eligibility.
(1) The property must be a qualified property.
(2) Before any loan is approved under the Program, the County must give due regard to the property owner’s ability to repay a loan in a manner substantially similar to that required for a mortgage loan under Sections 1-401, 12-127, 12-311, 12-409.1, 12-925, and 12-1029 of the Commercial Law Article of the Maryland Code. The County has authority to deny approval of any loan under the Program that, in its sole determination, does not meet these Sections of the Maryland Code.
(3) The property owner must submit the following to the lender at the time of application for funding:
(A) express written consent of any holder of an existing mortgage or deed of trust on a qualified property;
(B) verification that there are no delinquent fees, taxes, water or sewer charges, liens, or other special assessments on the qualified property;
(C) describe and certify on an application submitted for review that best efforts will be used to contract for services with a minority-owned business enterprise, small business, or County-based business for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other approved climate related improvements; and
(D) confirmation that:
(i) the proposed Climate Related Improvement will be properly permitted and permanently affixed to the qualified property and comply with all applicable State and federal statutes and regulations, as determined by the appropriate regulatory authority; or
(ii) final inspection of an installed Climate Related Improvement has occurred within a one-year (12 months) period immediately preceding the date of Program application.
(4) For new commercial construction, the property must be designed to meet or exceed the energy performance required by the County building code that is in effect at the time a property owner applies to participate in the Program.
(5) The loan amount under this Program must meet the following criteria:
(A) Existing commercial construction. This subsection, 18A-35(a)(5)(A), shall be in effect for five (5) calendar years after the effective date of this amendment unless further legislative action is taken to extend it. After such date, loan amounts are subject to the conditions set by subsection 18A-35(a)(5)(C) or may be set at a higher amount subject to Director approval.
(i) The loan amount must be at least $5,000 and not more than 30% of either the full cash value or the appraised value of the qualified property.
(ii) The loan amount, together with the outstanding balance of the mortgage or deed of trust, must be no more than 90% of either the full cash value or the appraised value of the qualified property.
(iii) The full cash value is determined by the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation. The appraised value must be determined by a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser and must have been certified no more than 12 months before the date of the loan application.
(B) For new commercial construction. This subsection, 18A-35(a)(5)(B), shall be in effect for five (5) calendar years after the effective date of this amendment unless further legislative action is taken to extend it. After such date, loan amounts are subject to the conditions set by subsection 18A-35(a)(5)(D) or may be set at a higher amount subject to Director approval.
(i) If a qualified property is designed to meet or exceed the energy performance required by the County building code by no more than 5%, the maximum loan amount must not exceed 20% of the full cash value or appraised value of the qualified property.
(ii) If a qualified property is designed to exceed the energy performance required by the County building code by 5% or greater, the maximum loan amount must not exceed 30% of the full cash value or appraised value of the qualified property.
(iii) The loan amount, together with the outstanding balance of the mortgage or deed of trust, must be no more than 90% of either the full cash value or the appraised value of the qualified property.
(iv) The full cash value and appraised value of the property must be determined based on the estimated value of the property as completed. The appraised value must be determined by a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser and must have been certified no more than 12 months before the date of the loan application.
(C) Existing commercial construction.
(i) The loan amount must be at least $5,000 and not more than 20% of either the full cash value or the appraised value of the qualified property.
(ii) The loan amount, together with the outstanding balance of the mortgage or deed of trust, must be no more than 90% of either the full cash value or the appraised value of the qualified property.
(iii) The full cash value is determined by the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation. The appraised value must be determined by a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser and must have been certified no more than 12 months before the date of the loan application.
(D) For new commercial construction.
(i) If a qualified property is designed to meet or exceed the energy performance required by the County building code by no more than 5%, the maximum loan amount must not exceed 15% of the full cash value or appraised value of the qualified property.
(ii) If a qualified property is designed to exceed the energy performance required by the County building code by 5% or greater, the maximum loan amount must not exceed 20% of the full cash value or appraised value of the qualified property.
(iii) The loan amount, together with the outstanding balance of the mortgage or deed of trust, must be no more than 90% of either the full cash value or the appraised value of the qualified property.
(iv) The full cash value and appraised value of the property must be determined based on the estimated value of the property as completed. The appraised value must be determined by a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser and must have been certified no more than 12 months before the date of the loan application.
(b) Property assessed clean energy surcharge.
(1) The property owner of qualified property must agree to repay the amount financed through a Surcharge levied on the County’s real property tax bill for the qualified property.
(2) A Surcharge must be imposed under a written agreement between the private lender and the County. The Surcharge will be recorded in land records of the County, at the expense of the owner, within 30 days of the execution of a clean energy loan financing agreement.
(3) As a condition for entering into an agreement under the Program, the private lender must provide the County designated program manager and the Department a copy of the loan documents and documents that verify:
(A) the property owner’s ability to repay the Property Assessed Clean Energy loan in a manner substantially similar to that required for a mortgage loan;
(B) there are no delinquent taxes, special assessments, liens, or water or sewer charges on the qualified property;
(C) there are no delinquent assessments on the qualified property under the Program;
(D) existing mortgage or deed of trust lender consent;
(E) appraised value of the qualified property as certified in the appraisal report submitted by a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser if the eligibility requirement in 18A-35(a)(4) is based on the appraised value of the qualified property;
(F) loan to value documentation; and
(G) any other financial or program document that the Director deems necessary.
(4) In addition to the administrative fees in Section 18A-34(c), the County may collect an administrative fee through the Surcharge to cover charges relating to lending, program management, billing, or collection. (2015 L.M.C., ch. 16, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 23, § 1; 2017 L.M.C., ch. 12, §1; 2018 L.M.C., ch. 31, §1; 2019 L.M.C., ch. 9, § 1;
2019 L.M.C., ch. 23
, §1; 2022 L.M.C., ch. 9, §1; 2023 L.M.C., ch. 21, § 1.)
(a) The County must collect the amount financed through a Surcharge on the property owner’s real property tax bill and forward payments received by the County to the County designated program manager or, if there is no County designated program manager, to the lender no later than 30 days after the payment due dates for real property taxes. Payment due dates for semi-annual real property taxes are September 30 for the first installment and December 31 for the second installment, and for annual real property taxes the payment due date is September 30.
(b) After receiving written notice from the County designated program manager of the execution of a clean energy loan financing agreement, the County must add the Surcharge to the property tax bill.
(c) If the property owner sells the qualified property, the buyer must continue to pay the Surcharge levied on the annual property tax bill.
(d) The Surcharge and any accrued interest or penalty constitutes a first lien on the real property to which the Surcharge applies until paid. An unpaid Surcharge will be, until paid, a lien on the qualified property on which it is imposed from the date it becomes payable. The Surcharge will accrue interest and penalty and will be treated and collected like all other County property taxes. Any delinquency will be collected through the County Tax Sale process. The provisions of Title 14, Subtitle 8 of the Tax – Property Article of the Maryland Code that apply to a tax lien will also apply to the lien created under this law. Any delinquent Surcharge collected through the County Tax Sale process must be forwarded to the County designated program manager or, if there is no County designated program manager, to the lender no later than 30 days after the payment was received. (2015 L.M.C., ch. 16, § 1; 2018 L.M.C., ch. 31, §1; 2022 L.M.C., ch. 9, §1.)
(a) The Executive may adopt regulations under Method (2) to administer the Program.
(b) The Executive must submit an annual report to the County Council by March 15 of each year describing program participation, number and dollar value of Surcharge billed and collected, and other relevant information pertaining to the prior calendar year.
(c) The report must include details about outreach and education efforts by the designated program manager to encourage and disseminate information related to contracting with minority-owned businesses, including marketing strategies, promotions, availability of online directory, and website presence. (2015 L.M.C., ch. 16, § 1; 2022 L.M.C., ch. 9, §1.)
The intent of this Article is to:
(a) implement recommendations of the 2009 Climate Protection Plan (EEC-2), 2013 Commercial Building Energy Efficiency study (Chapter 3.2), and support efforts of the Office of Sustainability to increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the private sector and County buildings;
(b) engage the commercial and multi-family residential building sector with building energy information crucial to adopting energy conservation and efficiency opportunities;
(c) spur market transformation by making building performance transparent for the building and tenant market, allowing more accurate evaluation of energy costs and creating a competitive market for energy efficient buildings;
(d) strengthen the local economy by encouraging more efficient business operations and providing new opportunities for local businesses that provide energy conservation and efficiency services;
(e) recognize building owners that have made investments to improve their building energy performance and expand in-house capacity for energy management; and
(f) improve the energy performance of covered buildings through established building energy performance standards, therefore, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the built environment and helping the County achieve its climate action goal of zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2035. (2015 L.M.C., ch. 51, § 1; 2022 L.M.C., ch. 13, §1.)
In this Article, the following words have the meanings indicated:
Affordable housing means a multi-family building that includes at least 50% of dwelling units whose sale or rental price do not exceed that of a moderately-priced dwelling unit under Chapter 25A.
Benchmark means to track and input a building’s energy consumption data and other relevant building information for 12 consecutive months, as required by the benchmarking tool, to quantify the building’s energy use.
Benchmarking tool means the website-based software, commonly known as ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, or any successor system, approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to track and assess the relative energy use of buildings nationwide.
Building means:
(1) any single structure utilized or intended for supporting or sheltering any occupancy, except if a single structure contains two or more individually metered units operating independently that have stand-alone heating, cooling, hot water, and other mechanical systems, and no shared interior common areas, or;
(2) two or more structures utilized or intended for supporting or sheltering any occupancy, that:
(A) are serviced by a common energy meter;
(B) have a common heating or cooling system;
(C) share interior common areas; or
(D) whose configuration otherwise prevents an accurate determination of the energy consumption attributable to each individual structure.
Building energy performance standard means a policy that sets a minimum required level of energy performance for covered buildings.
Building performance improvement plan means a document in a format approved by the Director submitted by a covered building owner and approved by the Director as described in this Article.
Building type means a category of covered buildings subject to the same final performance standards.
Certificate of use and occupancy means the certificate issued by the Director that allows a building to be occupied and used.
County-owned covered building means a building owned by the County whose gross floor area equals or exceeds 25,000 square feet.
Covered building means a County-owned, Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, Group 4, or Group 5 covered building.
Data center means a space designed and equipped to meet the needs of high density computing equipment such as server racks, used for data storage and processing, as defined by the benchmarking tool.
Department means the Department of Environmental Protection.
Director means the Director of the Department or the Director’s designee.
Energy performance score or ENERGY STAR score means the numerical score produced by the benchmarking tool, or any successor score, that assesses a building’s energy performance compared to similar buildings, based on source energy use, operating characteristics, and geographic location.
Final performance standard means the numeric value of site EUI that each covered building must ultimately achieve.
Gross floor area means the total building square footage measured between the principal exterior surfaces of the enclosing fixed walls of a building. Gross floor area consists of all areas inside the building, including lobbies, tenant areas, common areas, meeting rooms, break rooms, the base level of atriums, restrooms, elevator shafts, stairwells, mechanical equipment areas, basements, and storage rooms. Gross floor area does not include exterior spaces, balconies, patios, exterior loading docks, driveways, covered walkways, outdoor play courts (e.g., tennis, basketball), parking, the interstitial space between floors (which house pipes and ventilation), and crawl spaces. Gross floor area is not the same as rentable space, but rather includes all areas inside the building(s).
Group 1 covered building means a privately owned nonresidential covered building whose gross floor area equals or exceeds 250,000 square feet.
Group 2 covered building means a privately owned nonresidential covered building whose gross floor area equals or exceeds 50,000 square feet but is less than 250,000 square feet.
Group 3 covered building means:
(1) a privately owned nonresidential covered building whose gross floor area equals or exceeds 25,000 square feet but is less than 50,000 square feet, or
(2) a privately owned nonresidential covered building whose gross floor area equals or exceeds 50,000 square feet and whose use type was previously exempted under this Article.
Group 4 covered building means a privately owned multifamily residential or mixed-use covered building whose gross floor area equals or exceeds 250,000 square feet.
Group 5 covered building means a privately owned multifamily residential or mixed-use building whose gross floor area equals or exceeds 25,000 square feet but is less than 250,000 square feet.
Interim performance standard means the numeric value of site EUI which covered buildings must achieve or exceed by a fixed date every four (4) years from a covered building’s performance baseline.
Interior common area means shared space within a building such as hallways, lobbies, stairwells, and other shared amenities (e.g., gyms, laundry rooms, party rooms).
Mixed-use building means a building that contains both residential units and commercial space.
Net site EUI means site energy use minus energy generated from the renewable energy allowance divided by the total gross floor area of the building expressed in thousands of British thermal units per gross square 119 feet (kBtu/GSF).
Newly constructed covered building means a covered building whose owner has completed construction, received a use and occupancy permit, and is able to begin benchmarking the building’s energy use and other characteristics.
Normalized net site energy means the site energy use by the covered building normalized for weather and other characteristics within the limits of the capabilities of the benchmarking tool and normalized for other factors as determined by the Department minus energy generated from the renewable energy allowance.
Normalized net site EUI means the total normalized net site energy use consumed by a covered building in one year divided by the total gross floor area of the building expressed in kBtu/GSF.
Owner means an individual or legal entity in whose name a building is titled, or in the case of a community association, the governing body of either a condominium or a cooperative housing corporation.
Performance baseline means the normalized net site EUI for a covered building averaged over two calendar years.
Performance metric means an objectively verifiable numeric measure of normalized site EUI to determine building performance.
Process load means energy consumed for bona fide purposes other than heating, cooling, ventilation, domestic hot water, lighting, appliances, office equipment, data centers, or other plug loads.
Recognized data verifier means a Professional Engineer or a Registered Architect, or another trained individual whose professional license or building energy training program credential is recognized by the Director.
Reported benchmarking information means the descriptive information about a building, its operating characteristics, and information generated by the benchmarking tool regarding the building’s energy consumption, efficiency, and performance. Reported benchmarking information includes the building identification number, address, gross floor area, energy performance score, site energy use intensity, and annual greenhouse gas emissions.
Site energy use means all energy used onsite by a covered building to meet the energy loads of a building, including electricity delivered to the building through the electric grid and generated onsite with renewable sources; natural gas; district steam; district hot and chilled water; diesel; propane; fuel oil; wood; coal; and other fuels used onsite. Site energy use does not include electricity used to charge vehicles.
Site energy use intensity or site EUI means a numeric value calculated by the benchmarking tool that represents the energy consumed by a covered building relative to its size in terms of energy used per square foot of gross floor area per year.
Tenant means a person or legal entity occupying or holding possession of a building, part of a building, or premises under a rental agreement. (2014 L.M.C., ch. 6
, § 1; 2015 L.M.C., ch. 51
, §1; 2017 L.M.C., ch. 12
, §1; 2022 L.M.C., ch. 13
, §1; 2023 L.M.C., ch. 21
, § 1.)
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