Sec. 18A-42B. Building performance improvement plans.

   (a)   If a covered building owner cannot reasonably meet one or more of the applicable interim or final performance standards due to economic infeasibility or other circumstances beyond the owner’s control, based on guidelines established by regulation, the owner may submit a proposed building performance improvement plan to the Department for review and approval by the Director in consultation with the Building Performance Improvement Board.

   (b)   A building performance improvement plan must include:

      (1)   documentation of economic infeasibility or other circumstances beyond the owner’s control such that interim or final performance standards are not met;

      (2)   a list of potential improvement measures, including engineering calculations of energy savings and a cost-benefit analysis of each potential improvement measure;

      (3)   a plan and timeline for achieving energy improvements to the building’s performance that will provide cost-effective energy savings based on guidelines established by regulation, including the estimated savings to be realized by implementing all of the cost-effective measures identified in the plan; and

      (4)   procedures for correcting any noncompliance or deviation from the plan.

   (c)   The owner must submit a building performance improvement plan to the Department at least 90 days before the deadline for submitting documentation of compliance with interim or final performance standards.

   (d)   If, after consulting with the Building Performance Improvement Board, the Director approves the building performance improvement plan, the owner must record the building performance improvement plan as a covenant in the County land records and deliver a certified copy of the recorded plan to the Department. After the Director receives the certified copy of the recorded plan, the covered building will be deemed to be in compliance with the applicable interim or final performance standards as long as the owner fulfills the terms of the building performance improvement plan within the timeline specified in the plan. (2022 L.M.C., ch. 13, § 1.)

Sec. 18A-42C. Extensions and adjustments.

   (a)   The Department may establish additional criteria recommended by the Building Performance Improvement Board for qualified affordable housing, non-profit buildings, and other buildings as appropriate to modify compliance with interim or final performance standards by regulation.

   (b)   The Director, in consultation with the Building Performance Improvement Board, may grant an extension or adjustment to an interim or final performance standard for a covered building whose owner submits a request along with documentation at least 90 days before the deadline for submitting documentation of compliance with an interim or final performance standard if any of the following conditions apply:

      (1)   A demolition permit has been issued or a demolition of the building is planned before the deadline to comply with the next interim performance standard;

      (2)   The building is in financial distress under Section 18A-39 (g)(1);

      (3)   The building is exempt from real property taxes and the owner is able to certify by the statement of a certified public accountant or by sworn affidavit that the owner’s revenue less expenses for the previous 2 years was negative;

      (4)   The Director determines that strict compliance with those standards would be economically infeasible, as defined by regulation, due to circumstances beyond the owner’s control;

      (5)   Other acceptable conditions as determined by the Director through regulation. (2022 L.M.C., ch. 13, §1.)

Sec. 18A-43. Annual report; disclosure of benchmarking and energy performance information.

   (a)   Annual report required. By October 1 of each year, the Director must submit a benchmarking and building performance report to the County Executive and County Council. The report must review and evaluate energy efficiency in covered buildings, including:

      (1)   summary statistics on the most recent reported energy benchmarking information, including information on the completeness and level of data quality of the building energy data being reported by building type per the benchmarking tool;

      (2)   discussion of any energy efficiency trends, cost savings, and job creation resulting from energy efficiency improvements;

      (3)   for County-owned covered buildings:

         (A)   the scores of County-owned covered buildings benchmarked; and

         (B)   whether the Director recommends any energy efficiency improvements for specific buildings; and

      (4)   building energy performance summary statistics, if an interim or final performance standard occurs for a covered building type in the current reporting cycle.

   (b)   Disclosure of benchmarking and building energy performance standards data. The Director must make reported aggregated benchmarking and building energy performance standard data readily available to the public, including on the open data website created under Section 2-154, and the Director may exempt information from disclosure only to the extent that disclosure is prohibited under federal or state law.

   (c)   Exceptions to disclosure. To the extent allowable under state law, the Director must not make the following readily available to the public:

      (1)   any individually attributable reported benchmarking information from the first calendar year that a covered building is required to benchmark;

      (2)   any individually attributable reported benchmarking or building energy performance standards information relating to a covered building if the disclosure of the covered building’s energy use would be harmful to the public interest and national security; and

      (3)   building performance improvement plans and associated documentation attributable to an individual covered building. (2014 L.M.C., ch. 6, § 1; 2015 L.M.C., ch. 51, §1; 2022 L.M.C., ch. 13, §1; 2023 L.M.C., ch. 21, § 1.)

Sec. 18A-43A. Regulations.

   The County Executive may issue Method (2) regulations to administer this Article. (2014 L.M.C., ch. 6, § 1; 2022 L.M.C., ch. 13, §1.)

   Editor’s note—2014 L.M.C., ch. 6 , § 2, states: Benchmarking Work Group.

   (a)   The Executive must convene a Benchmarking Work Group. Members of the Work Group must include representatives from the County, building owners and manager, industry trade associations, non-profit organizations, and utility companies.

   (b)   The Work Group must:

      (1)   review the application of Chapter 18A, Article 6, as added by Section 1 of this Act, to County buildings for the reporting period ending June 1, 2015; and

      (2)   submit a report to the County Council and County Executive by September 1, 2015 with recommendations on implementing building benchmarking for privately-owned buildings, including any proposed amendments to County law.

Sec. 18A-43B. Penalties; enforcement.

   (a)   A building owner must not knowingly provide false information required under this Article to the Department. The Director may revoke or modify an extension, adjustment, building performance improvement plan, or compliance with benchmarking or the interim or final performance standards in response to any false information provided by the building owner.

   (b)   Any violation of this Article is a Class A violation. (2022 L.M.C., ch. 13, §1.)

ARTICLE 7. MONTGOMERY COUNTY GREEN BANK.

Sec. 18A-44. Purpose.

   The County Government supports the formation of a Montgomery County Green Bank to promote and support investment in climate change mitigation and adaptation activities and provide financing for climate change mitigation and adaptation activities in the County. These activities include clean energy technologies and resiliency, sustainability, or climate adaptive projects. The Green Bank must be able to:

   (a)   serve and support climate change mitigation and adaptation activities in all sectors, including residential single-family homes and multifamily, commercial, industrial, non-profit, municipal governments, universities and colleges, schools, and hospitals;

   (b)   offer a range of financing structures, forms and techniques, such as senior loans, subordinate loans, credit enhancements, guarantees, warehousing, securitization, and other techniques that can both lower the cost of financing and increase private investment in climate change mitigation and adaptation activities;

   (c)   leverage private investment in climate change mitigation and adaptation activities through financing mechanisms that support, enhance, or complement private investment;

   (d)   consider improvements ancillary to the primary climate change mitigation and adaptation project or related to environmental health or building safety or durability;

   (e)   accept capital from the county, the state, the federal government, non-profits, foundations, and any other capital source that the Green Bank governance deems to be attractive and useful;

   (f)   recapitalize its funds through market means, including by selling whole or portions of assets (loans) through private placement or other securitization;

   (g)   stimulate the demand for climate change mitigation and adaptation activities that serve end-use customers;

   (h)   before making a loan, loan guarantee, or other form of financing support for climate change mitigation and adaptation activities, develop rules, policies, and procedures to specify borrower eligibility and any other term or condition of financial support;

   (i)   provide by resolution for the issuance of revenue bonds to finance climate change mitigation and adaptation activities;

   (j)   provide information regarding best practices for overseeing climate change mitigation and adaptation activity projects and other appropriate consumer education;

   (k)   recognize that equity investments carry more risk and may require longer term commitment to a project, justifying compliance with strict investment guidelines to be established by the Board of Directors;

   (l)   assess reasonable fees and charges on its financing activities to cover its reasonable costs and expenses, as determined by the Board of Directors appointed under Section 18A-47;

   (m)   make information regarding rates, terms, and conditions for all of its financing support transactions available to the public for inspection, including any formal annual reviews by both a private auditor and the Director of Finance, and provide details to the public on the Internet unless such disclosure includes a trade secret, confidential commercial information, or confidential financial information;

   (n)   provide leadership on environmental issues at both the County and State levels;

   (o)   maintain close liaison with government agencies and elected representatives at both the County and State levels to achieve the goals of the Green Bank; and

   (p)   undertake any other activities deemed by the Board of Directors to support the mission of the Green Bank. (2015 L.M.C., ch. 35, §1; 2023 L.M.C., ch. 8, §1.)

Sec. 18A-45. Definitions.

   In this Article, the following words have the meanings indicated:

   Clean energy technologies means measures addressing energy resources and emerging energy technologies, including renewable energy systems and sources, renewable energy projects, energy efficiency projects, alternative fuels used for electricity generation, alternative fuel vehicles and related infrastructure such as electric vehicle charging station infrastructure, and smart grid and battery storage.

   Climate change mitigation and adaptation activities means activities that include clean energy technologies or resiliency, sustainability, or climate adaptive projects.

   Energy efficiency project means an improvement made to an existing property that reduces consumption of energy.

   Green Bank means the Green Bank that the County has designated to promote and support investment in climate change mitigation and adaptation activities in the County, including clean energy technologies; resiliency, sustainability, and climate adaptive projects; and other related risk reduction activities..

   Maryland Open Meetings Act means the Maryland Open Meetings Act, codified at Sections 3-101 through 3-501 of the General Provisions Article of the Maryland Code.

   Renewable energy project means a permanent improvement made to an existing property that creates, converts, stores, or actively uses renewable energy.

   Resiliency, sustainability, or climate adaptive projects mean measures designed to support property or community resilience, reliability, and environmental sustainability; property or community environmental health and environmental safety; property or community water conservation and on-site management; sustainable waste treatment; sustainable agricultural activities; and adaption of systems to manage changes to the climate, such as activities responding to extreme weather events. (2015 L.M.C., ch. 35, § 1; 2023 L.M.C., ch. 8 , §1.)