Title 26 — Subtitle 28. Building Energy Performance Standards

“Affordable housing providers” means the owner of a covered building that primarily provides housing to limited income households, where a minimum of 51 percent of households living within the building are at or below 80 percent of the area median income, as defined in the Housing and Community Development Article, §4–1801, Annotated Code of Maryland, or a covered building that is restricted under the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program.

Agricultural Building.

“Alternative compliance fee” means a fee paid by the building owner to come into compliance with applicable net direct emissions standards, as specified in COMAR 26.28.04.01A.

“Area-weighted standard” means an interim or final performance standard that is calculated based on the floor area proportion of the property types within a covered building.

Authorized Occupant.

“Baseline performance” means the weather-normalized numeric values of net direct greenhouse gas emissions and site EUI of a covered building for the covered building’s baseline year.

“Baseline year” means either calendar year 2025 for a covered building that was constructed and occupied prior to calendar year 2025 or the first full calendar year in which a newly constructed covered building was occupied.

“Benchmark” means to track and input a building’s energy consumption data and other relevant building information on a monthly basis for at least 12 consecutive months, as required by the benchmarking tool, to quantify the building’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Benchmarking Information.

“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.

“Building” has the meaning set forth in the International Building Code, which is incorporated by reference under COMAR 09.12.51.04A and as modified in COMAR 09.12.51.04B.

“Building owner” means an individual or legal entity possessing title to a building including but not limited to a board of the owners’ association, master association, board of directors, community association, cooperative housing corporation, or condominium.

“Campus” means a collection of two or more buildings, of any building type or size, that act as a single cohesive property with a single shared primary function and are owned and operated by the same party, such as, but not limited to, higher education or hospital campuses, as determined by the Department.

“Commercial building” means a commercial building as defined and subject to the commercial provisions of the International Energy Conservation Code, which is incorporated by reference in COMAR 09.12.51.04A and as modified in COMAR 09.12.51.04D, regardless of the nature of the entity or government that owns the building.

Covered Building.

“Department” means the Maryland Department of the Environment.

“Direct greenhouse gas emissions or direct emissions” means greenhouse gas emissions produced on-site by covered buildings, as calculated by the benchmarking tool unless otherwise specified by the Department.

“District energy system” means a system in which thermal energy generated at one or more central facilities provides heating or cooling through a network of insulated underground pipes to provide hot water, steam, space heating, air conditioning, or chilled water to nearby buildings.

“District energy provider” means an entity that provides thermal energy to customers through a district energy system.

“Electric company” has the meaning stated in Public Utilities Article, §1-101, Annotated Code of Maryland.

“Final performance standard or final standard” means the numeric values of net direct greenhouse gas emissions that each covered building shall ultimately achieve on an annual basis in 2040 and beyond.

“Financial distress” means:

“Food service facility” has the meaning stated in COMAR 10.15.03.02B.

Full-Time-Equivalent Employee.

“Gas company” has the meaning stated in Public Utilities Article, §1-101, Annotated Code of Maryland.

“Greenhouse gas emissions or emissions” means gasses released into the atmosphere that contribute to climate change, including but not limited to carbon dioxide (CO₂), as calculated by the benchmarking tool unless otherwise specified by the Department.

Gross Floor Area.

“Interim performance standard or interim standard” means the weather-normalized numeric values of net direct greenhouse gas emissions which covered buildings shall achieve by a specified calendar year that is prior to 2040.

“Manufacturing building” means a building involved in the process of substantially transforming, or a substantial step in the process of substantially transforming, tangible personal property into a new and different article of tangible personal property by the use of labor or machinery, or otherwise designated as a manufacturing building by the Department.

“Mixed-use building” means a building that contains two or more property types.

Net Direct Greenhouse Gas Emissions or net direct emissions.

“Newly constructed covered building” means a covered building that was constructed after 2024 and occupied by at least one full-time-equivalent employee or authorized occupant.

“Occupied” means a covered building with at least one full-time equivalent employee or authorized occupant.

“Property type” means the primary use of a building space as specified in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.

Site Energy Use.

“Site energy use intensity or site EUI” is calculated by the benchmarking tool by dividing the total energy consumed in one calendar year by the gross floor area of the building and reported as a value of a thousand British thermal units (kBTU) per square foot per year.

“Tenant” means a person or entity occupying or holding possession of a building, part of a building, or premises pursuant to a rental or lease agreement.

“Weather-normalized” means a method for modifying the measured building energy use in a specific calendar year to estimate energy use under normal weather conditions as calculated by the benchmarking tool.

Web services application programming interface (API) or web services API.

“Whole building energy consumption data” means energy data that has been summed for an entire building, which may include a single occupant or a group of separately metered tenants, representing the cumulative total of energy used in the covered building.

Each calendar year beginning in 2025 or in the first calendar year after which a newly constructed covered building is occupied, the covered building owner shall collect and enter all required benchmarking information for the previous calendar year into the benchmarking tool.

Nothing in this regulation shall be construed to permit a building owner to use tenant energy usage data for purposes other than evaluation of the performance of the building.

A building owner shall follow the exemption procedures under the TM 24-01, “Technical Guidance and Calculation Methodologies to Comply with Building Energy Performance Standards”.

A building owner shall submit a benchmarking report to the Department by June 1st of each year, beginning in 2025, using the benchmarking tool.

Following the first full calendar year that energy data can be collected and the building was occupied, the owner of any newly constructed covered building shall benchmark the building and report to the Department no later than June 1st of the following year, and every June 1st thereafter.

The annual benchmarking report shall include, at a minimum, the benchmarking information spanning January 1st to December 31st of the previous calendar year.

The building owner shall enter data into the benchmarking tool such that the benchmarking report shall be based on an assessment of the energy consumed by the building for the entire calendar year being reported and demonstrate the net direct emissions and site EUI for the entire calendar year being reported.

The building owner shall exclude from the benchmarking report submetered and separately metered energy consumption data for:

Energy consumption for food service facilities can be excluded using a standard deduction formula in accordance with the Department’s TM 24-01 “Technical Guidance and Calculation Methodologies to Comply with Building Energy Performance Standards”, which is incorporated by reference in COMAR 26.28.01.03 when such energy consumption cannot be excluded using submetered or separately metered data.

Before submitting a benchmarking report, the building owner shall run all automated data quality checker functions available within the benchmarking tool and shall confirm that all data has been accurately entered into the tool. The building owner shall correct all missing or incorrect information as identified by the data quality checker prior to submitting the benchmarking report to the Department.

If a building owner is notified of an inaccuracy by the Department or other third party, then the building owner shall amend the information reported within the benchmarking tool, and shall provide the Department with an updated benchmarking submission within 30 days of learning of the inaccuracy.

The building owner of a mixed-use covered building shall use the benchmarking tool to report the gross floor area for all property types in the building.

The building owners of a covered building that is connected to district energy systems shall submit additional information to supplement the annual benchmarking report in accordance with the Department’s TM 24-01,“Technical Guidance and Calculation Methodologies to Comply with Building Energy Performance Standards”, which is incorporated by reference in COMAR 26.28.01.03.

The building owner shall have a third party verify the accuracy of benchmarking reports for calendar years:

The building owner of a newly constructed covered building shall have a third party verify the first required benchmarking report and then comply with the schedule in this chapter for verification of subsequent reports.

The building owner shall provide to the third party verifier all utility bills, delivered fuel receipts, and other documentation needed by the verifier for the calendar year covered by the benchmarking report.

The building owner shall submit a copy of a third party verification to the Department when submitting the associated benchmarking report in accordance with the Department’s TM 24-01 “Technical Guidance and Calculation Methodologies to Comply with Building Energy Performance Standards”, which is incorporated by reference in COMAR 26.28.01.03.

The building owner shall maintain adequate records demonstrating compliance with this chapter, including but not limited to, energy bills, reports, forms, and records received from tenants or utilities and records.

Such records shall be preserved for a period no less than 5 years.

At the request of the Department, such records shall be made available for inspection and audit by the Department.

A building owner shall pay an annual reporting fee for each covered building as defined in Environment Article, §2-1601, Annotated Code of Maryland.

The annual reporting fee is due by June 1st of each year beginning in 2026.

In 2026, the annual reporting fee is $100.

Beginning in 2027 and each year thereafter, the annual reporting fee is $100 as adjusted for inflation pursuant to §E(5) of this regulation.

Consumer Price Index.

Electric and gas companies delivering energy to a covered building shall maintain whole-building energy consumption data for all buildings, for at least the most recent 5 years in an electronic format capable of being uploaded to the benchmarking tool.

On and after January 1, 2025, upon the request and authorization of a building owner an electric or gas company shall provide the building owner with at least the most recent 12 consecutive months of whole building energy consumption data by fuel type for the specified building for all the fuel types provided by the company.

Investor-owned electric and gas companies serving 40,000 or more customers shall use the benchmarking tool’s web services API to deliver data to requesters on an ongoing basis.

Investor-owned electric and gas companies serving fewer than 40,000 customers, municipal electric and gas companies, or cooperatively owned electric and gas companies shall provide data in the spreadsheet template specified by the benchmarking tool, or through the benchmarking tool’s web services API to requesters on an ongoing basis.

Electric and gas companies shall develop and maintain a process to identify and confirm with the building owner the list of meters that will be used to calculate the aggregated total as follows:

For covered buildings with five or more tenants, electric and gas companies shall deliver to requestors the monthly whole building energy consumption data capturing total consumption by fuel type of all relevant fuel or fuels across all meters at the building.

For covered buildings with fewer than five tenants, electric and gas companies shall deliver whole building energy consumption data to the building owner if the building tenants provide written or electronic consent for the delivery of the tenant’s energy data to the building owner.

When providing whole-building consumption data to a property with onsite generation of renewable electricity (for example, solar or wind energy), electric and gas companies shall ensure that the consumption values delivered to the building owner capture total gross grid electricity consumption as metered by the electric or gas company, rather than net, or net-metered, consumption of grid electricity.

Starting no later than January 1, 2025, district energy providers shall maintain all records that are necessary to comply with this regulation for a period of not less than 5 years. At the request of the Department, such records shall be made available for inspection and audit by the Department.

District energy providers shall provide greenhouse gas emissions factors per unit of district energy input (steam, hot water, chilled water, etc.) to the owners of covered buildings and to the Department for benchmarking and compliance purposes.

Emissions factors and a full and detailed accounting of their calculation shall be provided by the district energy provider by March 1st of each calendar year and cover the previous calendar year based on actual fuel consumption and system performance data. The Department may require a third party review of such calculations paid for by the district energy provider.

District energy providers shall use methodology for allocating emissions that will be based on the “Efficiency Method” in the World Resources Institute’s “Calculation tool for direct emissions from stationary combustion: Allocation of GHG Emissions from a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant”.

A copy of the complete benchmarking record from the benchmarking tool;

Documentation of data verification;

Documentation of any alternative compliance fee made to the Department; and

Any other records relevant to maintain compliance under this subtitle; and

Baseline performance; and

Interim and final performance standards.

Each covered building shall not exceed the net direct emissions standards for 2030—2034 in each calendar year including 2030, 2031, 2032, 2033, and 2034, as determined on a yearly basis.

Each covered building shall not exceed the net direct emissions standards for 2035—2039 in each calendar year including 2035, 2036, 2037, 2038, and 2039, as determined on a yearly basis.

Each covered building shall not exceed the net direct emissions standards in calendar year 2040 and each calendar year thereafter, as determined on a yearly basis.

In lieu of meeting the net direct emissions standards in COMAR 26.28.03, the building owner shall come into compliance with the net direct emissions standards by paying an alternative compliance fee for the greenhouse gas emissions in excess of the net direct emissions standards.

An alternative compliance fee shall be paid for every metric ton of net direct emissions in excess of the net direct emissions standard in a given calendar year. The fee shall be:

The annual fee rate set forth in this chapter shall be increased each calendar year by the percentage, if any, by which the Consumer Price Index-U (All Urban Consumers) for the most recent calendar year exceeds the Consumer Price Index-U (All Urban Consumers) for the previous calendar year.

Financial distress;

The covered building was not occupied for the entirety of the calendar year being reported; or

The covered building was demolished during the calendar year for which benchmarking is required.

The Department may, in its sole discretion, grant an exemption from the requirement to establish baseline performance when, during the baseline year, less than 50 percent of the floor area of the covered building was occupied for at least 180 days and where the building owner applies for such exemption.

A covered building may not receive an exemption from the requirement to establish baseline performance for more than 3 years.

The Department may grant the application of reduced alternative compliance fees to an affordable housing provider when the building owner submits in writing such request by June 1st of each calendar year, beginning in 2031 which demonstrates to the Department that it has made a good faith effort, as demonstrated under §C(2) of this regulation.

A good faith effort may be demonstrated to the Department by submitting a copy of the application to a federal or Maryland administered program that would make the building or buildings more energy efficient and/or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The submission shall also include the benchmark report, intended scope of work, and estimated greenhouse gas reductions expected from the intended scope of work to achieve at least the applicable interim or final standard.

An alternative compliance fee granted by the Department under §C(1) of this regulation is good for one calendar year.

A project that has applied to a program under §C(2) of this regulation but has not yet completed the improvements, can submit a confirmation received from the program administrator to the Department, verifying the project's active participation status to satisfy the good faith effort for another year.

An alternative compliance fee granted by the Department under §C(1) of this regulation does not exempt the owner from complying with the benchmarking and reporting requirements in COMAR 26.28.02.

An affordable housing provider may apply for the alternative compliance fee annually.

Connected to a district energy system;

Served by the same electric or gas meter; or

Served by the same heating or cooling system or systems, which is not a district energy system.

Campus-level reporting does not include energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from activities/sources that are excluded from the benchmarking report requirements in COMAR 26.28.02.

The owner of a campus shall report to the Department annually by June 1st:

The Department shall, in consultation with the principal owner of a campus, determine whether the affected buildings will be included in campus-level compliance following the rules established in this chapter and whether and how to adjust the campus’ interim and final performance standards.

For a campus that consists of one property type, the interim and final net direct emissions standards are those that correspond with that property type.

For a campus that consists of more than one property type, the interim and final net direct emissions standards are based on area-weighted standards as specified in the Department’s TM 24-01 “Technical Guidance and Calculation Methodologies to Comply with Building Energy Performance Standards”, which is incorporated by reference in COMAR 26.28.01.03.

Reserved.

Achieving and Maintaining the Standards.