Appliances used to heat our buildings emit three times more air pollution than all the power plants in Maryland combined. As we have talked about before, addressing this pollution in large existing buildings has tremendous benefits, and Building Energy Performance Standards or BEPS are an indispensable tool for energy efficiency and pollution reduction from large existing buildings. 15 different jurisdictions across the country have adopted Building Energy Performance Standards. Maryland, of course, enacted a state-wide BEPS program in 2022, requiring all buildings over 35,000 square feet to eliminate onsite emissions by 2040, and that remains current law.

The Maryland General Assembly in 2025 passed legislation to conduct a study about Maryland’s BEPS program and how it could be improved, and while that study is ongoing, it is worth looking at Maryland’s only other successful BEPS program, the one in Montgomery county which is successfully being implemented today.

To talk about all about Montgomery County’s BEPS program and what lessons the state wide BEPS program could take away I am joined by Emily Curley who is the

Building Energy Performance Programs Manager for Montgomery County and Garrett Fitzgerald who is the Section Chief - Climate Programs and State Policy for Montgomery County.

You can read all about how lawsuits challenging BEPS are flimsy here. That blog talks about a Colorado case specifically, but the case being brought in Montgomery County is on even shakier ground.