Montgomery County, Md., has become the first county in the United States to require non-residential buildings to benchmark their energy. The county’s legislation requires building owners to measure the energy efficiency of their buildings and make that information public. It is designed to work with the recently passed PACE program passed in Montgomery County.
Nine large cities require benchmarking, including Austin, Boston, Chicago, the District of Columbia, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle.
Along with the benchmarking law, Montgomery County passed eight other measures related to energy, including a commitments to replace streetlights with LEDs, to purchase more renewable energy, and to expedite solar permits.