CCLC Recognized by Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection for “Early Bird” Energy Benchmarking

Montgomery County Honors Its Early Bird Energy Data Benchmarkers

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, September 22, 2015

The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection today recognized building owners, tenants and other companies that benchmarked their buildings and reported energy data to the County a year before the first deadlines of the Montgomery County Benchmarking Law. These organizations have jumpstarted the reporting processes and paved the way for other building owners to meet the law, thereby earning the title “Early Bird Benchmarker.”

At the offices of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce in Rockville, County Executive Isiah Leggett, County Councilmember Roger Berliner and Department of Environmental Protection Director Lisa Feldt, honored these outstanding Early Bird Benchmarkers. Speakers at this event also included representatives the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ENERGY STAR® Program (www.energystar.gov), and local building owners who shared brief remarks about their benchmarking experiences—Grady Management, Inc. (www.gradymgt.com) and American Real Estate Partners (www.americanrepartners.com).

In April 2014, Montgomery County became the first county in the nation to pass a building energy benchmarking and disclosure law. Benchmarking compares one building’s energy use against a nationwide set of peer buildings. Benchmarking can help building owners improve energy performance, drive energy efficiency upgrades, and improve the quality and sustainability of Montgomery County’s robust building stock. This law also helps the County in its strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by the year 2050.

“These leaders who we recognize today are the best examples of the private sector recognizing the importance of a sustainable economy through their benchmarking efforts.” said Leggett.

The event highlighted the leadership and achievements of the following organizations and businesses that have buildings in Montgomery County:

• Adventist HealthCare, Inc.
• American Real Estate Partners
• Brookfield
• The Chevy Chase Land Company of Montgomery County, Maryland
• Colonel’s Limited dba Papa John’s Pizza
• First Potomac Realty Trust
• Grady Management, Inc.
• Hughes Network Systems, LLC
• The JBG Companies
• Matan Companies
• Montgomery College
• ProMark Real Estate Services, LLC
• Recurrent, LLC
• The Tower Companies
• Vanguard Realty Group

Alongside the Early Birds, the event recognized the County’s Department of General Services for exceptional leadership in enhancing the County’s understanding of the benchmarking process as well as their meeting the County buildings initial reporting deadline of June 1, 2015.

“Improving the energy efficiency of our nation’s buildings is critical to protecting our environment,” said Jean Lupinacci, EPA’s Climate Protection Partnerships Division Acting Director. “ENERGY STAR partners have demonstrated that cost-effective strategies can reduce a building’s energy use by 20 percent or more, and benchmarking with EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is the first step to identifying these savings opportunities.”

“These Early Bird Benchmarkers are leading the pack in Montgomery County, illustrating that benchmarking is a simple and straightforward way to increase energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and fuel a healthy economy,” said Lindsey Shaw, energy program manager with the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection.

This event was hosted by Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection and the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce (www.mcccmd.com).

For more information about the new Benchmarking Law in Montgomery County, visit DEP’s Benchmarking Website (bit.ly/depbenchmarking).

# # #

Contact: Michelle Vigen, Senior Energy Planner
240-777-7749; Michelle.Vigen@montgomerycountymd.gov