ENERGY STAR Certification & Green Leasing Grant Overview
Overview
In support of the County’s adopted Climate Action Plan priority recommendations, the Department of the Environment, Sustainable Energy (SE) is committed to leading by example by implementing practices that reduce the 3 C’s of energy: cost, consumption, and carbon emissions.
The ENERGY STAR® and Green Leasing (ESGL) grant incentivizes climate-ready green building choices that accelerate deep energy retrofits, promote community-wide efficiency, and expand weatherization efforts. This program aligns with Sustainable Energy’s goal to provide reliable and environmentally sound energy solutions that enhance the quality of life of Prince George’s County residents while concomitantly maximizing energy savings and addressing the Climate Action Plan’s Priority Recommendations. .The Department of the Environment, Sustainable Energy (SE), offers funding to encourage commercial building owners to install energy conservation measures (ECMs) that also achieve ENERGY STAR® certification. ENERGY STAR® certified buildings save energy, cut operating costs, and help protect the environment by emitting fewer greenhouse gases than similar structures. The funding will reimburse some of the total installation costs of these measures.
Have questions? Continue reading for more information. Feel free to reach out to EnergyStarCGL@co.pg.md.us or CleanE@co.pg.md.us. Remember, it's important to ensure that all applications and work adhere to federal, state, and local laws and regulations.
Incentives
Maximum grant award available per application: $150,000. The following incentives are available to qualified applicants:
Of the $150,000, up to $50,000 will cover the ASHRAE Level 2 Audit or demonstrably equivalent and shall not exceed this amount.
Grant awards to cover up to $100,000 for Electric and Natural Gas measures. Each measure will be capped at $50,000.00.
Grant awards can offset 100% of the cost of the Licensed Professional’s sign-off to verify and stamp the ENERGY STAR certification application, up to $1,500. This cost will be included in the $150,000 grant amount, or a separate application can be submitted to cover the cost of ENERGY STAR certification.
Goals
The ENERGY STAR® Certification and Green Leasing Grant seeks to increase the number of ENERGY STAR® certified buildings and encourage adopting green leasing practices within Prince George’s County. This effort will help support the County’s goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and attracting and retaining high-value tenants.
Objectives
Grant award funds, when available, assist commercial buildings (office and multifamily housing) with achieving ENERGY STAR® certification. Funds can offset the costs of electric energy efficiency, water efficiency, natural gas, retrofitting measures, and professional services required to achieve ENERGY STAR® Certification.
Buildings receiving funding from the ENERGY STAR® Certification and Green Leasing Grant are required to maintain certification for at least three (3) years and adopt green leasing practices that align the interests of property owners and tenants so that they are both motivated to engage in energy-efficient actions for buildings. How to Apply for the ENERGY STAR | ENERGY STAR
Target Audiences
The grant targets office buildings and multifamily housing built before March 23, 2016, in Prince George’s County and the Pepco and/or Washington Gas service territory. Definitions for eligible office buildings and multifamily housing will follow the subset of building types as defined and listed on ENERGY STAR’s list of Property types eligible to receive the 1-100 ENERGY STAR® score.
Click here to download the ESGL guidance form.
Click here to download the ESGL grant application.
Maryland Building Energy Performance Standards
Background
Prince George’s County strives to be on the cutting edge of addressing climate change. DOE SE is undertaking initiatives to fulfill the objectives of the Climate Solutions Now Act (CSNA) of 2022, which mandates the development and implementation of building energy performance standards (BEPS) as well as promoting the use of low-carbon renewal energy sources such as residential solar panels within Prince George’s County. Reaching these goals will reduce direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve overall energy efficiency, aiming to achieve net zero by 2040. Our commitment to the targeted GHG emission reductions supports the Maryland 2030 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan and the regional goals of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MCOG). Further, these activities are aligned with the County's commitment to reaching its carbon emissions goal of a 50% reduction by 2030 as outlined in the County’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) and Executive Order No. 5 – 2022. Sustainable Energy seeks to support the implementation of these goals through programming that explicitly addresses CAP Priority Recommendations, specifically M-9, which supports emission reduction through energy-efficient buildings. Continue reading to learn how the new Maryland Building Energy Performance regulations may impact your building.
Complying with Building Energy Performance Standards
Updates
In 2002, the Maryland General Assembly passed a modification to Maryland’s GHG emissions reduction goals in response to the latest science, indicating that more stringent goals are necessary to combat climate change. Therefore, CSNA set new goals to reduce statewide GHG emissions by 60% below 2006 levels by 2031 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2045. The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) must develop Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) that achieve a 20% reduction in net direct GHG emissions on or before January 1, 2030, as compared with 2025 levels for average buildings of similar construction, attain net-zero direct GHG emissions on or before January 1, 2040; and include EUI targets by building type. MDE recently released updated information in July 2024. The goal continues to be the reduction of direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the improvement of overall energy efficiency in buildings in Maryland that are 35,000 square feet or larger. This is critical in contributing to Maryland's goal of achieving net-zero GHG emissions by 2045. To review the updates, please visit:
Impacted Buildings
The BEPS regulation impacts buildings in Maryland that are 35,000 square feet or larger (excluding the parking garage area). This regulation requires covered building owners to report data to MDE through the EPA ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool. The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool is a free, interactive resource management tool that enables the benchmarking of energy use of any building. Benchmarking requirements will begin in 2025, and compliance with direct GHG emissions will begin in 2030. Covered building owners may need to improve their buildings to meet the net direct GHG emissions standards.
Covered buildings must meet interim standards in 2030 through 2039 and final standards in 2040 and beyond or pay an alternative compliance fee. The regulation sets interim and final standards. Electric and gas companies must maintain and provide energy consumption data for all covered buildings and provide the building owner with accurate and timely information on the amount of electricity, gas, or fuel delivered to a covered building.
Exempt Buildings
Historic buildings, public and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools, manufacturing buildings, agricultural buildings, and federal buildings are exempted. Building owners who believe their property falls under these types must apply for an exemption from MDE to qualify.
Learn More about Benchmarking your building!
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager
In a secure online environment, EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool helps users measure and track their building's energy and water use, waste and materials, and greenhouse gas emissions. The results can be used to identify underperforming buildings, set investment priorities, verify efficiency improvements, and receive EPA recognition for superior energy performance.
By entering details about the property and consumption data into Portfolio Manager, one can:
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Assess the whole building's energy performance.
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Track changes in energy, water, waste, greenhouse gas emissions, and cost over time.
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Track green power purchases.
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Create custom reports.
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Share data with others.
The steps to share read access to your building’s data with the program staff are available here. The Sustainable Energy Program staff is available to assist with the process.
ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager Assistance
The EPA offers various resources to help users navigate the ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager tool. The ENERGY STAR® Help Desk offers an extensive list of searchable FAQs and different avenues to contact EPA staff with questions. EPA also offers Portfolio Manager Training that includes full-length or short training videos in pre-recorded or live viewing formats.
What is Benchmarking?
Benchmarking is comparing the measured performance of a device, process, facility, or organization to itself, its peers, or established norms to inform and motivate performance improvement. When applied to building energy use, benchmarking serves as a mechanism to measure the energy performance of a single building over time relative to other similar buildings or to modeled simulations of a reference building built to a specific standard (such as an energy code).
Benchmarking is helpful for property owners, facility operators, managers, and designers. It facilitates energy accounting, comparing a facility’s energy use to similar facilities to assess opportunities for improvement and quantifying/verifying energy savings.
Commercial building performance benchmarking is foundational to an organization’s energy management strategy because you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Across many commercial building markets, the practice has become standard operating procedure as energy costs and associated environmental and sustainability issues have raised awareness of energy management's importance. The following topics reference appropriate portions of energy management resource guides to assist with the connection between benchmarking and energy management.
For more information on the ENERGY STAR® benchmarking process and how to collect data from the utility company, please visit www.energystar.gov/buildings/benchmark/get_started.
For more information on Commercial Building Energy Benchmarking Data, please visit www.energy.gov/eere/slsc/building-energy-use-benchmarking.
For more information on the Washington Gas benchmarking process and how to collect data from the utility company, please visit www.washingtongas.com/services/business-owners/energy-benchmarking.
What is "Green Leasing"?
Green leases (also called aligned leases, high-performance leases, or energy-efficient leases) are rental agreements in which tenants commit to or gain incentives by participating in water/energy conservation, waste reduction, and recycling, use of non-hazardous cleaning products, or other sustainable actions.
Green Lease Activities
For more information, please visit the Green Lease Library and the Green Lease Leaders application.
Finding a Service Provider/Trade Ally
The information below is a courtesy to ENERGY STAR® Certification & Green Leasing grant award applicants. It should not be considered an endorsement of any company or organization.
Prince George’s County’s Supplier Development and Diversity Division (SDDD) maintains a directory of certified Prince George’s County suppliers as providers of goods & services and/or contractors. SDDD strongly believes the certified firms in each directory have the skill and capability to deliver quality services and products. Applicants can visit the Office of Central Services Supplier Directories or call 301-883-6480 for assistance.
Washington Gas Incentives
Washington Gas participates in the EmPOWER Maryland Initiative, which helps businesses, local governments, and other commercial customers throughout Maryland reduce their energy consumption and save money on utility bills. As part of the initiative, rebates are available on high-efficiency natural gas equipment, providing the perfect opportunity to save on overall operating costs.
When available, we offer high-efficiency natural gas equipment rebates for boiler systems, water and space heating, and food service.
To learn more about the available rebates in each category (Boiler Systems, Food Service, and Water and Space Heating), visit the Washington Gas page.