Montgomery County, Maryland has proposed adopting the International Green Construction Code 2012.

Proposed as Executive Regulation #21-15, by a notice published in the Montgomery County Register on December 1, 2015, the green building code will cover all new buildings and additions 5,000 square feet and larger. Single family detached and townhomes are not proposed to be included. Unless “disapproved” by the County Council, the effective date (as revised and announced on December 17) will be April 4, 2016.

At first blush this sounds like a good thing, until one considers that Montgomery County already has mandatory green building laws and the County today offers significant incentives for green building.

Many hundreds of LEED projects have been registered in Montgomery County, putting the county near the very top of the list for green construction in the U.S. by county and Bethesda and Rockville, respectively, at the very top of the list for municipalities of less than 100,000 people.

Today local law requires any newly constructed building or extensively modified (non-residential) building or multi-family residential or mixed use building that is taller than 4 stories that has or will have at least 10,000 square feet “must achieve a Certified level in the appropriate LEED rating system.” The County also offers a real property tax credit in varying amount (10-75%) and term (3-5 years) based on the type project and the rating it achieves above the minimum Certified level.

The City of Gaithersburg, within Montgomery County, has adopted amendments to the building codes that require increased energy and water efficiency requirements that drive building to LEED Gold and better. As a practical matter, throughout the County, one of the most affluent locales in the nation, the market now requires Class A office building be LEED Gold if not Platinum.

But all of that will be repealed and the existing LEED building requirements will be abolished. All new building will instead have to comply with the IgCC 2012 or ASHRAE 189.1, the alternative compliance path built into the green code.

Note, that Montgomery County is not adopting the 2015 International Green Construction Code. While the 2015 IgCC was approved last year, that current code is not approved for use by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development which requires each jurisdiction in Maryland use the same edition of the same building codes. It is significant that effective July 1, 2015 all building in Montgomery County must comply with the International Energy Conservation Code 2015, with its energy consumption reduction requirements and many of those now existing requirements ameliorate the impacts of the proposed (3 year out of date) IgCC 2012.

After more than a year of seeking public comment, including studying the costs of implementation of this new code, County staff is proposing a modest number of amendments to the form IgCC. Most are being positively received and if there is a criticism it is that they do not go far enough. It is suggested that requiring diversion of 50% of demolition debris and diversion of 75% on construction debris is below what the market does today.

The enactment attempts to correct some of the industry bias in the form IgCC when, in pursuit of heat island effect mitigation, Montgomery County reduces the IgCC 2012 mandated heat island mitigation “for not less than 50% of site hardscape” to “less than 40% “. The State of Maryland adopted IgCC for use on Maryland capital budget funded projects (which includes Montgomery County public schools) reduced that percentage to 30% and Baltimore City addressed the issue by permitting the use of “porous asphalt pavement” in addition to pervious concrete. It is suggested that Code officials have not been bold enough with the proposed amendments.

As progressive as this bill is, Montgomery County is one of a very limited number of jurisdictions mandating new construction and renovation of both private and public buildings must be green. The County may be all but unique in requiring building comply with the IgCC or ASHRAE 189.1. While Baltimore and DC have similar mandatory IgCC laws, they also permit alternative compliance paths, like LEED Silver certification, compliance with ICC 700, and Enterprise Green Communities verification. Recognizing that today Montgomery County requires use of LEED, but under the proposal will in the future only allow use of the IgCC will be controversial.

It is worthy of note that a relatively few jurisdictions have adopted the IgCC with only a handful of IgCC new construction projects having been completed. Not a single IgCC building has yet to be constructed in the City of Rockville or under the State of Maryland or Baltimore City IgCC regulatory schemes (i.e., instead each of those regulations allow alternative compliance paths and most, if not nearly all new construction is opting for LEED certification). And there are no completed 189.1 buildings, anywhere. Some are suggesting with this use of the IgCC Montgomery County is on the bubble.

A public hearing on proposed Executive Regulation #21-15 is scheduled for Thursday, December 17, 2015 at 1:30 p.m. in Rockville. Comments may also be submitted as indicated in the Montgomery County Register.

We work with property owners and builders, including to evaluate the impact of alternatives for green building, including the IgCC, now required of nearly all construction and renovation in Montgomery County, and we can assist with the County waiver process. If we might be able to assist you, do not hesitate to give Stuart a call at 410-339-3910.

This post was updated to incorporate information announced at the December 17, 2015 public hearing.