Maryland County Proposes Green Building Legislation

Montgomery County, Md., Executive Douglas M. Duncan and Montgomery County Council President George Leventhal have announced an initiative that would require new construction in the county to meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.

According to a press release from the county executive’s office, Leventhal’s green building bill would require all new non-residential and multi-family residential buildings that are at least 10,000 square feet in size to obtain 20 LEED points.

To create an incentive for higher LEED ratings, the bill will expand the Clean Energy Rewards Program to allow building that earn at least 24 LEED points to receive an energy tax rebate.

The bill will not require that a building obtain full LEED certification from the USGBC. Rather it will require that the county’s Department of Permitting Services and the Planning Board make their own judgments about the number of LEED points that a building will obtain.