Montgomery County also offers an alternative pathway referred to as the Building Performance Improvement Plan (BPIP) pathway. This pathway is designed for covered buildings where the measures required to meet the interim or final standard are not cost effective or when there are other circumstances outside the owner’s control.
If a covered building meets this criteria, this path requires an energy audit and assessment of electrification and renewable energy feasibility. Based on the results of the audit, the building owner must submit a retrofit plan that outlines cost effective energy improvement measures, along with the year(s) or qualifying event(s) that will prompt the implementation of each measure.
The BPIP must be submitted to the DEP no later than 90 days before the deadline for submitting documentation of compliance with interim or final standards . Buildings pursuing the BPIP pathway are still required to submit annual benchmarking and complete their retrofit plan but are not subject to meeting a site EUI performance target. To demonstrate compliance, building owners must also report annually on June 1st that the measures committed to under the retrofit plan were installed as planned. Plans are reviewed by the Building Performance Improvement Board.
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Assess
The BPIP requires energy audit and assessment of equipment replacement, electrification feasilbility, and onsite renewable energy, done by a qualified auditor.
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Plan
Create a retrofit plan identifying the cost-effective energy improvement measures and the year or qualifying event during which they will be done.
- Cost effectiveness is defined within the simple payback of each measure and is the lesser of the the lifespan of the measure, or, for specially designated buildings, 10 years.
- Specially designated buildings include:
- Local, small-business-owned buildings
- Non-profit-owned buildings
- Multifamily buildings subject to rent stabilization
- Common ownership communities
- Affordable housing buildings
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Implement
Demonstrate ongoing compliance by reporting annually that the measures committed to in the retrofit plan were done per the schedule.
- Building owners meeting the actions and timelines in an approved Building Performance Improvement Plan will be considered to be in compliance with BEPS, regardless of the building's resulting performance.
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Refile if needed
BPIP can be used for compliance with iterim and/or final standards. Measures with a simple payback of 5 years or less must be implemented before a subsequent BPIP is approved. Reference DEP's Technical Guidance on BPIP Energy Audits and Retrofit Plans for requirements in scoping an energy audit, documentation, retrofit plans, cost effectiveness calculations, and more.
