Building a Green Maryland : Maryland Green Building Lawyer & Attorney : Megan Reuwer : O’Malley, Miles, Nylen & Gilmore Law Firm : MD Green Building, Sustainability

The EPA has recently released new guidelines to accompany ENERGY STAR New Homes Version 3.0 (also known as ENERGY STAR 2011), which will soon go into effect (see the implementation section to follow for more details).  According to the EPA, version 3.0 is designed to address several key areas that were overlooked in previous versions of the ENERGY STAR program. Several ways in which Version 3.0 meets these problem areas are by:

• Requiring third-party inspectors to enforce quality control of installation and commissioning;
• Instituting mandatory requirements for efficient hot water delivery;
• Requiring adoption of the Advanced Lighting Package or use of 80% screw-in ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs; and
• Penalizing "wasteful largeness" by requiring larger-than-average homes to achieve a more stringent HERS index threshold for ENERGY STAR qualification.

To qualify a home under Version 3.0, a home must meet the requirements of four checklists:

1. Thermal Enclosure System Rater Checklist
2. HVAC System Quality Installation Contractor Checklist
3. HVAC System Quality Installation Rater Checklist
4. Water Management System Builder Checklist (or Indoor airPLUS Verification Checklist)

Copies of the checklists are available on EPA’s website via this link.

To be eligible for qualification, a home must also meet the other requirements listed in the national program requirements document, including verification of all requirements by a Rater (the person completeing the third-party inspections required for qualification; this person may be a certified Home Energy Rater, BOP Inspector, or an equivalent designation as determined by a Verification Oversight Organization such as RESNET).

Implementation Schedule for Version 3.0:

Condos and Apartments in Multi-family buildings: Multi-family buildings may take advantage of an extended implementation schedule if they have permits issued before January 1, 2011 and are completed by January 1, 2012. This means that they can be qualified under the older version of ENERGY STAR (2.0: 2006 Guidelines).

Single-family homes: Some single family homes can also be qualified under the older version of ENERGY STAR (2.0: 2006 Guidelines), IF they have permits issued BEFORE January 1, 2011 AND  they are completed by July 1, 2011. If they have permits issued before January 1, 2011, but are not completed until the period between July 2, 2011 and January 1, 2012, then they must meet version 2.5 (this is a transitional version which is composed of the version 3.0 ENERGY STAR Reference Design coupled with the Air Barriers and Air Sealing sections of the Thermal Enclosure Checklist. Under version 2.5, the other inspection checklists shall be completed, but not enforced). If a single family home is not completed before January 1, 2012, then is must adhere to version 3.0.

All homes: If permits are issued AFTER January 1, 2011, and building is completed prior to January 1, 2012, then they must meet version 2.5

All homes: If permits are issued AFTER January 1, 2012, all buildings must adhere to version 3.0.

For more information, be sure to check out the EPA's website on the ENERGY STAR program via this link.

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Happy Earth Day! Today marks the 40th anniversary of the celebration of Earth Day, and in honor of this great day, I want to share some information about an exciting upcoming Earth Day Event.  I recently spoke with Charles Lancaster with Konterra, the organizer of the river party and cleanup that will take place this Saturday, April 24th at 5050 Powder Mill Road in Beltsville, Maryland. Volunteers will gather around 8:30 am to fortify themselves with coffee and donuts before heading to the creek, and the day will conclude with a barbecue lunch. Check out their flyer with more information here.

 1. Who is Konterra and why are they organizing this River Party & Stream Clean Up?

Konterra is a progressive and environmentally engaged development company, currently working on the Konterra Town Center project located in Prince George's County, Maryland.  In partnership with Forest City’s dynamic sustainability program, we have a GREEN story to tell.  Our name is part of this vision:  "Con" means "with" and "Terra" means "Earth."  Together, Konterra stands for the future of environmentally-conscious residential and commercial development. The public will soon see their choice to live, work, and shop at Konterra Town Center as a way to make the world a better place. We're organizing a river clean up because we recognize the importance of working with our surrounding communities to minimize the potential environmental impacts of development as well as the importance of giving back to the community and beautifying Prince George’s County.

2.  Konterra organized a similar event last Earth Day. Tell me a little bit about the success of that event. How much debris did you help remove from Indian Creek last year?

The 2009 Indian Creek cleanup was a great success: 80+ volunteers picked up 97 full bags of trash, 84 tires, and more than 40 large items including a bicycle, a TV, a computer monitor, a sink, a huge corrugated pipe, 2 car bumpers, 2 gas tanks and a part of a garage door. A large dumpster provided by Prince George's County was filled to the brim and a Prince George's County trash truck showed up to pick up additional items. All in all, approximately 500 yards of stream and floodplain were cleaned.  We want to thank everybody who came and helped on this wonderful, sunny day. Special thanks for last year's event go to CCRIC and the Anacostia Watershed Society, as well as ATK Space Systems for allowing us to use their parking lot.

It sounds like this is going to be a fun and worthwhile event. Hope to see some of you out on the creek this Saturday morning!

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The official end to the 2010 Maryland legislative session came on midnight of April 12, 2010. In the interim time period, several bills that had passed both the House of Delegates and the Senate have been signed by the Governor and have become law.  Others are still waiting either for the Governor's signature or to become law after the veto period expires after presentment to the Governor.

There were a lucky few that passed both the House and the Senate, including a bill requiring counties to develop recycling plans for fluorescent and compact fluorescent lights; a bill requiring state agencies to develop road salt management best practices; a bill establishing the Maryland Sustainable Growth Commission which will make recommendations on changes to state and local laws to achieve state smart growth planning goals; and a bill that reestablishes the Heritage Structure Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program as the Sustainable Communities Tax Credit Program.

1. HB 685 Fluorescent and Compact Fluorescent Light Recycling - County Plans: This bill requires a county’s recycling plan to address a strategy for collecting and recycling fluorescent and compact fluorescent lights that contain mercury. The recycling plan must be revised to reflect the new requirements by October 1, 2011.
2. HB 903 / SB 775 Transportation - Road Salt Management - Best Practices Guidance: This bill requires the State Highway Administration (SHA), in consultation with the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), to develop a road salt management best practices guidance document by October 1, 2011, for use by local jurisdictions and the State to minimize the adverse environmental impacts of road salt runoff in the State. SHA must update the guidance document annually and make it available online.
3. HB 474 / SB 278 Smart, Green, and Growing - Maryland Sustainable Growth Commission: This Administration bill repeals the Task Force on the Future for Growth and Development in Maryland and establishes a Maryland Sustainable Growth Commission. The Commission will, among other tasks: make recommendations on the adequacy, coordination, and implementation of funding mechanisms and other State assistance for planning activities and infrastructure and land preservation needs; promote planning coordination and inter-jurisdictional cooperation; evaluate the continuing viability and effectiveness of specified smart growth indicators and recommend changes; develop and assist with smart growth educational and outreach programs; and recommend changes in State law, regulations, policies, and procedures necessary to achieve State planning goals.
4. SB 285 / HB 475 - Smart, Green, and Growing - The Sustainable Communities Act of 2010 This Administration bill reestablishes the Heritage Structure Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program as the Sustainable Communities Tax Credit Program, extends the program’s termination date through fiscal 2014, requires the Governor to include an appropriation to the commercial program in fiscal 2011 through 2014, and alters eligibility requirements for the program.

There were also some important bills that didn't pass both the House and the Senate, including a bill amending the High Performance Building Act which would have officially recognized the Green Globes program as a LEED "equivalent"; and a bill that would have cost developers some "green" in  stormwater remediation fees.

1. SB 479 High Performance Buildings - Green Globes Program: This bill broadens the definition of a high-performance building to include any building that achieves at least a two-globe rating according to the Green Globes Program adopted by the Green Building Initiative (GBI). It also requires the Governor to appoint an equal number of members associated with the Green Globes program and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program to the Maryland Green Building Council.
2. SB 686 / HB 999 Watershed Protection and Restoration Act: This bill requires each county and municipality, by July 1, 2011, to adopt local laws or ordinances necessary to establish an annual stormwater remediation fee and a local watershed protection and restoration fund to provide financial assistance for the implementation of local stormwater management plans. The bill also establishes specified reporting requirements for local governments and the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). MDE is authorized to adopt regulations.

All in all, there weren't very many environmental or green building bills that will specifically impact builders and developers (with the exception of the emergency stormwater regulations relating to extending the grandfathering period for certain projects which have been covered in prior posts).

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This is a very quick post to inform you that on April 7th at approximately 7:30pm, the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review (AELR) approved MDE's Emergency Stormwater Regulations. The Emergency Regulations are materially similar to the consensus agreement that had become HB 1125.  Since the regulations were approved, the passage of HB 1125 is no longer needed.  The Emergency Regulations will become effective immediately and will remain in effect until permanent regulations are in place.

On Wednesday, April 14th, we will take a look at some of the green building legislation that made it through the Maryland General Assembly this legislative session.

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Efforts to grandfather certain development projects and to redefine the scope of "redevelopment" projects under the Maryland stormwater regulations have been diverged into two channels: one via emergency legislation (HB 1125), and the other via emergency regulations promulgated by MDE that must be reviewed by the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review.

Emergency Legislation:

House Bill 1125  passed the House of Delegates (127-13) on March 24, 2010, and is now scheduled for a hearing before the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee on April 8, 2010 at 1:00. This emergency bill defines "redevelopment" as it pertains to the State’s stormwater management regulatory program and establishes specific stormwater standards that redevelopment projects must meet. The bill also grandfathers “development projects” that receive “preliminary plan approval” before May 4, 2010, from complying with stormwater regulations recently adopted by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE); for such projects, stormwater management plans are subject to the laws and regulations in effect at the time preliminary plan approval was received. The emergency legislation essentially incorporates the provisions of the Consensus Agreement reached among shareholders as discussed in this prior post.

Emergency Regulations:

On March 12, 2010, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) submitted to the State Legislative Committee on Administration, Executive, and Legislation Review draft Emergency Regulations to address the application of new State stormwater management ("SWM") regulations. The Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review (AELR) is charged, in part, with reviewing State agency regulations with regard to the legislative prerogative and procedural due process. The Committee is composed of ten senators and ten delegates who are appointed by the Senate President and the House Speaker at the beginning of each regular session. Members serve for one year. The Committee has scheduled a hearing on the emergency regulations set for Tuesday, April 6 at 4:00 pm.

I will continue to monitor the status of HB 1125 and the emergency regulations - these are both very important measures to address major industry concerns.

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