Maryland’s proposed building code went to press missing a requirement that state law arguably obligates it to carry, and a legislative committee caught it before final adoption.
The Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review, made up of 10 delegates and 10 senators, signaled in early August that it intends to study the regulation further and asked the state board to delay final adoption. The request came from committee member Del. Lorig Charkoudian of Montgomery County, in a letter from the House and Senate co-chairs to Gov. Wes Moore.
What Maryland’s energy code version leaves out
The state’s version of the code for large commercial buildings drops the International Energy Conservation Code provision requiring newly constructed large buildings, including warehouses and apartment towers, to generate a small amount of on-site renewable energy. It also permits builders to double-count certain efficiency measures toward compliance.
“It appears to violate Maryland law, which requires that our building codes be at least consistent with, if not stronger than, the international standard,” Charkoudian told Maryland Matters before the hold.
The regulations were published in the Maryland Register on June 26, with the public comment period closing July 27. At a July hearing, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and RMI objected that the state’s version allowed far more flexibility than the IECC.
Dinah Winnick, a spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Labor, said the department welcomes “this opportunity to engage further with the AELR Committee and stakeholders on this important topic.” Del. Sandy Rosenberg of Baltimore City, an AELR co-chair, backed the hold, saying of Charkoudian, “I respect her judgment.”
How the procedural hold plays out
If no agreement is reached, the agency can notice its intent to proceed. The hold then ends on the 30th day after that notice or 105 days after publication in the Register, whichever comes later. If the committee votes to formally oppose the regulation, it needs the governor’s approval to take effect.
That’s a slow mechanism, and slow is the point. A statewide mandatory code sets the baseline for every commercial and multifamily permit in Maryland, which means whatever emerges drives envelope assemblies, HVAC sizing and rooftop structural allowances on projects currently in design development.
The design-side consequence
The on-site generation question is not a small line item. Requiring even a modest PV array on a large new warehouse or apartment building changes roof structural loading, roof penetration detailing, electrical service design and the sequence in which the roofing subcontractor and the electrical subcontractor work. Teams that assumed the requirement was out now have to carry it as a contingency.
The broader fight, over whether a state may soften provisions of a model code it is statutorily required to meet or exceed, is running in a dozen states at once. Owners who are electrifying anyway have less exposure. The $200 million redevelopment at 460 Park Avenue in Manhattan is converting a 1954 tower to an all-electric system with dedicated outdoor air handling, in part because doing that work twice costs more than doing it once ahead of a known compliance date.
Maryland’s developers are about to learn which category they’re in.