Maryland Energy Administration

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Other Clean Buildings Hub Links:​​​​

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Historic Buildings

iStock-472028008.jpg A historic building can be an anchor institution and a tangible symbol of a community's interest in honoring its heritage and valuing its character and sense of place. The preservation of Maryland’s historic buildings and meeting our State’s climate and energy goals do not need to be mutually exclusive. Notably, adapting, preserving, and reusing existing buildings avoids the carbon emissions that occur during new construction.Some evidence suggests that it can take between 10-80 years to offset the carbon emitted when replacing an existing building, even if the new building is highly energy efficient.

The Maryland Clean Buildings Hub (the Hub) is committed to helping Maryland's building owners and managers make well-informed energy investments in their properties by connecting them to financial, educational, and technical assistance and resources. Sign-up for the Hub's monthly newsletter here.​ Questions may be directed to [email protected].

​Tax Credits​
Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentive: Developers can use the Rehabilitation Tax Credit (often referred to as the historic preservation tax credit or historic tax credit) to rehabilitate income-producing, historic buildings. There is no cap on the amount of the Federal credit.
Maryland Historic Revitalization Tax Credit Program: Owners of certified historic properties in Maryland may be eligible to earn a state income tax credit on qualified rehabilitation expenditures, including energy improvements. Maryland has three different historic revitalization credits. One each for homeowners, owners of small commercial buildings, and one for major rehabilitations.

Grant Programs

The following grant programs help offset the costs of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and electrification improvements to buildings. All grant applications for State of Maryland incentives ​undergo a Historic Preservation Review to ensure projects do not adversely affect historic properties.​

Commercial & Community Buildings Grant Program: :​ ​Provides funding for eligible Maryland commercial and community buildings to support the advancement of building decarbonization projects that result in quantifiable greenhouse gas emissions reductions, which may include the installation of energy efficiency, electrification, and renewable energy generation and storage technology upgrades. ​ 
Residential & Commercial Energy Storage Program: :​ ​This program provides grants to support the deployment of energy storage systems in residential and commercial buildings. ​ 
Historic Preservation Capital Grant Program: The Maryland Historical Trust’s Historic Preservation Capital Grant Program provides grants of up to $100,000 to nonprofits, local governments, businesses, and individuals for capital projects that promote the acquisition, rehabilitation or restoration, or predevelopment of historic properties that provide a public benefit. Energy projects as part of an acquisition or rehabilitation are eligible expenditures.
African American Heritage Preservation Program: Provides capital grants to nonprofits (state and federal government entities may apply as nonprofits), local governments, businesses and individuals to assist in the preservation of buildings, sites, or communities of historical and cultural importance to the African American experience in Maryland.
Preservation Maryland Heritage Fund: Preservation Maryland’s Heritage Fund, in cooperation with Maryland Historical Trust, provides grants to projects that protect historical and cultural resources and that promote innovative demonstration projects that can be successfully replicated to meet Maryland’s historic preservation needs. Energy efficiency upgrades, as part of a greater project that meets the program’s criteria, may be eligible.
Historic Preservation Loan Program for Capital Projects: Nonprofits, local governments, businesses, and individuals may be eligible for the Maryland Historical Trust’s Historic Preservation Loan Program, which provides loan assistance for the acquisition, rehabilitation, or predevelopment costs of historic properties that cannot access traditional financing. Energy projects as part of an acquisition or rehabilitation/restoration are eligible expenditures.
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​​Building Decarbonization Resources​

The Hub​ invites you to explore the materials below to help guide your next steps. Use these resources to help move your building decarbonization project forward with greater confidence. Suggestions for additional resources can be directed to [email protected].​​​

​ National Park Service: Energy Efficiency, Sustainability, and Green Building Practices in Historic Buildings: Learn more about how many historic structures were designed with inherent energy-saving qualities including: operable windows; ample natural light sources; clerestory windows and skylights; wide, overhanging eaves; or heavy masonry​ walls and how these factors should be considered when evaluating the energy efficiency of an individual structure.
National Park Service: Weatherization of Historic Buildings: Covers weatherization, and how implementing cost-effective measures can make a building's envelope more energy efficient. Weatherizing a historic building requires undertaking measures in ways that have minimal impact on the historic building's design and materials.
National Park Service: Solar Panels on Historic Properties: Learn more about how to install solar panels on your building while also meeting the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation.
Maryland Historic Trust: Visit the Maryland Historic Trust's webpage for news, resources, funding opportunities, public meeting dates, and more.
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​Case Studies

Case studies offer examples for how property owners and operators can design their own decarbonization projects and serve as sources of inspiration to help motivate a transition to cleaner energy in facilities across Maryland. The Hub​ is dedicated to providing these types of materials in an effort to jumpstart project plans into action.​

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