For Immediate Release: September 26, 2007
DBEDT Release News 07-23

HONOLULU--The Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT) today announced that another state office building has qualified under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR® program. Hawai‘i also was recently ranked fifth by the U.S. EPA among U.S. states for energy efficiency cost savings in buildings.

The Hilo State Office Building is the fourth state building awarded an ENERGY STAR®. The State Office Tower (2006), the Kapolei Office Building (2005 and 2006), and the Abner Paki Hale Courthouse (2006) in Kane‘ohe have been awarded ENERGY STAR® ranking. The four buildings are managed by the Department of Accounting and General Services.

To qualify for ENERGY STAR®, buildings must demonstrate superior energy efficiency and must also be professionally verified to meet current indoor environmental standards. ENERGY STAR® awards are issued only for one year; a building must be evaluated and an application submitted annually.

With the establishment of the Lead by Example program, DBEDT has benchmarked state facilities to identify ENERGY STAR® buildings and energy efficiency improvements needed.

"This is another example of the state's effort to lead by example in energy conservation," said DBEDT Director Theodore E. Liu. "Our state energy managers are working cooperatively with state building managers to ensure that we are actively implementing energy conservation strategies in our own facilities."

"Our outstanding engineering and maintenance staff have diligently applied energy conservation measures including air conditioning and lighting retrofit projects, and improved maintenance to reduce energy consumption in state buildings and facilities," said State Comptroller Russ Saito.

ENERGY STAR® is a joint program of the U.S. EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy to protect the environment and reduce costs through energy efficient products and practices. ENERGY STAR® certified buildings rank in the top quartile of an EPA performance rating system calculated from actual energy use. The goal of this program is to identify buildings where financially attractive improvements can reduce energy use by 10 percent and then to make the improvements through low-cost building tune-ups, lighting upgrades, and replacement of old equipment.

Hawai‘i joined the EPA Energy Star Challenge in October 2005.

For more information, contact:
Dave Young
Communications
Phone: (808) 587-1212
Email: dyoung@dbedt.hawaii.gov