RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii has the highest electricity costs in the country; and

WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii is the largest user of electricity on Oahu after the U.S. military, spending over $20 million annually on electricity; and

WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii has both the responsibility and opportunity to demonstrate to the State its leadership in energy conservation; and

WHEREAS, changes in design and the use of more efficient air conditioning, lighting, and appliances can cut electricity costs for remodeled buildings by 25 percent each year and 50 percent each year for new buildings; and

WHEREAS, institutions of higher learning, such as Cornell University, Stanford University, and the Georgia Institute of Technology, have realized savings of up to 70 percent in energy costs for buildings designed using energy-efficient building standards; and

WHEREAS, the appropriate application of energy-efficient building standards has been documented to increase employee productivity and satisfaction and reduce absenteeism; and

WHEREAS, the use of energy-efficient building standards greatly reduces operating costs as buildings age; and

WHEREAS, the Center for Smart Building and Community Design, a program of the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program, has been working with the Laboratories of the 21st Century Program, University of Hawaii's Office of Sustainability, the State Energy Office, Hawaiian Electric Company, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to encourage the construction of more efficiently-designed buildings and more livable communities; and

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the Senate concurring, that this body requests that the Center for Smart Building and Community Design develop energy performance standards for the construction, renovation, and retrofitting of all buildings throughout the University of Hawaii system; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Center for Smart Building and Community Design is requested to submit a copy of these energy performance standards to the Legislature 20 days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2007; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Interim President of the University of Hawaii, the Chairperson of the Board of Regents, the Chancellor of the University of Hawaii, the Director of the University of Hawaii Sea Grant Program, and the Director of the University of Hawaii Center for Smart Building and Community Design.

Report Title:

Energy performance standards; UH buildings