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EPA Administrator awards Hawaii for energy-efficient building

Release Date: 02/22/2006
Contact Information: Dean Higuchi, (808) 541-2711

(Honolulu - Feb. 22, 2006) At a ceremony today at Governor Lingle’s office, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson presented the governor with an Energy Star building award for the Kapolei State Building in Kapolei, Oahu.

“President Bush and EPA are committed to improving the nation's energy outlook, in part, by encouraging common-sense energy efficiency conservation programs like Energy Star,” said Johnson. “I congratulate the State of Hawaii – together we are defining a new generation of energy efficient buildings that make sense for our environment and the bottom line.”

The Kapolei State Office building is one of 14 buildings in Hawaii to be honored by the EPA’s Energy Star Program. The building met Energy Star’s requirements for energy performance, thermal comfort, indoor air quality and lighting levels.

More than 2,500 office buildings, schools, hospitals, and public buildings -- representing 482 million square feet -- earned the EPA's Energy Star for superior energy and environmental performance in 2005. These buildings are saving an estimated $349 million annually in lower energy bills and are also preventing 1.8 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to the emissions from 540,000 vehicles.

Commercial buildings account for more than 17 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. Energy Star-qualified buildings generally use up to 40 percent less energy than typical buildings. Building owners earn the Energy Star by scoring in the top 25 percent on the EPA's energy performance rating system, with scores based on actual energy use.

Among the top performing buildings are 1,007 office buildings, 501 public schools and 834 grocery stores. More than 200 hotels, hospitals, medical offices and other buildings also earned the Energy Star.

Energy Star is a government-backed program helping businesses and consumers protect the environment through superior energy efficiency. More than 8,000 organizations partner with the EPA in the Energy Star program. In 2005 alone, Americans with the help of Energy Star prevented 34 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions - equivalent to the annual emissions from 23 million vehicles, saved about $12 billion on their utility bills, and helped avoid 28,000 megawatts (MW) of peak power – equivalent to the peak energy required to power about 28 million homes.

For more information on the Energy Star Program visit: http://energystar.gov.

For more information and a complete list of buildings and their locations, visit: http://energystar.gov/ia/business/ES_Buildings_2005.pdf