Gov. David Ige honored 13 businesses and eight events for their energy-efficient and conservation practices at the state Capitol on Wednesday.
The 21 honorees received awards from the Hawaii Green Business Program for their efforts to reduce their water and electricity use and their production of waste.
Since Hawaii Green Business’ inception in 2009 until 2016, those recognized by the program saved a combined 18.9 million kilowatt hours of energy, or enough energy to power 2,940 homes in Hawaii for one year. The more than
100 who have been honored over the life of the program saved a total of 136.8 million gallons of water and $5.7 mil lion in electricity costs.
“These businesses and events have gone the extra mile to demonstrate their exemplary stewardship of the environment and strong commitment to helping Hawaii achieve energy independence,” Ige said in a statement. “The State of Hawaii has an ambitious goal to reach 100 percent clean energy by the year 2045. This is a tall order, but with the commitment of local businesses, government agencies and nonprofit organizations we can make Hawaii’s clean energy future a reality.”
Hotel, restaurant and food service industries as well as event organizers were honored at the event.
The business honorees included Ala Moana Hotel, Aqua Pacific Monarch, The Equus, Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa, Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa, The Kahala Hotel and Resort, The Modern Honolulu, Ohana Waikiki Malia by Outrigger, Artizen by MW, Bills Sydney, HDR Inc., Honeywell Smart Energy and Ibis Networks.
The eight honored events included Hawaii Tourism Authority 2016 Annual Tourism Conference, International Union for Conservation of Nature 2016 World Convention Congress, German-Hawaii Clean Energy Symposium 2016, Kona Brewers Festival 2017, Sony Open in Hawaii 2017, TEDx Honolulu 2016, University of Hawaii Sustainability in Higher Education 2017 and VERGE Hawaii 2016.
Wednesday’s event was hosted by the Hawaii State Energy Office of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, the Department of Health and the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association.
