Legislators OK $50M for energy efficiency

State House and Senate lawmakers Monday authorized the disbursement of an additional $50 million in state funds to establish an infrastructure financing program aimed at making photovoltaic systems and energy efficiency improvements affordable to a wider audience.

The $50 million is in addition to $100 million already approved by the Legislature for the program. The funding will become available after the measure is passed by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor.

The budget appropriation would be used to administer the program, known as Green Energy Market Securitization. The state plans to issue bonds under the program that would create a pool of funds from which residents and businesses could borrow to pay for solar panels and other energy-saving improvements. The residents and businesses would repay the loans with the savings on their bills.

"Clearly, this levels the playing field for all of Hawaii’s residents to be a part of Hawaii’s efforts to be energy self-sufficient," said Rep. Sylvia Luke, chairwoman of the House Finance Committee.

Units at Newtown Square nearly sold out

Doctors and dentists have bought nearly all the space in Aiea’s former Newtown Square office building converted into a commercial condominium complex for health care providers and renamed the Mary Savio Medical Plaza.

The medical plaza is holding a grand opening Tuesday following the addition of a roughly 600-stall parking garage.

Peter Savio, a local developer heading the proj­ect, said about 60 mostly doctors and dentists bought nearly all the condo units in the three-story building with 69,000 square feet of space. About 6,000 square feet is still available, Savio said. Recent units on the market have ranged in price from about $200,000 for 412 square feet to $800,000 for 1,677 square feet.

Savio plans to build a new three-story building on the property with about 30,000 square feet of condo space that he said is sold out.

Newtown Square was built in 1974. Savio bought the property from Kame­ha­meha Schools for $15 million in 2012 and launched the conversion and expansion plan, estimated to cost $50 million to $60 million.

Service allows tracking of carbon footprint

A company receiving support from the Hawaii-based Energy Excelerator program has launched an online service that allows users to track the climate impacts of the goods they purchase.

Oroeco bills itself as "the world’s first service that rewards you and all your friends for taking action to fight climate change." The company uses data from the University of Cali­for­nia, Berkeley’s CoolClimate research group to track the climate impacts of users by putting a carbon value on everything they buy. Oroeco gives users personalized tips on how they can save money and reduce their carbon footprint. The service also uses Facebook to allow users to compare themselves with their friends and family.

The Energy Excelerator is a nonprofit that provides government and private funding, mentorship and other support to help energy startups at both the growth- and seed-stage levels.

Maui hotel makes Conde Nast Hot List

The Andaz Maui at Wai­lea Resort & Spa is among the top five beach hotels in the world, according to the 2014 Conde Nast Hot List.

Andaz Maui is the only Hawaii resort on the magazine’s 18th annual list, which names the five top hotels or resorts in categories such as Best Family Hotels, Best Food Hotels, Best Bargain Hotels, Best Design Hotels, Best Over-the-Top Hotels and Best Way-Out-There Hotels for the year. The list is published online at www.cntraveler.com/hot-list/2014 and will be included in an issue to be released April 29.

Andaz Maui was formerly known as the Renaissance Wai­lea Beach Resort. The hotel was long vacant and had become a blight on Maui’s Mokapu Beach prior to the multimillion-dollar renovation by Hyatt Corp., which converted the abandoned property to suit its Andaz boutique brand.

RadioShack expands recycling to Hawaii

Nationwide retailer Radio­Shack has expanded its recycling program for rechargeable batteries and smartphones to its Hawaii stores. Consumers can now bring rechargeable batteries and cellular phones to any Radio­Shack for recycling, with no purchase necessary.

The store has had a 20-year partnership with Call2Recycle, a nonprofit program, to collect and transport batteries, and is now Call2Recycle’s highest-volume retail partner, the company said in a statement Monday.

"Our partnership with Call2Recycle has helped divert over 7 million pounds of these items from landfills and ensure that they are properly recycled," said Joe Magnacca, CEO of Radio­Shack, in a statement.

Call2Recycle has collected more than 85 million pounds of batteries and cellphones since its inception by five battery manufacturers in 1994.

ON THE MOVE

The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel has appointed Johnny Loua as chef de cuisine of Manta & Pavilion Wine Bar. He was previously a sous-chef at Merriman’s Wai­mea as well as an executive chef at Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Lava Java in Historic Kai­lua Village.

First Hawaiian Bank has announced several promotions:

» Jerry Matsu­naka to vice president from facilities engineer of the bank’s KIC Center. He previously worked for Oahu Plumbing & Sheetmetal and the American Piping & Boiler Co.

» Belinda Rullan to vice president and service manager from assistant vice president and service manager in the Wealth Advisory Division. Rullan has 24 years of financial industry experience and began her banking career with First Hawaiian in 1990 as an accounting clerk.

_____

Clarification: The $50 million that state lawmakers authorized to promote photovoltaic systems and energy efficiency improvements is in addition to $100 million already approved by the Legislature for the program. An earlier version of this brief did not specify that it was additional funding.