Honolulu’s City Council is considering Bill 25, a code to require new homes and buildings to be more energy efficient and more affordable for residents. By passing a strong Bill 25, the Council’s Zoning, Planning and Housing Committee has the opportunity to cut utility bills in half for local owners and renters of new homes. Across the nation, we’re seeing families struggling to meet their monthly bills and stay in their homes, and cities are taking a closer look at the quality and efficiency of homes being built by developers.

I’ve been part of that effort. I started my career helping low-income families fight evictions, and as part of the “Energy Efficiency for All” initiative, I worked in cities across the country to create energy savings programs for lower-income families and renters — so I know that we can support people struggling to afford the cost of living in Honolulu.

As someone who also loves spending time on Oahu’s threatened beaches and breathing the clean island air, I want to make sure we all do our part to protect this beautiful island for future generations.

Honolulu’s Bill 25 offers both environmental protection and cost savings for residents of new homes.

We might not think about it when we turn on the hot water or turn up the air conditioning, but buildings are responsible for more than 40% of carbon pollution. But because of delay and inaction, Honolulu is currently ranked the nation’s fourth-worst city at encouraging energy-efficient buildings.

Through my work with the American Cities Climate Challenge, I help Honolulu and cities across the country figure out how to reduce climate-polluting emissions from homes and buildings. Already, 42 states and hundreds of cities have passed energy codes that require developers to reduce waste and pollution when constructing new buildings. If the City Council passes a strong Bill 25, Honolulu will be a welcome addition to this growing movement.

Bill 25 incorporates the best of what we’re seeing across the country. It includes proven best practices to save energy and help charge electric cars — inexpensive to operate in Hawaii — and to use solar water heaters, which are uniquely suited for Honolulu’s climate and already required by state law. It also will make new roofs “solar-ready” so homeowners can inexpensively install solar panels and save more by generating power on their own roofs.

While opponents of the bill have argued it will make construction prohibitively expensive, we estimate that developers will actually spend from $750 to at most $3,200 more to include energy efficiency. That’s less than half a percent of a new home price — and with 50% monthly energy savings on bills, it doesn’t take long for homeowners and renters to recoup all that and more.

Local folks have spoken up in a big way for saving energy and money. Over 90% of written testimony to the City Council at the committee’s last meeting called for passage of a strong Bill 25. A poll last year found that 8 in 10 residents support this. Residents know this is about building homes that are more affordable to live in for current Honolulu residents — and the children and grandchildren who will live there for years more. This is about taking a stand against a climate crisis that’s already hitting Honolulu with higher temperatures, worsening storms, and beach loss.

I hope to share these facts at the next Honolulu City Council Zoning Planning and Housing Committee. This bill has already been delayed for months. I urge the City Council to act now — to vote yes on a strong policy for a more sustainable and affordable way of life.

Maria Stamas, based in San Francisco, works to accelerate climate-action in cities nationwide with a focus on developing and strengthening equitable clean-energy policies for buildings. She has led advocacy efforts before the California Public Utilities Commission, the California Energy Commission and the California Legislature.