THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

173

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

Requesting the Center for Smart Building and Community Design develop energy efficient design standards for new and retrofitted buildings throughout the University of Hawaii system.

WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii has the highest electrical cost in the country; and

WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii is the largest user of electricity on Oahu after the U.S. military; and

WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii spends over $20,000,000 annually in electricity costs; and

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

WHEREAS, changes in design as well as the use of more efficient air conditioning, lighting and appliances will cut costs by twenty five per cent a year in remodeled buildings, and by fifty per cent a year for new buildings; and

WHEREAS, other institutions of higher learning such as Cornell University, Stanford University, and the Georgia Institute of Technology have realized savings of up to seventy per cent in energy costs in newly designed buildings; and

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

WHEREAS, buildings designed with energy efficient standards greatly reduce operating costs over their lifetime; 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 United States Department of Energy, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Laboratories of the 21st Century Program, State Energy Office, Hawaiian Electric Company and the University’s Office of Sustainability to encourage more efficiently designed buildings and more livable communities; now, therefore,

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

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Center for Smart Building and Community Design report its progress on the creation of energy efficient performance standards to the Legislature not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2006; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the University of Hawaii, the Chair of the Board of Regents, and the Chancellors of all campuses of the University of Hawaii.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

UH; DEVELOP ENERGY EFFICIENT PERFORMANCE STANDARDS