STAND. COM. REP. NO. 489

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2023

RE: H.B. No. 654

H.D. 2

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce, to which was referred H.B. No. 654, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BUILDINGS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to create and appropriate funds for a Building Benchmarking Program that requires state and county agencies to process the aggregated energy and water data of certain properties through the federal ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool and submit the benchmarking data to the Hawaii State Energy Office.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Energy Office; Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency of the City and County of Honolulu; Honolulu Board of Water Supply; Hawai‘i Energy; Ulupono Initiative; Building Owners and Managers Association of Hawai‘i; and five individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Accounting and General Services and Hawaiian Electric.

Your Committee finds that the Legislature declared a climate emergency. Your Committee further finds that there needs to be a more concerted effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This measure allows agencies to measure and track their buildings' energy and consumption using the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool.

Your Committee notes that this measure authorizes the Hawaii State Energy Office to provide alternative values under certain circumstances and requires the public disclosure of data transparency information. As this measure advances through the legislative process, your Committee notes that the terms "alternative values" and "data transparency information" may need to be defined for clarity.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Removing county properties from the Building Benchmarking Program;

(2) Clarifying that the exemption for buildings that are not otherwise part of campuses applies to buildings that are less than ten thousand square feet, rather than for buildings that are less than twenty thousand square feet;

(3) Clarifying that the Chief Energy Officer is to provide technical assistance to the state agencies on the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager or equivalent tool;

(4) Repealing the prohibition on entities from claiming tax credits or deductions for implementing energy efficiency measures in state facilities;

(5) Changing the effective date to June 30, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(6) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 654, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 654, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce,

____________________________

MARK M. NAKASHIMA, Chair