STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1319

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 654

H.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism and Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 654, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BUILDINGS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to create a building benchmarking program that uses the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to encourage state buildings to become more environmentally sustainable, particularly with respect to greenhouse gas emissions and energy and water consumption.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Energy Office, Honolulu Board of Water Supply, Climate Protectors Hawai‘i, Ulupono Initiative, Blue Planet Foundation, Hawai‘i Energy, Hawaii Environmental Change Agents' Decarbonization of Buildings Task Force, Building Owners and Managers Association of Hawai‘i, and four individuals. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Accounting and General Services and Hawaiian Electric.

Your Committees find that building benchmarking requires the measuring and reporting of a building's energy and water usage trends using the Untied State's Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager measurement and tracking tool as a conservation metric to incentivize reduction. Your Committees believe that by establishing a building benchmarking program, building owners will have better information to assess and reduce their water and energy usage on an annual basis. This measure will reduce utility bills, preserve natural resources, and help the State meet its sustainability goals.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism and Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 654, H.D. 2, and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism and Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair

________________________________ LYNN DECOITE, Chair