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Vol. 13, Issue 34 - Sunday, February 3, 2008

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Obituaries | Vital Stats | Weather | Surf | Subscribe Search Go »

Inside | Feb. 3

HECO rebate programs Business

» Bailout may be slow to
encourage energy savings save market, experts say
» HECO rebate programs
encourage energy
By urging energy conservation, the utility has savings
» Hawaii real estate sales
saved businesses and homeowners millions » TheBuzz
» Secrets to Success
STORY SUMMARY » » WSJ Sunday
» Dilbert
In just more than a decade, Hawaii saved itself a power plant. Hawaii News
Who should be the
starting quarterback The 100 megawatts the state has cut through Hawaiian Electric » Turtle Bay has heard
for the UH football nothing of deal
Co.'s home and business rebate programs since 1996 nearly equal » F-15 crash is unlike
team? the power of the planned Campbell Industrial Park plant. earlier one, says general
» Rain inundates Hilo
Back Issues That also adds up to a lot of money saved by local businesses and » Clan of coaches pool
organizations on installation and energy costs. their talents
(1996-Present) » Mixon takes new
S | M | T | W| T | F| S Punahou School estimates it could save a million dollars a year command
» Newswatch, Police/Fire
under its program designed to cut in half its dependence on HECO » Kokua Line
Sections by 2016. » Corky's Hawaii
» In the Military
Local News More than 8,000 projects have been completed under the rebate » For Your Benefit
Features program, and with newer, more efficient technologies coming online, » What the Heck?
Sports energy conservation is becoming the norm, not the exception for » Facts of the Matter
Business Hawaii buildings. » Island Images
» Vital Statistics
Editorial » Obituaries
Travel (Sunday) BY THE NUMBERS » Corrections
Corrections » Weather
Blogs Hawaiian Electric's rebate program for businesses started in 1996. Features
Gallery
» Wonders of Hawaii
Calendars 53 megawatts: Business energy savings » Off-kilter worlds collide
Movies in 'Cul de Sac'
Special Packages 682,000 barrels: Oil reduction » UH art graduates
present 'Parentheses'
Subscribe $24 million: Rebates awarded » 'Don' improves with
Newsstands progress of production
Directory 8,000: Estimated number of projects » New book releases
Freelancers from Hawaii authors
Source: HECO » Da Kine
E-Mail Headlines » Honolulu Lite
RSS/XML » Weekly Eater
FULL STORY » » Yoga For You
» Scrivener's Sudoku
» Sunday Comics
Travel
» Cunard Lines helped
shape writer's life
» Cruise ship plans
Classifieds Valentine's voyage
Autos » Kapalua Villas enticing
visitors with offerings
Island Homes » Hawaii's Back Yard
Jobs » Airfare Rates
Government Section Sports
Bidding Advantage
» 'Bows runaway with
Advertise win over LaTech
» Warriors' season of joy
ended in pain
» UH names Ron Lee
offensive coordinator
» Warriors land prolific
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM quarterback from CA
Fifteen University of Hawaii students have formed a group » Problems closing out
called HUB, or Help Us Bridge, to help the school cut energy games cost Warriors
use. The group is removing 2,000 lights from Saunders Hall on » LaTech deals Wahine
campus, and in April will install a wind turbine on the roof, with worst loss of season
long-term plans for an 18-kilowatt solar system. Above, some » Kamehameha gains
third straight state title

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com
 third straight state title
HUB members gathered in a hallway around a turbine being » Warriors claim girls
tested. state soccer crown
» Dumlao sparks
Kamehameha to win
» Press Box
By Jennifer Sudick » Water Ways
jsudick@starbulletin.com » Hawaii Beat
» Scoreboard
The colors at Bougainville Flooring's showroom are looking a little » TV & Radio
brighter these days. Editorial
And it's saving the company a bundle. » The trouble with
transitional housing
» People step in to defend
When tripling the store's size three years ago, President David Arita public right to beaches
scrapped the building's old fluorescent lighting in favor of new » End illegal B&Bs in
energy-saving bulbs that earned him thousands of dollars in rebates residential areas
under Hawaiian Electric Co.'s EnergySolutions for Business » Corky's Editorial
program. Cartoon
» On Politics
» Media Matters
Total rebates for upgrades to lighting and air conditioning: $7,112. » Kauakukalahale
» Gathering Place: Lillian
"It really makes a big difference from a customer-selection process," Koller
said Arita, who earned HECO's small business energy efficiency » Gathering Place: Kekuni
award in 2006. "The electricity costs are going up and up and up -- Blaisdell
anything to save energy is something that we are always interested » At The Capitol
in doing." » According to Joe
» Letters
Bougainville is one of hundreds of businesses in Hawaii to take
advantage of the program, which has handed out $24 million in Columns | Feb. 3
rebates since starting in 1996, with an estimated $3.5 million paid
out last year. Upgrades to everything ranging from lighting to Corky's Hawaii
ultraviolet water-treatment systems totaling more than 8,000 projects Corky Trinidad
has saved more than 53 megawatts and the equivalent energy Kokua Line
supplied by 682,000 barrels of oil. June Watanabe
In the Military
When taking into account HECO's EnergyScout home rebate energy Gregg K. Kakesako
program, 100 megawatts have been cut statewide, saving just less What the Heck?
than the estimated output of the planned 110-megawatt commercial John Heckathorn
biofuel plant at Campbell Industrial Park. Facts of the Matter
Richard Brill
"We consider these programs to be an alternative resource," said Island Images
Keith Block, director of HECO's customer efficiency programs S-B Photographers
division. "Generally speaking, demand for electricity increases over Honolulu Lite
time. Back in the '90s and late '80s, Hawaiian Electric started Charles Memminger
looking at an alternative to that by helping our customers to be more Yoga For You
efficient." Ray Madigan & Shelley
Choy
Businesses usually have a two-year payback on a lighting retrofit, Weekly Eater
Nadine Kam
the most popular use of the rebate program, followed by efficient air-
cooling systems, Block said. In recent years, the program's offerings Hawaii's Back Yard
Cheryl Tsutsumi
have expanded to include newer technologies, such as high output
fluorescent lighting. Block said in the past decade he's seen Press Box
Paul Arnett
features such as solar-water heating skyrocket in popularity. Water Ways
Ray Pendleton
"That kind of transition over time is really easy for us in the business
to see," he said. "There's been so much awareness because of the TheBuzz
Erika Engle
high cost of oil. You tell them, 'Change your lights and you get a 50
percent return on investment,' and their eyes light up." Secrets to Success
Deborah & John-Paul
Micek
This month, the Hawaii chapter of the Building Owners and Editorial Cartoon
Managers Association, in partnership with Hawaiian Electric, will Corky Trinidad
debut the first-ever handbook geared toward providing commercial On Politics
building owners with a road map to saving energy. Richard Borreca
Media Matters
"Building managers in many cases don't have all the knowledge Jim Borg
necessary in order to come up with a plan to have a green building,
or in particular, energy conservation," said Horizon Properties Tools
owner Dennis Gillum, who served as president of the organization
last year. "There are so many areas of concern, it's difficult to have Email this article
the knowledge in all of it."
Printer-friendly
Gillum said most of the organization's 135 local members have E-mail Business Dept.
taken advantage of the rebate program, including him. He replaced
the old magnetic lighting in his 615 Piikoi Street building more than
10 years ago with T8 fluorescent lighting, cutting the number of
lights -- and his costs -- by half.
"It's something building managers are aware of and are taking into
consideration with building modifications," he said. "It's been a real
benefit to the public and to the building industry as well."
At the University of Hawaii at Manoa, a group of 15 students is using
the rebate money to help the school cut energy use by 30 percent in
2012 and in half by 2015. The university spends $1.5 million each
month on electricity.
HUB, or Help Us Bridge, is removing 2,000 lights in Saunders Hall,
the home of the College of Social Sciences. With a rebate of $5 a

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 light, the group plans to use its $10,000 in rebate money to fund
other energy-saving projects.
"We weren't given a budget so we didn't have any money to start
with," said student sustainability coordinator Shanah Trevenna. "The
rebates are great because you get them right away. We want to set
the precedent for all energy-saving initiatives."
The group plans to cut energy use in the seven-story office building
by nearly a third by the end of this year. In April, it will install a wind
turbine on the roof, with long-term plans for an 18-kilowatt solar
system.
Queen's Medical Center, one of the top 10 electricity users in the
state, has won several HECO awards for its efforts for its installation
of more than 20,000 energy-efficient fluorescent and 2,000 LED
lights. That helps the 2.2-million-square-foot center save more than
$400,000 a year in electric costs, which top a half-million dollars
each month.
"What I did is I used the money I got from the rebate to use for the
energy savings," said facilities manager Mike Kim Seu. "The main
thing in big companies is that we don't have money to spend. Once I
found this, it was like a wheel going downhill -- it picked up
momentum."
The hospital also has installed motion-sensitive sensors in rooms
and stairwells that shut off unused lighting, as well as a temperature
monitor that reduces the cost of air conditioning.
Punahou School cuts air-conditioning costs by a quarter by running
its energy-efficient chillers at off-peak hours, so ice is produced at
night and melted during the day. A lighting retrofit in the early 1990s
paid for itself within a year and a half, said Randy Overton, director of
the physical plant.
"From the board's perspective, it's pretty much a slam dunk," he
said.
Under a program designed to reduce the school's dependence on
HECO in half by 2016 with renewable energy and natural ventilation,
Overton said the school could save a million dollars a year.
"It's about doing the right thing," he said. "Fortunately through the
years, more people have gotten on the bandwagon."

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