State honors businesses, events for green energy practices

Fourteen business venues and events in the state have been recognized for helping advance the state’s clean energy and sustainability goals during the annual Hawaii Green Business Awards ceremony.

“It is an honor to present these awards that recognize the commitment and hard work done by businesses and organizations to make Hawaii more sustainable,” said Gov. David Ige. “Not only do their achievements keep utility costs down and create a more sustainable environment for them individually as businesses, they also are collectively contributing to Hawai‘i’s clean energy goals.” 

The award ceremony was held virtually for the second year due to the pandemic. 

The Hawaii State Energy Office, the Hawaii Department of Health and the Honolulu Board of Water Supply hosted the event.

Awardees were honored for green initiatives that included planting native plants, using low-flow faucets and showerheads and encouraging employees to commute by bike.

The Hawaii Green Business Program has four categories: Resorts & Hotels, Office & Retail, Restaurants & Food Service Facilities and Green Events.

Here are this year’s honorees for the Hawaii Green Business Program Awards:

• Kings’ Land by Hilton Grand Vacations
• Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort 
• Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort 
• OHANA Waikiki East by Outrigger
• Waikiki Malia by Outrigger
• Waikiki Beachcomber by Outrigger 
• The Westin Nanea Ocean Villas
• The Volcano House
• Prince Waikiki
• The Hawai‘i Convention Center
• University of Hawaii, Maui College
• Honeywell
• 2021 Sony Open
• 2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions

“As we enter into the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we remain acutely aware of how vulnerable Hawai‘i is to things like volatile fuel and electricity prices, energy supply disruptions, rising sea levels and threats to our fragile ecosystem,” said Hawai‘i Chief Energy Officer, Scott Glenn in a news release. “The Hawai‘i Green Business Program helps address these issues by creating a profitable public-private partnership between business, government and a concerned public.”