Monthly Newsletter of Hong Consulting, LLC.

Benchmarking Reports Due. Can’t believe the reporting deadline is Tuesday (9/30)! I can’t wait for things to start calming down. I am sure many of you feel the same way. If you are still working on your benchmarking report and need more time, the City & County of Honolulu (C&C) does allow buildings to request a 60-day extension. You can find the extension request form here.

EnergyStar Portfolio Manager. In the July 2025 edition of Hong Examiner, I interviewed Nick Gladfelter who runs the Better Buildings Benchmarking Program for the C&C about the possibility of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ending the EnergyStar Program. This would have had a direct impact on the City & County of Honolulu’s Better Building Benchmarking Program as building owners use Energy Star’s Portfolio Manager to generate and submit benchmarking reports to the county.

Thankfully, that looks less likely in the short term. Funding has been secured for the program for fiscal year 2026 (July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026). I plan to bring up this important issue with our legislators when I meet with them at the end of October in Washington, DC. I feel strongly that Energy Star’s benefits greatly outweigh the costs and should continue to be funded.

Energy Star is a voluntary labeling and certification program that improves energy efficiency of appliances and buildings. Since 1992, it has reduced energy costs for American families and businesses by more than $500 billion, prevented 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and supported over 790,000 jobs manufacturing or installing Energy Star certified products.[1] Over the lifetime of the program, every dollar EPA has spent on ENERGY STAR resulted in nearly $350 in energy cost savings for American business and households.[2]

10KSB Voices Summit. I will be attending the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Summit in Washington, DC from October 29th – 30th. Together, over 2,300 small businesses will meet with their legislators to make sure our voices are heard and our issues are addressed. The summit will include speeches from leaders of industry, networking, and educational opportunities. Goldman Sachs states it will be “the largest convening of small business owners in the U.S.” [3] To learn more about the 10KSB program and the summit, click here.

I am also excited to report I have been nominated to serve on 10KSB Voices Advocacy Advisory Board. I am grateful to Goldman Sachs for the opportunity and I hope that together we will continue to advocate for the interests of small businesses.

Transparency Map. If you haven’t checked out C&C’s Transparency Map, you really should. It provides the site EUI and water use intensity for all the buildings that have filed. C&C defines site energy use intensity as kBtu/square foot and water use intensity as gallons/square foot. The map shows which buildings are compliant and which buildings have not yet submitted their benchmarking reports. It also shows the percentage of buildings that have filed in the year. It is a great tool that allows you to compare your buidling’s metrics with those of its peers and neighbors. The following link will take you to the Transparency Map: https://maps.touchstoneiq.com/honolulu/. Below are some screenshots of the map in action.

[1] ENERGY STAR, ENERGY STAR Impacts (online at: https://www.energystar.gov/about/impacts)

[2] Ibid.

[3] “Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses to Host Largest Summit of Small Business Owners in the U.S.”, Goldman Sachs, 2025-09-24, https://www.goldmansachs.com/pressroom/press-releases/2025/10000-small-businesses-summit. Press Release

HONG EXAMINER – October 2025

HONG EXAMINER – August 2025

Hong Consulting, LLC.