Hawaiʻi’s latest Green Business Awards recipients reported saving 493 million gallons of water and 2.9 million kilowatt-hours of electricity during the 2025-26 program year, giving the state a new measure of how operational changes at hotels, offices, venues and other businesses can reduce island resource demand.
The state announcement, released Thursday, said 51 businesses and events across five islands were recognized Sept. 23. The awardees also reported diverting 237 tons of green waste, recycling 349 tons of other waste and saving 155,765 therms of gas. The Hawaiʻi State Energy Office attributed reductions of 454 metric tons of carbon-dioxide equivalent to electricity savings and 206 metric tons to lower gas use.
Those figures are self-contained program totals published by the state; the release does not provide a site-by-site accounting or explain the methodology used to aggregate every category. They should therefore be read as the program’s reported results, not an independently audited statewide inventory. Independent local coverage by HI Now also documented the awards and the participation of more than 50 local organizations.
The honorees include 31 hotels, resorts, venues and offices; four breweries and distilleries; three offices; two venues; three events; and eight entry-level participants. The list spans large visitor-industry properties, small restaurants, tour operators, a university sustainability expo and a value-added product center. That range matters because conservation gains in Hawaiʻi depend not only on utility-scale energy projects but also on the daily use of water, electricity, fuel and materials across thousands of commercial properties.
The Green Business Program is a free partnership of the State Energy Office, Department of Health and Honolulu Board of Water Supply. Applicants complete sector-specific checklists, and full-program candidates may receive a site visit to verify their responses. The program says operational efficiency, procurement, regulatory compliance and community practices can improve participating businesses’ bottom lines while advancing state sustainability goals.
The latest totals differ sharply from the prior program year, when participants reported 38.8 million gallons of water and 6.5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity saved. The state did not say that the same businesses participated in both years, so the figures should not be treated as a direct year-over-year performance comparison. Changes in the mix and size of awardees can move the totals substantially.
For residents and customers, the practical significance is that the program links recognition to documented operating practices rather than a general environmental pledge. The current application process requires a checklist and can include on-site review coordinated with water and health officials. Submissions are now open for the 2026-27 recognition cycle, allowing additional businesses to enter at either the full-program or 10-point entry level.
State officials frame efficiency as one part of Hawaiʻi’s wider clean-energy transition. The new results do not by themselves establish progress toward a statewide target, but they quantify how participating businesses can reduce demand immediately while longer-term generation, storage and grid projects proceed.
