Deceptive Notices of Non-Compliance with Ordinance 22-17
By Adrian Hong, Owner of Hong Consulting, LLC.
Deceptive Notices. Building owners and property managers should be aware of recent deceptive notices regarding non-compliance with Ordinance 22-17 (also known as the Better Buildings Benchmarking Ordinance). These misleading notices, often appearing official, induce building owners to use a third party service provider for compliance with the Better Buildings Benchmarking Ordinance.
The City & County of Honolulu (C&C) has not yet issued any notices of non-compliance. These notices are not from the C&C and the C&C does not endorse the use of any third parties for compliance with the Better Buildings Benchmarking Ordinance. There is no requirement that buildings use a third party service to comply with Ordinance 22-17.
Identifying Deceptive Notices. Deceptive notices often have the following characteristics:
Use of intimidating language or threats of immediate penalties;
Lack of C&C’s official logo and lack of a “honolulu.gov” email address;
Inducements to use third parties; and
Urgent demands to respond.
If you receive a notice regarding non-compliance, verify its legitimacy by:
Contacting C&C directly by email at marissa.kunsch@honolulu.gov or by phone at 808-768-2292 and
Checking for an official letterhead from the City & County of Honolulu.
What to Do. If you suspect that a notice is deceptive:
Do not respond or make any payments;
Report the notice to the C&C by email at marissa.kunsch@honolulu.gov or by phone at 808-768-2292;
Notify other building owners and managers to raise awareness of these practices; and
If financial information has been shared, contact your financial institution immediately to prevent unauthorized transactions.
Ordinance 22-17. For those that are unfamiliar with the Better Buildings Benchmarking Ordinance, it requires Oahu building owners to submit a benchmarking report to the C&C on an annual basis. The report contains metrics regarding the building’s energy usage, water usage, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The metrics for buildings that reported last year can be found by clicking on the following link: https://maps.touchstoneiq.com/honolulu/. It will take you to the C&C’s transparency map which allows you to view buildings by compliance status, Energy Star Score, site energy use intensity, water use intensity, property size, and year built.
Buildings with a gross floor area of 100,000 square feet or more submitted their first benchmarking report in 2023. Buildings with a gross floor area of 50,000 square feet or more submitted their first benchmarking report in 2024, and buildings over 25,000 square feet will have to start reporting by June 30th, 2025.
For more information about the Better Buildings Benchmarking Ordinance, please click on the following link: https://www.resilientoahu.org/benchmarking. It will take you to OCCSR’s website about the ordinance and its benchmarking program.
About the Author
Adrian Hong is owner of Hong Consulting, LLC., a consulting firm that helps clients measure and report on their sustainability. He is hosting the following webinars on Better Buildings Benchmarking compliance:
· March 18th, 2025 | 10 AM – 11 AM
· April 24th, 2025 | 2 PM – 3 PM
If you are interested in attending one of these webinars, please contact him by email at adrianhong@hongconsultingllc.com.
Deceptive Non-Compliance Notice
