Hong Examiner is a monthly newsletter from Hong Consulting. This edition covers the release of the Covered Buildings List for the third wave of filers, webinars Hong Consulting is putting on to educate buildings on Better Buildings Benchmarking compliance, and additional services that Hong Consulting can offer.

In order to stay compliant, building owners and property managers need have an understanding of the City & County of Honolulu’s Better Buildings Benchmarking Program. Ordinance 22-17 requires buildings over 25,000 square feet to report their energy usage, water usage, and greenhouse gas emissions. The goal is to provide building owners and occupants with a clear understanding of their properties' performance, identify opportunities for improvement, and contribute to the city's objective of carbon neutrality by 2045.​

Hong Examiner is a monthly newsletter from Hong Consulting. This edition covers delays in the release of the Covered Buildings List for the third wave of filers, webinars Hong Consulting is putting on to educate buildings on Better Buildings Benchmarking compliance, changes to the submission links, and updates to the Transparency Map.

Senate Bill 253 (SB 253), known as the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, recently passed out of California’s state legislature. If signed into law by Governor Newsom, it will require reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for businesses based inside and outside of California. It may sound strange that a California law would be able to require reporting from businesses based outside of California, but the size of California’s economy and the bill’s Scope 3 reporting requirements mean businesses large and small across the country will be required to report their GHG emissions if the bill becomes law.

Adrian Hong, CPA owner of Hong Consulting, LLC, joins Innovation Insights host Donny Shimamoto, CPA, CITP, CGMA, to discuss the benefits of undertaking ESG reporting and how if taken seriously, it can really provide context for the financial statements, the context for the business. 

A bill currently working its way through Hawaii’s state legislature seeks to reduce fugitive emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) by implementing a refrigerant management program in Hawaii. Fugitive emissions come from leaks and other unintended releases of gases instead of the combustion of fuels like gasoline.

If you haven’t already talked to your Oahu based clients about Ordinance 22-17 (Bill 22) you should start soon. The goal of the bill is to make building owners aware of the resources they consume and allow them to benchmark themselves against similar buildings.