Mauna Kea Resorts Champions Energy-Saving Culture During Hawaii Energy's "Sharing The Aloha" Workshops

Posted November 26, 2013

MAUNA KEA RESORT, HI – Hawaii Energy and Mauna Kea Resort have teamed up to present “Sharing the Aloha: Energy Efficiency" workshops to educate over 1,000 Mauna Kea Beach Hotel and Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel employees on energy-saving measures. They are the first on Hawai‘i Island to offer the Hawaii Energy workshops.

The workshops were presented by Helen Pelekai Wai, a recognized educator on homeownership and energy literacy, who provided employees on highly effective ways to conserve energy and discussed ideas to adopt these measures at work and home. “At Mauna Kea Resort, we recognize the critical role in instilling an energy-saving culture for our community. We consider a workshop like ‘Sharing the Aloha’ as a priority in our efforts to reduce energy consumption and educate our team members,” said Jon Gersonde, Prince Resorts Hawaii Vice President of Operations.

Mauna Kea Resort has been committed to applying energy-efficient practices at its properties for many years. Through their No Na Mamo (for our future generations) program, green measures such as the installation of light switch timers and use of compact fluorescent bulbs in guestrooms were implemented to create a sustainable and comfortable environment for hotel guests and employees.

“We have significantly improved this popular ‘local-style’ community workshop about invaluable energy-saving information by presenting easily adaptable energy-saving tips that are tremendously useful at both the employees’ homes and the resort,” said Derrick Sonoda, Hawaii Energy Transformational Program Manager. “Helen has helped countless island families make small behavioral adjustments that yield real cost savings.” Hawaii Energy began offering “Sharing the Aloha: Energy Efficiency" workshops in 2011 to address the need for free community education to assist residents with escalating energy costs. These workshops are conducted throughout the year on O’ahu, Moloka‘i, Lana‘i, Maui, and Hawai‘i Island.