Allen Evans Receives Inaugural Hawaii Energy Conservation Award at 20th Annual Hawaii Conservation Conference
Posted August 01, 2012
Allen Evans with Ray Starling at the Hawaii Energy Conservation Award presentation.
Hawaii Energy, the conservation and efficiency program for Hawaii, Honolulu and Maui counties, presented its first-ever Hawaii Energy Conservation Award to Allen Evans of Oahu-based Refrigerant Recycling, Inc. on August 1, 2012 during the 20th Annual Hawaii Conservation Conference. The Hawaii Energy Conservation Award honors an individual or organization whose outstanding leadership and innovation in the area of energy conservation has made a positive impact on the well-being of the state of Hawaii.
“Our inaugural Hawaii Energy Conservation Award has gone to a true hero, Allen Evans,” stated Ray Starling, Hawaii Energy Program Manager. “Allen developed a recycling service, the first of its kind in Hawaii, which breaks refrigeration devices down to the bare components; including oil, scrap metals, refrigerant and other containments. Prior to Allen’s service, older refrigerators and freezers in Hawaii were either disposed of improperly or sent to the garage or lanai to continue draining electricity.”
Spurred by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“ARRA”) funds received in 2010 by the State of Hawaii’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, Hawaii Energy was able to connect with Allen, who had been working independently to develop Hawaii’s first refrigerant recycling service. Allen helped Hawaii Energy create and fine-tune recycling channels for the “Trade-up for Cool Cash” offer. Following on the success of the “Trade-up” offer, Hawaii Energy developed and launched the residential “Bounty” offer in mid-2011.
The “Trade-up” offer continues to be available to electric utility customers who receive a $125 rebate when they purchase a new ENERGY STAR® refrigerator and recycle their old, working refrigerator. The goal is to reduce the number of inefficient refrigerators through environmentally-conscious recycling. Refrigerant Recycling, Inc. handles the recycling on Oahu on behalf of Hawaii Energy. Recycling on the neighbor islands is handled in a similar manner by other vendors, as all liquids, plastics and metals are completely removed and recycled. Moreover, the recycling processes continue to be enhanced with assistance from Allen and other neighbor island recycling vendors.
As for Hawaii Energy’s “Bounty” offer, the goal is to eliminate a household’s secondary old, inefficient but working refrigerator or freezer. “Bounty” takes the extra units off the grid and disposes them in an environmentally accountable manner. Electric utility customers on participating islands simply call Hawaii Energy and make the request for pick-up. Then, Refrigerant Recycling, Inc. picks up and recycles the old refrigerators and freezers. Hawaii Energy sends a cash award to customers for eliminating those old energy-wasting units. Oahu households receive $25, and Maui and Hawaii Island households get $65. The offer is coming soon to Molokai and Lanai.
Since spring of 2010, Refrigerant Recycling, Inc., on behalf of Hawaii Energy’s “Trade-up” and “Bounty” offers, has recycled approximately 9,500 refrigerators and freezers. This has netted 300 tons of metals, 8,300 pounds of refrigerant and 9,500 quarts of oil. It is estimated that over 7,828,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity and approximately $2,504,960 in electricity costs have been saved as a result of both offers (based on a blended savings of 824 kWh per recycled unit and electricity at 32 cents per kWh).
As part of the Hawaii Energy Conservation Award ceremony, in partnership with the Hawaii Conservation Alliance, Hawaii Energy, for the first time, joined the conservation conference and keynote speakers to take an active role in the comprehensive effort to protect Hawaii’s environment. By reducing the need for imported oil, energy conservation reduces the impact on Hawaii’s fragile environment and increases the sustainability of our state’s economy.
For more information:
Click here for the “Trade-up” offer (also known as "Trade-in") and other residential rebates.
Click here for the “Bounty” offer.