Blue Planet Foundation seeks a condo-dwelling family to take part in filming "Hawaii Home Energy Makeover II" this summer; it will be aired on KGMB in primetime in the fall. The family gets a free home energy audit and reimbursement for 25 percent of the costs tied to energy-efficiency improvements made in the home, up to $4,000. The makeover goal is to cut the volunteer's home energy bill by at least 25 percent.

Eligible families must live on O'ahu, be able to invest their own money to make green modifications to the home and be willing to appear on the show. Application information is available at www.blueplanetfounda tion.org/makeover.

— Advertiser Staff

ACADEMY UPGRADING TO EFFICIENT ACS

At the Honolulu Academy of Arts, green can be cool. As part of a $1.5 million energy conservation project, the academy will replace its air conditioning system with one that will help save the museum $250,000 a year in energy costs, the academy announced.

A pair of new chillers will not only help reduce energy consumption by 28 percent, but will provide a backup network to better protect the museum's 20,000 works of art.

— Mike Gordon

BIG ISLE SCHOOL GETS PLATINUM CERTIFICATION

Natural ventilation and lighting, along with construction materials made from renewable and recycled products, helped make a Big Island charter school one of the most eco-friendly buildings in Hawai'i.

The Kanu o ka 'Āina New Century Public Charter School in Waimea received the highest certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, which awarded the school a Platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification — the first of its kind in Hawai'i.

The school's new 9,300-square-foot Hālau Ho'olako used milk-based paint made from re-used school lunch milk and a native pigment, trim made from recycled keawe fence posts, cabinets made from renewable bamboo and donated furniture. It was built to take advantage of prevailing winds to reduce the cost of cooling, and its dual flush toilets and waterless urinals will reportedly save 40,000 gallons of water a year.

— Mike Gordon