On Aug. 4, before the state's budget started to hemorrhage, the Department of Human Resources Development introduced a modest experiment in cost savings.

Some 111 non-unionized workers in the department now take Fridays off. They work four 10-hour shifts.

The idea is to save energy costs by shutting off lights, air conditioning and office equipment one more day a week. "We are showing some savings so far," says Marie Laderta, the department's director.

The energy-use reductions haven't been calculated yet, so it's too soon to tell if enough energy has been saved to make the effort worthwhile.

But it appears there's enough promise to justify continuing the experiment to its Oct. 31 conclusion and expand it to another department, as Laderta wants to do. On a large scale, as Utah is now doing with 17,000 state workers, the benefits could extend to fewer commuters on the road, saving time and costly gas.

There are hurdles, of course. Some state departments have a lot of customer traffic, and closing on a Friday may create an unacceptable inconvenience. It's not such a big problem at Human Resources, where job applicants can do business online.

There's also the issue of unionized employees. A four-day workweek can't be an individual choice; for real cost savings, entire blocks of workers need to adopt it. The Hawaii Government Employees Association should negotiate for broader use of the four-day week test; while it may affect family schedules, the positive reactions from many Human Resources employees suggest HGEA members would welcome the idea.

Finding smart ways to save money will help steer us through the budget crisis.

Here's a program that may do just that.