rmi solutions, summer 2006 · and resource consumption in all its operations. the 44-year-old...

4 Implementing the Oil EndgameRMI’s groundbre aking report is be ing adopt ed in many places. H ere, we out line our la t est success es.

6 Green B uilding O ppsRMI/E N S A R B uilt E nvironment Te am Le ader and archi-t e ct G reg Frant a, F A I A , expla ins why the gre en-is-too-cost ly argument is badly outda t ed.

8 H awai‘i LeadsH awa i‘i might be the f if t ieth st a t e, but its forward-thinking le ad-ers are pushing it toward f irst place in t erms of energy inde-pendence. G ov. Linda Lingle comments on the st a t e’s efforts.

12 Find It and T hey Will C omeT he Inst itut e is in the process of upda t ing its C ommunity E nergy Finder. Former Fe llow A nne J akle expla ins the upgrades.

14 A Green Dream in TexasN ew York Timescolumnist Tom Friedmandescribes Texas Instruments’ efforts to build a f abulous f ab.

I n s i d e

RMISolutionsRMISolutionspage

R o c k y M o u n t a i n I n s t i t u t e / V o l u m e x x i v # 2 / S u m m e r 2 0 0 6

Greening a GiantB Y C AM E RON M . B U RN S

al-Mart is big. No, huge. Wait: enormous.

The company earned $312.4billion last year, employs 1.6 mil-lion people worldwide, has morethan 3,800 facilities in the UnitedStates, plus more than 2,600 facil-ities in Argentina, Brazil, Canada,China, Costa Rica, El Salvador,Germany, Guatemala, Honduras,Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, PuertoRico, South Korea and the UnitedKingdom, and more than 138million people shop at Wal-Marteach week.

Rocky Mountain Institute seekskey leverage points in order toinfluence industry, governments,and the military, but one of RMI’slatest efforts—working with (youguessed it) Wal-Mart—could havea whopper of an impact on thetransportation and retail sectors.Last year, the world’s largest retail-er kicked off a sweeping environ-mental initiative to address energyand resource consumption in all itsoperations. The 44-year-old compa-ny retained several forward-think-

ing organizations, including RMI,to guide it, and we got busy. RMI’stask is to help the Arkansas-basedretailer reduce fossil fuel consump-tion in both transportation andretail stores.

“Ironically, most energy-savingsefforts in businesses rank amongthe lowest-risk investments any-where and in some cases canreturn many times their cost ofcapital,” said RMI Principal Odd-Even Bustnes. “Yet most corpora-tions consistently under-invest in

efficiency opportunities. This is anunfortunate misallocation of bothfinancial and natural capital.”

In terms of transportation, theInstitute has been working withWal-Mart, and indirectly with itssuppliers, on a redesign of trucks.Wal-Mart’s goal is to double itstruck fleets’ fuel economy by2015—thereby reducing carbondioxide emissions by 26 billionpounds between now and 2020.

According to Odd-Even, thetruck platform redesign centers

W

RMI Takes on Wal-Mart...as a Client

O ne o f Wal-Mart's ubiquitoustrucks (R MI's helping toimprove) and Idaho land

Wal-Mart helped preserve.

C orporate S ust ainabilit y

S u m m e r 2 0 0 6

2 RMISolutions

on aerodynamics, tires, transmissions,and auxiliary power systems. Some ofthe specific changes include a redesign ofthe tractor to make it significantly moreaerodynamic; the addition of trailer “sideskirts,” which reduce wind resistance;“wide based” and/or high-efficiencytires, whose reduced rolling resistanceimproves fuel economy; the replacementof one regular rear axle with a tag (load-bearing only) axle, which reduces thetruck’s weight; and a small auxiliarypower unit so that cab heating and cool-ing don’t require running the truck’smain engine. Future versions may gradu-ally become more advanced as manufac-turers introduce new models.

Possibly more importantly, since nearlytwo-thirds of all new U.S. Class 8 trucks—the kind Wal-Mart primarily uses—arebought by about 100 large companies(Wal-Mart being one of them), the giantretailer hopes to influence truck design bydemanding better-mileage vehicles, and, as

Lee Scott, Wal-Mart’sCEO, has outlined,sharing their findingswith other big buy-ers.

Wal-Mart has esti-mated these trans-portation innovationswill save nearly $500million a year in fuelcosts by 2020, andeven more in subse-quent years.

The other half ofRMI’s effort is in thegreen building department. With RMI’shelp and available technologies, Wal-Mart has begun to retrofit hundreds ofolder stores with more efficient lighting,HVAC, and refrigeration systems, and isbuilding extensive daylighting and moreadvanced mechanical systems into newstores and facilities.

Perhaps most exciting, however, are

Wal-Mart’s experi-mental stores inMcKinney, Tex.and Aurora, Colo.The stores’grounds arexeriscaped andboast bioswales,pervious pave-ments, experimen-tal forests, wild-flower meadows,and wind turbines.The buildingsthemselves feature

vast photovoltaic arrays, low-VOCmaterials, efficient ventilation systems,reflective exterior coatings, waste-heatcapturing systems, LED lighting, exten-sive water efficiency and conservationsystems, waste oil recycling programs,concrete made with fly-ash, and manyother systems and programs. Whilethese two stores are experimental,

T he RMI E N S A R/ B ui lt E nv ironme nt Te am ha s he lp e dC olor ado be come home t o on e of t he gre e n e sts chools in t he na t ion. In J a nuary, Foss i l R idg e H ighS chool in Fort C ol l ins w a s a w ard e d t he “ S i lver” st a n-dard und er t he U. S . G re e n B ui ldingC ounc i l’s L E E D (L e adership in E nergya nd E nv ironme nt a l D e s ign) c ert if ic a-t ion syst em, be coming only t he s e condh igh s choo l in t he U nit ed S t a t e s (a ndt he f irst in C olor ado) t o a chi eve L E E Dc ert if ic a t ion.

“ T his bui lding s e t s a ne w st a ndard,”s a id V ict or O lgyay, A I A , of R ockyM ount a in Inst it ut e ’s B ui lt E nv ironme ntTe am, which consult e d on t he pro j e ct.“In addit ion t o a chi ev ing L E E D c ert if ic a t ion, it us e sonly on e t on of cool ing for e a ch 1,000 square f e e t off loor sp a c e, approxima t e ly on e-t hird t he amount ofe n ergy us e d t o cool a typ ic a l high s chool.”

O pen to students s ince f a ll 2004, Foss il Ridge H ighS chool is a 288,685-square-foot f a cility, hous ing thre es epara t e schools (including a building trades depart-ment and a culinary arts inst itut e) and boast ing a

capacity of 1,500–1,800 students.D es igned by the archit e ctura l f irmR B + B for the Poudre S chool D istrict,the building re ce ived gre en des ign andeff iciency consult a t ion from RockyMount a in Inst itut e’s gre en buildingdes ign st aff. O ne of the most remark-able f e a tures of the building, and onetha t RMI he lped des ign, is the f enes-tra t ion, which a llows 82 percent of thebuilding’s int erior space to be na tura lly

lit while he lping the school a chieve a 50 percent reduc-t ion in energy us age under A S H R A E ( A mericanS ociety of H e a t ing, Refrigera t ing and A ir- C ondit ioningE ngine ers) st andards.

Built Environment Team Project Becomes Second U.S. LEED School


3RMISolutionsS u m m e r 2 0 0 6

they’ve allowed Wal-Mart officials tolearn about new designs and technolo-gies that will no doubt make it intoconstruction of their new stores.

Wal-Mart isnot just walkingthe talk: it is alsomaking suppliersof its retail goodsget on board.This is expectedto have atremendousimpact across theretail and severalmanufacturingsectors, sinceWal-Mart buysmore than $150billion in mer-chandise frommore than61,000 suppliersin the United States.

“Why has Wal-Mart cultivated con-tacts and relationships with organiza-

tions such as ConservationInternational, Blu Skye and RockyMountain Institute?” asked Wal-MartCEO Lee Scott in a statement about the

company’s sus-tainability initia-tive. “Wal-Mart istaking a freshlook at thesegroups’ work.And listening tothem—as well asothers likethem—can helpus envision ourpotential andgrow in moresustainable ways.It positivelyserves everystakeholder inour company.”

Yes, Wal-Martis big. And helping the retail giant togreen up its trucks and stores is not justa big opportunity for RMI—it’s huge.

“Why has Wal-Mart cultivated contacts and

relationships with organizations such as ConservationInternational,

Blu Skye, and RockyMountain Institute?”–Lee Scott, Wal-Mart CEO

RMI Trust e e and Int erf ace,Inc. C ha irman Ray A ndersongot the outdoor industryrevved up on sust a inability inla t e J anuary when he de liv-ered a bre akf ast spe ech a tO utdoor Retailer maga zine’sW int er Market trade show,the biggest trade show of itskind on e arth.

“ S ust a inability is W int erMarket Ra llyingPoint” was thehe adline in O R’sda ily showmaga zine,which includ-ed a pictureof Ray onthe cover.

“I was a plunderer ofthe e arth,” Ray s a id in hisspe ech, “st e a ling my grand-children’s future. B ut wecommitt ed ours e lves to aphilosophy of sust a inabilityand today I cons ider it to beour company’s ult ima t e pur-pos e.” H e went on todescribe his industry’s ne edto move toward sust a inablepract ices and syst ems, not-ing “I can s e e no other long-t erm choice for the ent ireindustria l syst em if it is tosurvive.”

“ A st anding ova t ion fromthe bre akf ast was proofenough tha t his mess age waswe ll rece ived,” the maga zinenot ed.

RMI’s Ray AndersonGoes Outdoors

A bove and above le f t: P V s and a bioswale at the Mc K inney store.

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4 RMISolutions

! Heavy-truck Buyers DemandingMore Efficient TrucksRMI has already begun to persuadesome major large truck buyers todemand radically greater fuel efficiencyfrom their suppliers. In October 2005,Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart (a key RMIclient buying about one percent of thenation’s Class 8 trucks, and reportedlythe biggest Class 8 fleet operator exceptthe Pentagon), announced his goal andintention of flipping the heavy-truckmarket toward doubled and then possi-bly tripled net heavy truck fuel efficien-cy (see p. 1).

RMI is also in the preliminary stagesof forming an informal major-cus-tomers’ buying consortium to reinforceWal-Mart’s influence on suppliers.Additionally, we have been putting sub-stantial effort into forming a network oflarge U.S. heavy-truck operators involv-ing nongovernmental and governmentalorganizations that can advise on andare directly or indirectly involved withregulatory issues, with a goal of improv-ing regulatory rules to win large fueleconomy gains. And we are consideringpossible ways to accelerate the develop-ment of “concept trucks,” or systemsfor them, that could speed up the sup-pliers’ response to major customers’demand pull.

Various RMI staff members presentedour findings on improving truck effi-ciency at the February 2006International Council on Clean

Transportation (ICCT)/NortheastCenter for a Clean Air Future (NESC-CAF) industry workshop and theFebruary 2006 CALSTART CleanHeavy Duty Vehicle Conference, aswell as a September 2005 presenta-tion to the annual research leaders’meeting of the Federal HighwayAdministration, among others.

! We’re Winning at the PentagonThe high costs and risks of battlefieldfuel logistics add weight to our key rec-ommendation to optimize military plat-forms for delivered fuel price, which isoften 10–100 times the undeliveredprice previously used. This seeminglysmall change would focus R&D on ultra-light, ultrastrong materials. That in turncould transform the civilian car, truck,and plane industries, leading the coun-try off oil so our military need not fightover it. Senior officials now find thisapproach attractive and we’ve done~25 senior briefs at the Pentagon: justin recent months, for the JASONs(Secretary of Defense’s top civilian sci-ence advisory group), J-4, J-8,OSD/AT&L Planning & Analysis (Officeof Secretary of Defense/Acquisition,Technology, and Logistics), OSD/AT&LDir P&A (Programming and Analysis),DDR&E (Director, Defense Research andEngineering), IDA (Institute for DefenseAnalysis), and the Johns HopkinsUniversity military seminar series,among others. (For more on our mili-

tary work, please see RMI Solutions Fall2005 and Fall/Winter 2001).

! District of Columbia ImplementsFeebate-like ProgramIn December 2004, the WashingtonDC city council, based partly on RMI’stestimony and advice, introduced thefunctional equivalent of a feebate. Itapproved the Motor Vehicle Reform Act,which raised the excise tax to 8 percenton vehicles weighing over 5,000 poundsand simultaneously eliminated the vehi-cle registration fee and 6 percent excisetax on clean fuel and electric/hybridvehicles in the District of Columbia. Itretained the 6 percent tax on all othervehicles sold. This Act demonstrates thepolicy creativity that sub-national govern-ments can exercise without federal lead-ership or permission and without legisla-tion. If the State Vehicle Tax Law wereimplemented on a broader basis, in largerand more influential states such asCalifornia and New York, it would workthrough the market to encourage auto-mobile manufacturers to produce morefuel-efficient vehicles. In February2006, RMI proposed and submitted tes-timony on a feebate bill in Hawai‘i mod-eled after the DC policy (see below; p.10). And, in mid-March 2006, RMIsubmitted testimony on a feebate-like billin Connecticut. R.B. 660 offers a rebateof up to 3 percent on vehicles with lowgreenhouse gas (GHG) emissions andimposes an additional fee of 3 percent onvehicles with high greenhouse gas emis-sions, while making permanent the taxexemption for hybrid vehicles beating 40mpg.

! Federal Government Lightens UpAnother major policy recommendation ofWinning the Oil Endgame was tentative-

Winning the Oil Endgame, Thus Far

Winning the O il Endga me

T he past two ye ars have se en many exciting deve lopments

in implement ation of RMI’s ground-bre aking 2004 report

Winning the O il Endgame: Innovation for Profits, Jobs, and

Security ( W T O E; www.oilendgame.com). H ere are a f ew of the

“good news” highlights:

RMISolutionsS u m m e r 2 0 0 6

5

ly adopted by the National HighwayTraffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) forlight trucks—SUVs, vans, minivans, andpickups. In August 2005, in the firstbasic structural change in three decades,NHTSA proposed to switch its CorporateAverage Fuel Economy (CAFE) regula-tions from a flat-rate fleet-average miles-per-gallon requirement to a sliding scalebased on vehicles’ size—not weight, asoriginally proposed. RMI’s recommenda-tions were detailed in April 2004 tech-nical comments(www.rmi.org/images/other/Energy/E0410_FuelEconStand.pdf) and two pri-vate senior briefs in Washington in early2005. This incentive to decouple sizefrom weight, now welcomed by manyautomakers, has accelerated a sea-changein industry attitudes. In September2005, the Financial Times editorializedon “new evidence that there does nothave to be a trade-off between safety andweight” and that “new materials openup the possibility of making safer andlighter cars.”

We filed follow-up comments withNHTSA in November 2005 suggestingadditional refinements in the size-basedapproach.

! Energy for Tomorrow in Hawai‘i In January 2006, Republican GovernorLinda Lingle (please see interview, p. 10)introduced the “Energy for Tomorrow”bill, a comprehensive and integratedapproach to reducing oil dependencebased substantially on Winning the OilEndgame. The legislation, which is beingsigned into law as this newsletter goes topress, has the potential to transformHawai‘i into a national leader in low-cost,sustainable, locally-produced, and secureenergy systems. The five main componentsof the legislation are “Savings throughEfficiency,” “Independence throughRenewable Energy,” “Fuels throughFarming,” “Security through Technology,”

and “Empowering Hawai‘i’s Consumers.”“This really represents sweeping change

for Hawai‘i, and it’s an affirmation of thehard work we put into Winning the OilEndgame,” said RMI Senior Director KyleDatta. “Our energy future is choice, notfate. Through this legislation Hawai‘i willdefine its energy destiny. RMI is commit-ted to working with the State of Hawai‘i todevelop and implement a forward-lookingenergy strategy.”

! Automakers Are AwakeningWe’ve always known that the slowestsector to change will be automaking,but there are encouraging signs thatindustry leaders now realize business-as-usual incrementalism won’t suffice.As RMI’s spin-off Fiberforge’s develop-ments get wide recognition in theadvanced-composites trade press(www.fiberforge.com/PAGES/DETAIL_PAGES/inthenews.html), reinforcing the credibil-ity of lightweighting, auto executives arestarting to pick up political and general-market signals that open their minds.

In September 2005, RMI CEOAmory Lovins keynoted the GlobalPowertrain Congress in Detroit, draw-ing considerable interest from atten-dees; in November 2005, he keynot-ed the Merrill Lynch Automotive IdeasSummit, attended by about 95 percentof the industry’s institutional investorsand sector analysts; and in January2006, he addressed the AutomotiveGovernors’ meeting at Davos—attend-ed by the CEOs of most of the majorautomakers and Tier Ones worldwide.

! Financial-community Interest in WTOEThe off-oil thesis has also generatedintense interest in the financial sector,and we have made important presenta-tions to Crédit Lyonnais SA—arguablythe most respected independent market

analyst in Asia. The Institute alsohelped Merrill Lynch produce a sup-portive analytic paper for its automo-tive-sector clients. And our biggest U.S.financial-community event so far—apacked house at NYU Law School inOctober 2005, which featured AmoryLovins, Jim Woolsey, Governor HaleyBarbour, former Treasury SecretaryRoger Altman, and New York Stateenergy czar Charlie Fox.

! Policy EducationRMI staff have presented WTOE to theannual conference of state legislativeleaders (Senate Presidents and HouseSpeakers), key legislators and legislativestaffers in six states (California, Hawaii,Maine, North Carolina, Oregon, andWashington) and the District ofColumbia, and (in a supportive panel ofJim Woolsey, a Ford VP, and a CSIS ener-gy leader) to the U.S. Senate EnergyCommittee. RMI’s Odd-Even Bustnesbriefed the Senate CommerceCommittee in September 2005, and atthe request of Senator Snowe (R-ME),prepared a memo on short-term initia-tives that could cut U.S. oil use by ~5–9percent within a year. We have alsorebriefed CIA, had the first of what willapparently be multiple conversationswith the new Deputy Secretary ofEnergy, and developed ideas with theincoming Assistant Secretary of Energyfor Efficiency and Renewables.

! New RMI Staff Gearing up for WTOE implementationhas meant a significant number of newhires at the Institute:

• new RMI automotive analyst JeffRonning, PE, will coordinate comple-tion of a project to help us and every-one else understand the increasinglypopular notion of plug-in hybrids. Jeffled GM and Delphi’s work in this area

Winning the O il Endga me

continued on page 27

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RMISolutions6

Green B uilding

B Y G R EG F R AN TA , FA IA

JUST HOW IMPORTANT ARE BUILDINGS IN THE

BIG SCHEME OF THINGS?The built environment, with its broad

diversity of sites and buildings, offers ahuge opportunity to sustain a desirablequality of life on this planet. Buildings usemost of our energy and deplete vast quanti-ties of natural resources. They rely on non-sustainable material harvesting, extracting,and mining. And once built, they pollutewater, earth, and air, and can harbor whollyunhealthy indoor environments.

On the contrary, “green” developmentstypically demonstrate sustainable practicesof elegant design, offer responsible stew-ardship of the natural environment, andmake wise investments.

The IssuesTraditional sources of energy productionand use are major culprits of atmosphericpollution. Buildings gobble close to 40 per-cent of the energy used annually in theUnited States to heat, cool, ventilate, light,and support other operations.1 This opera-tional energy, plus the energy used toextract, harvest, and manufacture prod-ucts, transport materials, and constructbuildings means the building industrychews through more than half of all theenergy used in the United States each year.

Compare that to, say, SUVs, pick-ups,and vans, which together use about 7 per-cent of the energy used in the UnitedStates annually. If the efficiency of all thoselight trucks were doubled, the savingswould be about 3.5 percent of the U.S.total. On the other hand, because build-ings consume so much energy, owners,operators, developers, and design profes-sionals can have a tremendous influence

on America’s energy picture. The energyused in the U.S. building industry comesfrom the nation’s thousands of major elec-trical power plants that rely on the burn-ing of fossil fuels—which in turn meanscarbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrousoxide emissions that degrade humanhealth, create acid rain, and contribute toclimate change. A 50 percent reduction inbuilding energy use would keep an esti-mated 1.3 billion tons of carbon dioxideemissions out of the atmosphere per year.

The construction process can destroynatural and agricultural areas, result indeforestation in the quest for buildingmaterials, cause the loss of habitat and bio-diversity, and pollute watercourses.

As a result of sprawl and industrialactivities, deforestation alone is an enor-mous issue. Author Jared Diamond notesthat deforestation was a or the major fac-tor in the demise of all the failed civiliza-tions described in his book Collapse: HowSocieties Choose to Fail or Succeed.2

Today, deforestation is a serious globalissue, causing the reduction of plant andanimal biodiversity, destruction of naturalhabitats, microclimate changes that upsetthe water cycle, accelerated soil erosion,and other problems. Non-sustainable woodharvesting is a huge issue in and of itself.

Many observers believe that water sup-ply and quality will become the equivalentof the past three decades’ energy crises.The built environment interrupts naturalwater cycles in many ways. Treated wateris often unnecessarily used for irrigation oflandscaped areas. Storm water is dis-charged from sites via impervious sur-faces—such as pavement and roofs—thatinhibit aquifer recharging and add pollu-tion to the watershed. Potable water isused in building plumbing fixtures for

sewage conveyance. Indoor environments can have poor

ventilation, toxic materials, inadequatethermal characteristics, poor visual proper-ties, and a limited connection to the out-doors—which has been proven to makehumans more comfortable indoors. Theseissues, even in buildings that meet buildingcodes, lead to adverse health effects (e.g.,sick building syndrome, seasonal affectivedisorder, etc.), low productivity (which cancost businesses more than energy on a per-square-foot basis), poor learning perform-ance, and high absenteeism.

Strategies Toward Sustainable DevelopmentSome building owners and developers are“greening” their buildings while others areturning in a different direction altogetherand working with design professionals tooptimize whole-building performancethrough integrated design. More than just

High-Performance Buildings Through Integrated Design

Fig. 1: A nnual energy use brea kdown for the United S tates. “Industrial” energy includes energy used in ma k-ing building materials (steel, cement,glass, etc.) while “other” energyincludes energy related to transporta-tion and moving building materials.

Industrial buildings 33%

Residential buildings 20%

Commercial buildings18%

Other transportation 12%

Automobiles 10%

Light trucks/SUVs 7%

BUILDING INDUSTRY:OVER 50%

U.S. Percentage of Total Energy Use


Green B uilding

a selection of green strategies, the integrat-ed design process is a comprehensiveapproach that considers sustainabilityalongside other design criteria, such as aes-thetics, functional elements, cost, andschedule. The result is a new generation ofrefined architecture with radically opti-mized energy and water efficiency, appro-priate natural materials, and superiorindoor environments.

Energy efficiency and the use of renew-able energy in buildings create win-winsolutions, as lower operating costs corre-spond to reduced atmospheric pollution.Integrated design for energy optimizationon a new building starts with climate-responsive architecture in which natureprovides as much lighting, ventilation, cool-ing, and heating as possible (see Fig. 3).

A small office building project in a ruralcommunity north of Denver, Colo. illus-trates the benefits of the integrated designprocess. Early in the design process, a rangeof solutions was identified and studiedusing the ENERGY-10 hourly simulationprogram.3 When analyzed individually andcompared to an energy-code-compliantbuilding (Fig. 4), the incremental costs forenergy-efficiency measures were offset byoperational cost savings. Strategies such asefficient lighting, daylighting, and glazinghad simple payback periods of 1.5 to 4years. Other strategies had payback periodsof up to 16 years. Many building ownerswill not accept payback periods longer than

3 to 5 years, and thus many of the strate-gies are not implemented.

However, in an integrated designprocess, all elements of the design equa-tion and their impacts on each other areconsidered. In the case of our office build-ing, many strategies reduced the peakheating, cooling, ventilating, and lightingloads. This allowed designers to adoptmuch smaller boilers, chillers, fans, andpumps. The smaller mechanical equip-ment also saved significant constructioncosts. Optimized window areas and orien-tation for efficiency, daylighting, views, andsun control further reduced constructioncosts. The bottom line is that the incre-mental cost for construction (i.e., the sumof added costs ($26,200) for efficiencymeasures minus the reduction in costs($21,800) for smaller HVAC equipmentand fewer east–west windows) was$4,340 to achieve an energy savings of$4,500 per year. This results in a roughlyone-year simple payback period and a first-year return on investment of more than100 percent.

Integrated design created an opportuni-ty to do almost all of the desired energy-efficiency measures with the lowest operat-ing cost and a 100 percent return on theinvestment within the first year. It is thiskind of process that has enabled manyproject teams to not only achieve highenergy performance, but also to incorpo-rate renewable energy systems, water effi-

ciency devices and systems, biologicalwaste treatment systems, sustainable sitedevelopment, environmentally preferablematerials, and achieve high indoor envi-ronment quality.

Platinum Projects LEED the WayThe LEED™ (Leadership in Energy andEnvironmental Design) green building rat-ing system is one way to measure overallperformance. It is a third party validationsystem that addresses site, water, energyand atmosphere, materials and resources,indoor environmental quality, and innova-tion. Administered by the U.S. GreenBuilding Council,4 LEED’s levels of build-ing “greenness” are LEED Certified, Silver,Gold, and Platinum. Although there areseveral thousand LEED-registered buildingsaround the globe, fewer than 20 haveachieved Platinum certification.

Seasoned environmental architects oftenconsider LEED more of a starting point—one that prompts designers to ask the rightquestions—rather than as the ultimaterethinking and recreating of our built envi-ronment. However, projects that achieveLEED Platinum are clearly headed in theright direction. The Missouri Departmentof Natural Resources and the NaturalEnergy Laboratory of Hawaii Authorityhave each recently achieved LEEDPlatinum certification and their projects rep-resent different building types, of different

Lighting34%

Cooling19%

Other19%

Heating18%

Fan9%

Hot Water1%

Fig. 4: Brea kout of total annual ener-gy costs for base building.

Fig. 3: C oncepts of climate-responsive architecture.

S u m m e r 2 0 0 6

8 RMISolutions

Green B uilding

sizes, and in vastly different climates.The Missouri Department of Natural

Resources, in Jefferson City, Mo. recentlydeveloped a stellar example of what can beachieved with green strategies in its new120,00-square-foot Lewis and Clark StateOffice Building, designed by BNIMArchitects of Kansas City. The previouslydeveloped site was restored to emphasizenative prairie plants and ecosystems, andto minimize storm water run-off. The elon-gated east–west orientation allows the pre-ferred north and south glazing and thebuilding is organized around a central four-story atrium (Fig. 5).

The building envelope has high-perform-ance glazing, vertical fins, and horizontallight shelves that allow considerable day-light with appropriate sun control. The proj-ect also utilizes cutting-edge approaches toelectric lighting and controls, building enve-lope design, and HVAC systems. This proj-ect clearly helps achieve its mission to pro-tect and restore natural resources. Wood-certified by the Forest Stewardship Councildirectly addresses deforestation issues.

The Natural Energy Laboratory ofHawai‘i Authority has a new visitor centerin Kona, Hi., the Hawai‘i Gateway EnergyCenter, designed by Ferraro Choi

Architects ofHonolulu. This3,600-square-footbuilding housesmulti-purpose space for displays, outreach,conferencing, and education, as well asadministrative offices. Annually, it actuallyproduces more energy than it uses.

This unique facility (see Fig. 6) hasaccess to 43-degree (F) seawater pumpedfrom 3,000 feet below sea level, which isused to passively condition the building.Outside air is drawn over cooling coils andmoved through the space using the solar-powered stack effect, generated entirely asa result of the design of the building. Thesystem’s cooling and ventilation capabilitiesexceed ASHRAE standards. The condensa-tion water from around the coils is usedfor landscaping and toilets. Waterless uri-nals were also installed.

A 20-kilowatt photovoltaic array pro-vides a renewable source of electricity. Thecalculated peak demand for the visitor cen-ter is approximately 10 kilowatts. Thus,the center is a net exporter of power. Theproject (see Fig. 7) is entirely naturally litduring daylight hours, which was achievedthrough north-south orientation.

In summary, much of the incredible

environmental havoc wreaked by the build-ing industry can be addressed throughthoughtful and innovative building designprocesses, construction, and operation.Integrated design leads to healthful and pro-ductive interiors, reduced operating costs,fewer environmental impacts, and restora-tive landscapes. It is a matter of choice andattitude to implement the best practiceswith any given project.

Architect Greg Franta, FAIA, is TeamLeader of the Institute’s RMI/ENSAR BuiltEnvironment Team.

Photo co

urtesy

of B

NIM

Architects

Fig. 5. T he Missouri D epartment of N atural Resources. T hedesign team included B N IM A rchitects (architect and inte-rior design), C lanton A ssociates (lighting design), S mithand B oucher (mechanical engineer), Rumsey Engineering(mechanical system design), C onservation D esign Forum(landscape), E N S A R Group5 (daylighting and energydesign), and Professional C ontractors and Engineers, Inc.(constructor).

Fig. 7. S outhern view of the H awai‘i Gateway Energy C enter.T he design team included Ferraro C hoi and A ssociates (archi-tect), Lincolne S cott, Inc. (mechanical/electrical/energy),Libbey H eywood, Inc. (structural), R. M. Towill C orporation(civil), L P & D (landscape), Triodetic S pace Frames (spaceframes), B olton, Inc. (contractor), Engineering Economics, Inc.(commissioning authority), and RMI/EN S A R B uiltEnvironment Team (LEE D management).

Fig. 6: T he D eep S eawater cooling system at the H awai‘iGateway Energy C enter. Figure by Ferraro C hoi A rchitects

1. Energy Information A dministration(www.eia.doe.gov) 2003 data.

2. D iamond, Jared. C ollapse: How SocietiesC hoose to Fail or Succeed (N ew York: PenguinB ooks, 2005).

3. ENERGY-10 (V1.8, 2006). S oftware availablethrough the S ustainable B uildings IndustryC ouncil, Washington D C (www.S BI C ouncil.org).

4. LEE D Green Building Rating System, U.S.G reen B uilding C ouncil, Washington D C(www.usgbc.org).

5. N ow part of the RMI/E N S A R B uiltEnvironment Team.


Utilities

R ocky M ount a in Inst it ut e is he lp ing G oog l e addre ssit s gre e nhous e g a s ( G H G ) emiss ions. L a st f a l l, t heInst it ut e eva lua t e d emiss ions sourc e s from t heC a l iforni a-ba s e d s e arch e ng in e a nd he lp e d re com-me nd var ious me t hods for t he wor ld-f amous t e chnolo-gy f irm t o “of f s e t” t hos e em iss ions.

“ G oog l e w a nt s t o b e a corpor a t e l e a d er in t h e ch a l-l e ng e of g lob a l c l i-m a t e ch a ng e,” s a idR MI M a n a g ingD ire ct or D r. J o e lS w is h er. “ H ow i tgo e s a bout i t in t h es hor t t erm w i l l prob a-b ly b e a long t h e l in e sof purch a s ing of f-s e t s, but in t h e long run t h e comp a ny is looking a tmore d ire ct of f s e t s.”

R MI inve s t ig a t e d t h e b e s t opt ions f or of f s e t inve s t-m e nt s in t erms of t h e av a i l a b i l i ty, t h e cos t p er t on ofc arbon d ioxid e e qu iv a l e nt, t h e e nv ironm e nt a l int egr i tyof t h e m e a sure s b e h ind t h e of f s e t s, a nd t h e ir l ike l i-hood of b e ing reg is t ere d und er t h e Kyot o P rot oco l.T h e l a t t er is t h e int ern a t ion a l a ccord t h a t comm i t sr a t if ying countr i e s t o e m is s ion re duct ions a nd pro-v id e s f or c arbon e m is s ion tr a d ing int ern a t ion a l ly.C arbon d ioxid e e qu iv a l e nt is a t erm t h a t ref ers t o agre e nhous e g a s ’s pot e nt i a l t o c a us e g lob a l w arm ingw i t h re sp e ct t o c arbon d ioxid e ’s pot e nt i a l t o c a us eg lob a l w arm ing.

O f f s e t s are s imp ly a n inve s t m e nt a gre e nhous e g a se m i t t er m a ke s in a pro j e ct—l ike a trop ic a l f ore s t re h a-b i l i t a t ion ef f or t or t h e d eve lopm e nt of a w ind f arm—t h a t w i l l re duc e t h e a mount of gre e nhous e g a s e s int h e a t mosph ere. L ike mos t commod i t i e s, of f s e t s aretr a d e d t hrough broker a g e s of v ar ious typ e s. Forgre e nhous e g a s e s, t h e s e inc lud e t h e Wor ld B a nkP rot otyp e C arbon F und, t h e C h ic a go C l im a t eExch a ng e, a nd t h e O regon C l im a t e Trus t.

For t h e pro j e ct, e a ch broker a g e ’s of f s e t s w ere ev a l-u a t e d in t erms of e conom ic p erf orm a nc e a nd r isk,comp l i a nc e a nd a pp l ic a b i l i ty in t erms of t h e Kyot o

P rot oco l, e nv ironm e nt a l b e n ef it s, a nd soc i a l imp a ct.T h e in i t i a l purch a s e of of f s e t s w a s m a d e in t h e

n a m e of G oog l e f ound er S erg ey B r in. For t h is pur-ch a s e, t h e of f s e t s s e l e ct e d are f rom t h e G re e nhous eG a s C re d i t A ggreg a t ion Poo l ( G G - C A P ) a s s e mb l e dby t h e pr iv a t e broker a g e N a t sourc e. A ccord ing t o D r.S w ish er, “ t h e s e of f s e t s are g lob a l ly d ivers e, t h e of f-

s e t pro j e ct s ’ qu a l i-ty is h igh, t h e irr isks are m a n a g e d,a nd t h e cos t is re a-son a b l e.A dd i t ion a l ly, t h ec arbon d ioxid ecre d i t s f rom t h e s esourc e s are f ung i-

b l e w i t h cre d i t s in t h e Kyot o comp l i a nc e m arke t s inE urop e, J a p a n, C a n a d a, a nd ot h er p l a c e s.”

T h is in i t i a lof f s e t purch a s ecorre sponds t oe ight ye ars ’wor t h of e m is-s ions f rom sp e-c if ic sourc e sre l a t e d t oG oog l e ’s op er-a t ions. In a dd i-t ion, R MI exp lore d of f s e t opt ions f or ot h er a sp e ct s ofG oog l e ’s op er a t ions, inc lud ing inve s t m e nt s in“ d ire ct” e m is s ions re duct ions, such a s so l ar, w ind,b iog a s, g e ot h erm a l, f u e l c e l ls, a nd b e t t er e nd-us ee n ergy ef f ic i e ncy, ot h er gre e nhous e g a s re duct ionm e a sure s, l ike c arbon s e qu e s tr a t ion, a s w e l l a s pur-ch a s ing of f s e t s.

A f u l l por tf o l io of d ire ct re duct ions a nd of f s e t sa l lows a comp a ny l ike G oog l e t o re duc e i t s n e t e m is-s ions t o a ny l eve l i t choos e s, pot e nt i a l ly eve n t o c ar-bon n e utr a l i ty, or z ero n e t e m is s ions. “ T h e s e d ays,t h ere are m a ny cre a t ive w ays t o tr im gre e nhous e g a se m is s ions,” J o e l not e d. “It’s jus t a m a t t er of p ickinga nd m ixing t h e b e s t on e s f or a g ive n s i t u a t ion.”

RMI Explores Greenhouse Gas Offsets for Google

Google founder,S ergey Brin

Energy

S u m m e r 2 0 0 6

10 RMISolutions

RMI Solutions: The Energy forTomorrow legislation (which is actual-ly a series of bills recently passed bythe Hawai‘i legislature) will result inHawai‘i becoming a national leader inthe quest for energy independence.Why is it so important to your state?

Governor Lingle: Hawai‘i is themost oil-dependent state with thehighest prices for both gasoline andelectricity in America. We’re alsolocated 2,500 miles from the main-land, and it makes us particularly vul-nerable. Three-quarters of our elec-tricity comes from oil and more than90 percent of our energy overallcomes from imported oil. This vulner-ability threatens Hawai‘i’s long-termsecurity—our economic security andthe security of our way of life here. Sowe felt it was important to submit acomprehensive package to the legisla-ture this year to address both theelectricity and gasoline issues.

RMI Solutions: Rocky MountainInstitute’s Winning the Oil Endgamereport, about getting the United Statescompletely off petro-oil, seems to havehad an influence on you and yourAdministration’s legislation. Were yousurprised such an analysis existed?

Governor Lingle: I had not heard ofthe analysis previously, but I was notsurprised the government, includingthe military, was looking into theseissues. It is very prudent for the gov-ernment to be looking at it.

RMI Solutions: What part ofWinning the Oil Endgame did youthink was most interesting?

Governor Lingle: I haven’t readthe whole thing, but I’ve readexcerpts from WTOE and testimo-ny that was given to U.S. Senatecommittees. I don’t know that anyone part sticks in my mind. Somuch of what RMI is doing is con-tained in what we proposed.When people write about thesource of this oil, I think it bringsit home as to why it’s so impor-tant for us to move in a newdirection. The one issue that’s notin anything that I’ve read thus faris the ability of those who controlthe oil to be able to continue to con-trol the price.

I also think it’s really important thatRMI exists as a non-partisan organiza-tion to help the country deal with theseissues because so much legislation,whether at the state or national level,has become so heavily politicized. Thisis one issue that I feel needs to get outof that arena if we’re going to be suc-cessful in breaking the country’s and ourstate’s addiction to oil. We were prettysuccessful getting bipartisan support forthe Energy for Tomorrow legislation andI believe having RMI involved was a bigpart of our success. I’m a Republicanand I have an overwhelminglyDemocrat legislature, and yet having athird party that’s not aligned one way orthe other was a big part of our ability tomove this legislation.

RMI Solutions: Your administrationhas calculated the state’s economy willbenefit by at least $6.32 billion over thenext 14 years (as that money wouldremain in Hawai‘i and not leave thestate to pay for imported oil) if lawmak-ers adopted the energy proposal. Whathas been the reaction to that estimate?

Governor Lingle: No one has ques-tioned any of the estimates we’ve used,either in the money saved or in theamount of carbon dioxide kept out ofthe atmosphere—I don’t recall evenone person questioning those figures.The money saved, of course, is on bothends. It’s money that’s not leaving thestate to purchase oil but it’s also moneythat’s being spent in the state because ofnew jobs being created in biofuels and

Hawai‘i Takes the Lead inEnergy IndependenceInterview with Hawai‘i Governor Linda Lingle

Energy


other alternative technologies. Themoney would also be used for theUniversity of Hawai‘i to become aleader in alternative energy technologiesas well. As you know, there’s money setaside by the Department of Energy forhydrogen research and so our ability toattract those kinds of funds is height-ened with the passage of this series ofenergy bills.

RMI Solutions: Do you think otherstates will try to emulate Hawai‘i in thiseffort for energy independence?

Governor Lingle: I think every state isgoing to have to look at this issue butthere are certain policies that are goingto have to be looked at at the nationallevel. Each state’s response to its ownneed for energy security is going to bedifferent because, as I said, our depend-ence is so overwhelming. While we get77 percent of our electricity from oil,

the next closest state to us is at 17 per-cent, and from there it drops off dramat-ically. Most states are at the three andfour percent level because they havenuclear or coal or hydro. Also, I thinkall states are going tobe looking at thisissue as prices contin-ue to rise. That’swhat’s going to drivepoliticians: when theprices hit home withconsumers. Ours isnot being driven byprice because peopleare used to paying the highest prices inthe country. It really is being driven bythe issue of our long-term security.

RMI Solutions: Any other thoughts?

Governor Lingle: I want to state theimportant role that Kyle [Datta, RMISenior Director] has played in this, both

in the original drafting of the compre-hensive strategy for the state and thenin sticking with us throughout the leg-islative session and being available forthe staffs on both the House and Senate

sides. These billswere mostlyjoint referrals, sowe were caughtbetween energy,environment,consumer pro-tection, finance,ways and meanscommittees, and

other committees, and he’s still downthere working with the staffs on lan-guage. I doubt we would’ve gotten thislegislation passed without Kyle specifi-cally and without the backing of RMIin general—and I’m not overstatingthe case by saying that. I believe every-one involved would probably agreewith that.

RMI in New York Times Following State of the Union Address

A s re ad ers know, RMI s e ems t o

g e t me nt ion e d in a l l sort s of

p l a c e s, a nd in t erms of a l l sort s

of issu e s. S o it’s not surpr is ing t ha t t wo

days af t er t he P re s id e nt’s S t a t e of t he

U nion addre ss in J a nuary, RMI mad e it

ont o t he front p a g e of t he N ew York Times.

In a p i e c e t it l e d “M uch Ta lk, M ost ly L ow

K ey, A bout E nergy Ind e p e nd e nc e,” pub-

l ishe d 2 February, Times re port er S imon

R omero wrot e, “ Perhaps t he most s ignif i-

c a nt st ep t he na t ion cou ld t a ke in re duc ing

oi l de p e nd e nc e is t o cha ng e t he w ay c ars

are produc e d, a ccording t o R ocky

M ount a in Inst it ut e.… Improv ing t he ef f i-

c i e ncy of hybr id e ng in e s, l ike t hos e us e d in

t he Toyot a Prius, a nd us ing adva nc e d me t a l

a l loys a nd c arbon compos it e s inst e ad of

he av i er st e e l t o ma ke c ars could doubl e or

tr ip l e t he mi l e s p er g a l lon in t he s e a ut o-

mobi l e s.”

“ We could re duc e our consumpt ion by

four t o f ive mi l l ion barre ls a day by going

down t his p a t hw ay,” RMI P r inc ip a l O dd-

Eve n B ust n e s w a s quot e d a s s aying.

“ W ha t t he pre s id e nt s a id ye st erday is a

st e p in t he r ight dire ct ion, but I’m not sure

it’s a st e p of t he right ma gnit ude.”

“Each state’s response toits own need for energy security is going to be

different because, as I said,our dependence is so

overwhelming.”

C ommunit y Economic D evelopment


ith help from a grant fromthe U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA),

Rocky Mountain Institute hasrevamped its Community EnergyOpportunity Finder (www.ener-gyfinder.org)—an interactive, web-based tool that enables communitymembers and local leaders toexplore their community’s untappedopportunities for economic develop-ment, pollution prevention, and riskreduction through energy efficiencyprograms. The revitalized Finderincludes a case study of a real com-munity, reorganization of site infor-mation, and an update of EnergyInformation Administration (EIA)statistics used in Finder calculations.These improvements enhanced analready important and unique tool.

“The Finder mimics an expert consul-tant’s preliminary analysis of what a com-munity can do to save money and createjobs through energy efficiency, but coststhe community nothing,” said MichaelKinsley of RMI’s Integrative Design Teamand overseer of the Finder project.“We’ve now made the site more user-friendly, created a case study that walkssite visitors through what informationthey need to gather, and it lets them seeexactly what the Finder can do to benefita community.”

The case study, which is based on anactual Midwest city of approximately

100,000 residents, yielded significantmonetary savings and job creation eventhough the city already had forward-thinking efficiency policies in place. AndySmith, a former RMI intern who collect-

ed the data for the case study, says thatthe results yielded $10–20 million inenergy savings, an emissions reduction ofmore than one million tons of carbondioxide, and hundreds of jobs were creat-ed. These results clearly demonstrate thebenefits that communities can realizesimply by investing in energy efficiency.

“The Finder will help any communityestimate these benefits and provide infor-mation to help them get started on theirown energy projects,” Smith said.

In addition to creating a case studyand user-friendly interface, RMIresearchers updated the EnergyInformation Administration (EIA) dataused in the calculations made by the

website. These updated numbers consid-erably sharpen the Finder’s efficiencyanalysis. Smith and Kate Parrot, anotherRMI alum who worked on the first ver-sion of the Finder, have also createdguidelines to be sure that the site iscontinuously updated over the years.

The concept of the Finder was devel-oped in 2001, after RMI researchersfound that there were no readily avail-able tools to evaluate the prospects ofenergy efficiency within a communitywithout hiring an expensive consultant.They then set out to develop a websitethat would achieve this and be accessi-ble to both citizens and community offi-cials, regardless of their technicalknowledge.

It’s long been known that energyefficiency reduces utility bills for resi-

dences and businesses, but energy effi-ciency is not often associated with free-ing up money for community develop-ment and local re-spending. Moneysaved through efficiency will stay in thecommunity—something that’s not guar-anteed by encouraging expansionthrough large developments that benefitfew community members, or by recruit-ing new businesses.

“Energy efficiency makes financialsense and provides benefits distributedwidely among a community’s citizens—especially those in need,” said Kinsley,who authored RMI’s CommunityEconomic Renewal Guide. “Economicdevelopment professionals and communi-ty members can see through the Finder

RMI Refines Community Energy Opportunity FinderFinder Shows Communities How to Save Money,Create Jobs, and Reduce EmissionsB Y ANN E J A K L E

W

C ommunit y Economic D evelopment


how there are business development andjob creation opportunities in energy effi-ciency and renewable energy.”

Cities like Sacramento have shown hugesavings in efficiency programs. When theCity Municipal Utility District closed theRancho Seco nuclear plant in June 1989, itrecreated itself as a utility based on energyefficiency and renewable energy. The resultsthus far: 880 new jobs, a $124 millionincrease in regional income, less pollution,stable electricity prices, and a more sustain-able and prosperous community. Efficiencytechnology (such as LED bulbs) has onlybecome more accessible and affordablesince then.

To reap the benefits of the Finder’s quickand easy calculations, a team of two orthree people working closely with a com-munity’s utility providers and town hall canexpect to spend up to a week collectinginformation to input into the web tool.

Smith says, “The data collection youdo is also a good way to build relation-ships with people who can help you cre-ate your community’s energy plan. The

more people you can get interested andinvolved, starting with data collection,the more successful you’ll be. Manypeople do not participate in communityaffairs simply because they have neverbeen asked. Personally asking people toparticipate, and connecting the effort totheir concerns, will result in a solid baseof collaborators who can help create aplan for your community’s energy andeconomic health.”

The Finder also lets users create andsave multiple scenarios based on differ-ent economic assumptions. Forinstance, if users answer questionsregarding the condition of residentialbuildings, the Finder responds with esti-mates of how much money will besaved, how many jobs will be created,and how much less carbon dioxide willbe released into the atmosphere if aneighborhood were retrofitted with effi-cient lighting, or if a certain percentageof homes were super-insulated. Once auser chooses the scenario that seemsmost acceptable, the Finder provides the

next steps toward implementation, sug-gests ways to ensure that the ideas aresupported by the community and keyleaders, and tells success stories of otherneighborhoods that have implementedsimilar programs.

“Given rising fuels costs, increasedenergy demand, and a growing aware-ness of what efficiency and renewablescan do for a community, the release ofthis revamped Finder couldn’t be moretimely,” Kinsley said. “Local leaders andcommunity members can use the Finderas a practical tool to shift the economicdevelopment of their communitytowards sustainability and restoration,which in turn will enhance nationalsecurity, build stronger, environmentallyrestorative local economics, spread bene-fits more equitably in the community,and increase local economic resilience.”

Former RMI Fellow Anne Jakle, untilAugust 2005, led RMI’s outreach efforts.Thanks to EPA and David Muckenhirnfor their support.

Stonyfield Farm Touts RMI’s BriefsS ever a l issu e s a go, w e re port e d on S t onyf i e ld F arm’s support ofour H ome E n ergy B r i ef s—a s er i e s of nin e pr a ct ic a l guid e sd e scr ib ing wha t t he aver a g e home own er c a n do t o s ave e n ergy.T his ye ar, t he N e w H ampshire org a nic yogurt-ma ker is t out ingt he B r i ef s on it s yogurt cup l ids. T he l ids f e a t ure ima g e s ofhous e hold d ev ic e s t ha t us e e l e ctr ic ity ef f ic i e nt ly a nd e ncour-a g e yogurt buyers t o “ G e t t he S coop on H ome E n ergy &S ave S ome ‘M oo-l a ’!” a nd dire ct re ad ers t o S t onyf i e ldFarms w ebs it e, which l inks t o t he B r i ef s ’ w ebs it e onwww.rmi.org.

“ W r it t e n in a s imp l e, e a sy-t o-und erst a nd styl e, t he s epr a ct ic a l guid e s cover t op ics such a s home d e s ign, he a t ing a ndcoo l ing, app l i a nc e s, e l e ctronics, and l ight ing,” adds S t onyf i e ld ’s w ebs it e.“ B y p art n er ing w it h R ocky M ount a in Inst it ut e, w e ’re abl e t o of f er some soundadv ic e on ef f ic i e ncy a nd out l in e concre t e st e ps e a ch of us c a n t a ke t o l ive l ight er on t heE art h.” For more in forma t ion, s e e www.st onyf i e ld.com/L ids/RMI_H ome E n ergy.cf m.

14 RMISolutionsS u m m e r 2 0 0 6


RMI Helps Theologians Go Green

RMI’s green building group is helping aS outhern ministers’ organization see thelight—the light use of energy and resources,that is. Recently, RMI began helping theA tlanta-based InterdenominationalTheological C enter (www.itc.edu) in its ongo-ing efforts to upgrade the ten-building campuswhere the organization is housed. The C enteris in the process of revamping its H VA C sys-tem, but eventually, C enter officials are hopingto green the entire campus. “ They have devel-oped a term—theo-ecology—around whichthey want to improve and revitalize their cam-pus,” explained A alok D eshmukh, a member of

the RMI/EN S A R B uilt Environment Team. “Itfollows from the belief that stewardship is anunderlying theme that is common to both the-ology and ecology.”

A t present, the Institute’s B uilt EnvironmentTeam is helping the organization—one of theworld’s premier organizations for A fricanA merican leaders of f aith—assess short-,medium-, and long-term priorities and it isreviewing energy audits and making recom-mendations on H VA C upgrades, “but in thelong-run,” A alok noted, “we’re going to belooking at the big picture—an integratedapproach to greening the campus.”

In the print edition of this newsletter, this space contains a New YorkTimes article about Rocky Mountain Institute's work with TexasInstruments, written by columnist Thomas Friedman. Mr. Friedman’soriginal article ran in the Times on 18 January 2006 and was reprint-ed with permission. If you wish to read this piece, please contactRMI's Outreach Coordinator, Cory Lowe, at [email protected] or(970) 927-3851.



Well, you knew it was coming sooner or later: an RMI blog.T he personal online jottings of various RMI staff members,the RMI blog (at www.rmi.org/blogs) includes observations,commentary, and useful links to other websites regardinganything of interest to RMI friends and supporters, as wellitems related to RMI’s mission (the efficient and restorativeuse of energy and resources). To date, only RMI O utreachC oordinator C ory Lowe and Fellow Linda S hi have begunposting their thoughts, but expect more in the weeks tocome. “B logs are a great way to communicate informally,”said Webmaster B ill S imon, “and with RMI’s high-browresearch and consulting work, this will be a great way to tellpeople what we’re up to, and to point them to interestingthings happening in the world.”

Feeling Bloggy?

In the print edition of this newsletter, this space contains a New YorkTimes article about Rocky Mountain Institute's work with TexasInstruments, written by columnist Thomas Friedman. Mr. Friedman’soriginal article ran in the Times on 18 January 2006 and was reprint-ed with permission. If you wish to read this piece, please contactRMI's Outreach Coordinator, Cory Lowe, at [email protected] or(970) 927-3851.

S u m m e r 2 0 0 6

16 RMISolutions

Li fe at R MI

RMI’s mission to foster the effi-cient and restorative use ofresources to make the world

secure, just, prosperous, and life-sustain-ing isn’t just a pipe dream. We’re alsonot so naïve as to think we can do italone. Organizational guru Ken

Blanchard once said that “none of us is as smart as all of us.”RMI’s whole-system thinking and team structure embraces thatconcept. We also have a much bigger team vision and, over theyears, we have established a rich and diverse network of col-leagues who are experts in their fields. Teaming with othersensures that RMI, while learning from many smart people,addresses issues from a whole-system perspective and createsthe best solutions.

In addition to networking relationships, in recent years RMIhas named several Senior Fellows—extraordinary associateswith whom we’re working on specific projects or in a particu-lar field on a regular basis. We’re pleased and honored toannounce three more: Nancy E. Clanton, Douglas I. Foy, andPeter Rumsey.

Nancy is founder and President of Clanton & Associates, alighting design firm in Boulder, Colo. Nancy has 30 years’ expe-rience in lighting design and lectures nationwide on topicsrelating to energy efficient design and light pollution, and shehas been an instructor at the University of Colorado at Boulder.Her firm’s lighting design projects reflect her philosophy and 11of their projects have been named to the AIA Committee onthe Environment Top Ten Green Project List. Clanton &Associates has designed the lighting for six LEED-certified proj-ects (two Platinum, one Gold, and three Silver) and has 14

LEED-registered projects awaiting certification. Nancy is aLEED 2.0 Accredited Professional.

Doug Foy is a former Massachusetts Secretary ofCommonwealth Development and longtime president of theConservation Law Foundation. Doug will be leading the “SocialEnterprises Addressing Climate Change Project,” which willfocus on three areas: energy efficiency and affordable housing,transit communications, and city and smart-growth real estateinvestment. Doug’s state-level policy expertise will be valuableto RMI’s Winning the Oil Endgame team, which is working atall levels to get the doctrine implemented.

Peter Rumsey is the founder and President of RumseyEngineers, Inc. in Oakland, Calif. Peter is a global player inenergy-efficient design, with more than 25 years’ experiencein a broad range of scientific, government, and private-sectorprojects. His expertise includes design of efficient HVAC sys-tems and energy monitoring systems in commercial buildingsand mission-critical environments, management of projectteams, and analysis of design options using computer simula-tion tools. His firm includes 15 engineers committed to thechallenge of designing buildings and communities that aremore energy- and resource-efficient, more comfortable,healthier, and safer than typical buildings and communities—indeed, Rumsey Engineers has long followed a path similar toRMI’s. As part of our collaboration with Rumsey Engineers,Peter will provide some training for RMI staff in addition toworking together on projects.

Creating alliances with such stellar colleagues brings newmeaning to teamwork at RMI. Having this broad range of in-depth expertise means that we are much better positioned tofulfill RMI’s mission. Certainly, Ken Blanchard’s dictum (“noneof us is as smart as all of us”) rings true at RMI.

Marty Pickett is Executive Director of RMI.

L ongt ime RMI ma int e na nc e guru G a l e n “R e d”C a in re c e nt ly re t ire d af t er 10 ye ars a t t heInst it ut e. K nown for his charm ing (a nd s arc a s-tic) wit, his down-to-e arth approach to cha l-lenges in managing the Institut e’s H e adquart ersa nd S out he a st A nn ex prop ert i e s, a nd hisp ere nni a l ly w arm a nd fr i e ndly ma nn er, he w i l lb e sore ly miss e d.

“ T he one thing in particular I’ll a lways remem-ber when Red comes to mind is his fondness and

f ather-like role with RMIint erns,” sa id RMI Facilit iesD irector Ethe l Lossing. “ Takingthem under his wing, his gentlejoking, t aking them fishing,invit ing them up to his and hiswif e S haron’s house to play snooker—Red morethan anyone at RMI has he lped a ll of our int ernsadjust to the ir new surroundings.” H appy tra ils inyour retirement Red—and good fishing!

B Y MA R T Y P I C K E T T

TEAM=Together Everyone Achieves More

A Fond Farewell to R ed


Li fe at R MI

Editor’s N otes

R ocky M ount a in Inst it ut e is curre nt ly f ina l iz-

ing p l a ns for a summer “RMI Q ” (RMI Q u e st

for S olut ions) l e ct ure in A sp e n, curre nt ly

t it l e d “ S tr a ng e B e df e l lows: RMI, t he

Pe nt a gon, W a l-Mart a nd Texa s Instrume nt s.”

O n July 13, RMI C E O A mory L ov ins,

Ma na g ing D ire ct or D r. Jo e l S w isher, a nd

Trust e e S u e Wools ey w i l l join a pre st ig ious

p a ne l of industry l e a ders t o d iscuss e nergy

ef f ic i e ncy a nd why it is import a nt t o t he s e

organizations. In recent ye ars, RMI has con-

sult ed with a ll thre e entities, which are among

hundreds of organiza t ions quickly awakening

to the remarkable opportunit ies and economic

s avings tha t result from us ing energy eff i-

cient ly. T he discussion will take place at

Paepcke A uditorium in A spen, 5:30–7:30 p.m.

For more information, please check our

C alendar of Events web page, at

www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid22.php.

Sometimes the Institute has a hardtime of keeping track of exactlywhat kind of positive change

we’re influencing—no surprise, really, asinfluence is rarely quantifiable. But inthe 26 February edition of the AspenTimes Weekly, reporter Joel Stonington

wrote a wonderful cover story explaining the influence theInstitute has had on this country and how “America [is begin-ning to] See the Light.” In the piece, Joel recounts how theenergy and resource efficiency RMI and its founders have beenpushing since the 1970s have gained wide traction.

“Compact fluorescent light bulbs and hybrid cars were seenas quirky five years ago, weird ten years ago, and nearlyunheard of before that,” Joel wrote. “The only people advocat-ing energy-saving technologies such as hybrid cars and greenbuilding design thirty years ago were thinking way ahead. Notthese days. During Super Bowl XL this year, both Toyota andFord paid big bucks to advertise their new fuel-efficient hybridmodels. And energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbsdoubled their share of the market between 1999 and 2006. Asenergy-efficiency first gained a toehold in the U.S., RockyMountain Institute in Old Snowmass has been in the forefront,advocating market-based, conservation-minded changes. Butonly recently have so many of RMI’s solutions reached the

mainstream.”I know what Joel meant. In 1993 I wrote a cover story for

the same paper—a description of RMI’s research into a fairlynew kind of vehicle that had regenerative braking and ahybrid-electric motor. RMI CEO Amory Lovins and former RMIemployee Eric Toler called the vehicle the Supercar,* and dur-ing a two-hour interview, they told me they were certain theSupercar would become reality. After the piece ran, I remem-ber hearing a few comments about the piece and how severalreaders thought Amory and Eric were crazy.

Today, hybrid car sales are doubling every year and in 2005,nearly 206,000 of them were sold. And, www.hybridcars.comreports that by 2007, “at least 20 new hybrid models willappear in America.”

These days, the researchers and consultants here at RMIhave long since passed the hybrid baton to others who aredesigning, building, and financing the cars. But the situationillustrates just how forward-thinking the work that goes onhere is.

Fast-forward 13 years. Today, we are sharing with the world a report that could get

the United States completely off petro-oil—yes, completely!Winning the Oil Endgame shows how to rid the country ofour dangerous oil habit by employing efficiency, developingnew technologies, boosting new industries, and initiating newpolicies. It’s RMI’s hybrid-electric car of 2006.

And while there might be a few saying it can’t be done, onething I’ve noticed is our latest project seems to have a lot fewercritics than the Supercar.

B Y C AM BU R N S , ED I T O R

We’re All Crazy Now

Save the Date*N ot t o be conf us e d w it h a stre e t-l ic e ns e d Formul a O ne or s im i l ar c ar.


S t a f f S potlight

Editor’s Note: Since last year, RMI has been building theInstitute’s consulting capacity. In this issue we decided to spot-light the leaders of our Built Environment, Integrative Design,and Energy & Resources Teams.

After growing up in Minnesota, GregFranta, FAIA, Leader of RMI’s BuiltEnvironment Team, moved west to studyarchitecture at the University of Colorado atBoulder. While an undergraduate, Greg

became heavily involved with local organizing for the first EarthDay celebration (in 1970) and he came to understand the impactthat poor architectural design was having on the environment. Theway that the world’s natural resources were being depleted by thebuilding sector prompted Greg to commit himself to a radically newkind of architecture—one that fully considered all aspects of theenvironment, the inhabitants, and the community.

After graduating CU, Greg spent several years interning withlegendary architect Fritz Benedict (and skiing) in Aspen, andthen completed his graduate studies in architecture at ArizonaState University. Then, with Robert Clarke, he establishedENSAR Group in 1981, a Boulder-based sustainable architecturefirm with an emphasis on efficient, high-performance buildings.Greg grew the business and found the work compatible withRMI’s efforts. Indeed, Greg and ENSAR Group performed theenergy analysis for RMI’s headquarters building when it wasbeing designed and constructed in the early 1980s.

Throughout the ’80s and ’90s, Greg and ENSAR Group workedwith RMI’s in-house architects on dozens of projects around theglobe, from the Greening of the White House to a radically efficientprototype Brazilian school—all the while forging a new path for thedisciplines of architecture, engineering, and landscape design.

In mid-2005, as the staff of RMI’s Green Development Serviceswas dwindling, both RMI and Greg saw an opportunity to joinforces in a more direct way. Greg and his staff joined RMI, and,with RMI Principal Alexis Karolides, AIA, became the founders ofthe Institute’s new RMI/ENSAR Built Environment Team. Sincethen, the staff has grown and the quantity and quality of the workhas increased. The Team consults on building projects of all sizes,including homes, hospitals, museums, schools, retail facilities, facto-ries—you name it. They recently oversaw a retrofit of RMI’s newBoulder office, which is currently seeking LEED Platinum certifica-tion from the U.S. Green Building Council (see RMI Solutions,Spring 2006, for more details.)

In addition to the work that Greg does at RMI, he maintains arich personal life with his wife Jana Simpson. Greg has three daugh-

ters and Jana has two daughters. The girls live as far away as Paris,Boston, and Ashland, Ore., and as close as Boulder and Denver. Heenjoys—perhaps most of all—traveling, and he has visited morethan 60 countries. Greg also likes photography, jogging, and spend-ing time at a yurt on land he owns in Park County, Colo., where hebackcountry skis, hikes, and meditates.

Greg is excited about RMI’s impact in a variety of sectors, notjust the built environment. He sees his Team’s primary duty asdemonstrating that the built environment plays a vital, profitablerole in the push towards sustainable resource use.

—Cory Lowe

John Waters has always had an affinity forcars. Growing up in Tulsa, Ok. he wantedto be an auto mechanic and seemed des-tined for mechanics school, but a highschool aptitude test squashed those plans.

John scored so high on the test that a school counselor encour-aged him (in front of his parents) to seek a four-year education.Family tradition dictated that he attend Oklahoma StateUniversity, but John headed to the smaller and more personalUniversity of Arkansas instead, to pursue a mechanical engineer-ing degree.

Four years later, amid a dismal job market, John figured gradu-ate school would improve his employment opportunities. Whilefinalizing his applications, he asked several people at TexasInstruments (TI) about the best graduate programs in robotic engi-neering, but instead of a getting a recommendation, he got a joboffer. TI, at the time, was opening a new division to build fiverobotic cells that would improve manufacturing operations attheir Sherman, Tex., plant. John went to work designing andimplementing robotic infrastructure operations that were as largeas two football fields and before long he had won a nationalaward for robotic design and advanced automation.

While working at TI, John also founded a Young Life ministry inSherman, Tex., sixty miles north of Dallas. The non-denominationalyouth program served 50 to 100 high-school-aged kids and offeredweekly meetings and summer camps to Colorado among otherlocations. After leaving TI, John led the ministry for two years andgrew its capacity to more than 300 students meeting weekly.Today, the chapter is still thriving with thousands of students havingexperienced Sherman Young Life and the Rocky Mountains ofColorado.

After his stint in Texas, John moved to Detroit, Mich. to workfor Electronic Data Systems (EDS, which had recently been pur-chased by General Motors (GM)). With his mechanical engineer-

Greg Franta, FAIA, RMI Built Environment Team

John Waters, RMI Integrative Design Team


S t a f f S potlight

ing background, he held a variety of positions focused on theautomation of automotive plant operations.

Eventually, John went to work on the battery pack for GM’s EV1electric vehicle, the first of its kind. One of the challenges forthe battery pack design focused on the battery tray needed tohold numerous heavy batteries, meet certain size requirements,and support or stabilize the car’s chassis. Metal alloys wereruled out due to their conductivity. With considerable electricityflowing through the batteries, a metal tray wouldn’t be safe forthe passengers in the cabin. Eventually, John and his teamdeveloped a glass-filled plastic tray that met the challengingrequirements perfectly. The technology was so successful that itwon the Society of Plastics Engineers “Grand Award” in 1996,an enormous honor in the field.

Next in John’s varied career was leading a successful start-updivision within Delphi Corporation in lithium-battery produc-tion. John and his team developed a lithium-ion battery that car-ries more energy than a lead-acid battery but is vastly smaller,lighter, and more durable. While John was initially hopefulabout the automotive applications and social impacts this batterywould have, it was first used in a non-automotive application,specifically a personal mobility device.

Even with all this engineering success, John longed for hiswork to have a bigger societal impact and to return to his boy-hood roots and pastimes—gazing at big skies, immersing him-self in nature, and tinkering with cars.

In 2005, as RMI began growing its Research & Consultingcapacity, John found himself in discussions with the Institute’ssenior management about his expertise, and the needs of theInstitute to fulfill its mission.

Not surprisingly, he was soon hired as the Integrative DesignTeam Leader and today leads his Team in the continued devel-opment of efficient automotive and non-automotive product andprocess applications. He has observed first-hand what whole-sys-tem thinking and implementation can do to decrease waste,improve the environment, and make people smile. John thinksthe product and manufacturing worlds are ideal sectors to focuson in order to unlock huge improvements in efficiency and trulydrive social change (pun intended).

Outside work, John loves his new hometown—Carbondale,Colo.—where he lives with his wife, Sonya, and their four chil-dren. He describes the sensation of gazing at the big sky withdetailed elation—the result of his many years in Detroit,Indianapolis, and Fort Lauderdale. John also enjoys outdoorrecreation with his family, namely skiing, hiking, and biking.John seems to have found home here in the Rockies and we’rehopeful that he’ll lead the Institute’s Integrative Design Team formany years to come.

—Cory Lowe

John Anderson, PE, RMI Energy &Resources Team Leader, was born andraised in Wisconsin, and says that’s why hehas a Midwestern way of looking atthings—that is, extremely practical and

down to earth. He attended the University of Wisconsin atMadison (UW) and did his undergraduate work in mechanicalengineering before moving on to graduate studies at the SolarEnergy Institute at UW, where several solar energy pioneerstrained.

In 1979, John’s academic experiences led him to the SolarEnergy Research Institute (SERI), today known as the NationalRenewable Energy Lab (NREL). There, he did technical analy-sis for a variety of energy systems, mainly solar systems. Afterten years, he moved into management and oversaw a widerange of projects, including one effort to destroy water and airpollution particles using a photo-catalytic process. John’s man-agement duties grew, and he eventually took on the supervi-sion of an entire branch with thirty researchers, technicians,and engineers.

Despite the good work being done at NREL, John became frus-trated by the lack of solar technologies being deployed and soughtto understand why. He soon learned that most of the hurdles wereeconomic, but he lacked the economic background to grasp thecomplexities and subtleties of the issue so he set about learning asmuch as he could about finance—a useful skill in any line of work.

John’s career shifted dramatically in 1999. He left NREL tofound and manage the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF), anorganization established to make investments in the renewableenergy sector. Under John’s leadership, CCEF achieved tremendoussuccess quickly, but John missed the mountains—Connecticut sim-ply didn’t offer the natural beauty and recreation opportunities thathe yearned for. So after two years, he moved back to Boulder andestablished a small, independent consultancy that worked withsmall companies to develop successful business plans to moverenewable energy technologies into the marketplace.

Before long, John got a phone call from RMI’s ManagingDirector of Research & Consulting, Joel Swisher. Joel and Johnhad long been friends, dating back to their days as cubicle neigh-bors at NREL. When Joel was promoted to Managing Director in2005, a void in the Energy & Resources Team opened and Johnseemed a natural fit, and he was hired as Leader.

In addition to his career, John is an avid outdoorsman. He is anaccomplished mountaineer, but now focuses his recreational ener-gy on mountain biking, telemark skiing, and backpacking. He

John Anderson, PE,RMI Energy & Resources Team

(continued on page 27)

D onor S potlight


RMI’S FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS COME FROM

diverse backgrounds and belief systems,but some have such truly fascinating on-the-ground experiences that they bearsharing with readers. Case in point: SteveMacAusland.

In 1971, after a stint in college, longtimeRMI fan and supporter Steve MacAuslandand six friends decided they needed a wild,wilderness experience. They agreed to aneight-week canoe trip through Québec,down the Eastmain River, from near LakeMistassini to James Bay.

But 1971 wasn’t only the year Stevewas supposed to graduate from college; italso happened to be the year that theProvince of Québec launched the largesthydroelectric project in North Americaand one of the largest in the world. Asdesigned, it would drown huge areas offorest and river, cause mercury contami-nation of fish, as well as other majorenvironmental problems.

The young men paddled the river, fish-ing, camping, enjoying life, and experienc-ing the almost unknown Cree culture (atthat time an estimated 6,000 lived in thearea). As they traversed the province, theycame across several camps of 80 to 100hydro-project workers apiece. The menwere busy surveying and drilling, and try-ing to determine where the various diver-sions and channels of the James Bay

Project would go.At the end of the trip, out of curiosity

and respect, Steve and his friends decidedto visit the chief of the local Cree tribe. Hespoke no English, but through an inter-preter the young men thanked him for theuse of his river and then asked him whathe thought about the hydro project hap-pening upstream.

“The concept of a huge hydro projectwas way beyond him, but he didn’t knowanything about it anyway,” Steve said.“What really bothered me was that theriver these people grew up on and the cul-ture that it supported were being threat-ened and they weren’t even told.”

Steve paddled the Eastmain the follow-ing year, and the year after that. Then hefinagled a longer stay, and went back upfor the winter of 1973–74. He lived with aCree family, in a teepee, traveled by snow-shoe, and hunted and trapped for suste-nance. Steve and his hosts became com-fortable with one another, and Stevestayed three years.

“The whole time the hydro project wasbearing down on them, and they resistedit as best they could,” Steve said. “But theCree were having a difficult time findinglawyers and they lacked any kind oftreaties with the government of Québec.”

The project was enormous, too. Insteadof simply building a dam along the

Eastmain River, Hydro-Québec was plan-ning to divert the river, along with fourother big rivers, through a system ofdikes and into a huge reservoir thatwould power a massive undergroundgenerating station.

Steve had to do something. He puttogether a slideshow of the land, the Cree,and the hydro project and took it on theroad to drum up opposition.

The response was predictable, he said:“Most people said something along thelines of ‘Great slide-show, great cause, butsorry, it’s not an American issue. They’reCanadian dams built on Canadianrivers’—even though a lot of the electricitywas going to be directed to theNortheastern United States, includingNew England.”

Though unable to halt Phase I, Stevelearned as much as he could about hydro-electricity, about energy in general, andabout the Québec government’s plannedPhase II, which was scheduled to begin in1990. And despite his day-job as a teacher,Steve also taught himself as much as hecould about videography, and learned toshoot and edit tape.

When 1990 rolled around, Steve andone of his original canoe-mates, DennyAlsop, went to the next river that wastargeted for development, the GreatWhale River, where the Cree and Inuitterritories meet.

There, Denny and Steve convincedthe Cree and Inuit to build an outsizedcanoe and dogsled it down James Bay tothe St. Lawrence, and then paddle upthe Richelieu River to Lake Champlain,down Lake Champlain to the HudsonRiver, and down the Hudson so theywould arrive in New York on Earth Day1990. While the Cree and Inuit pad-dled, and Steve and Denny shot video-tape and talked to the press along the way.

“We got to New York on Earth Day,

Steve MacAusland

D onor S potlight


and we stole the stage at the Earth Risingcelebration in Times Square,” Steverecalled. “And the next day it was frontpage news in the New York Post, then theNew York Times Sunday magazine did abig story, as did the Boston Globe, andNational Geographic, and many otherpapers and magazines. That was the sparkthat brought this to the attention of theAmerican people.”

Steve wasn’t sure what to do next, sohe called David Brower. The legendaryenvironmentalist put him in touch withRMI CEO Amory Lovins, whom he subse-quently interviewed for the video. The pro-gram aired and—besides winning anEmmy—provided considerable support forthe anti-hydro argument. The public out-cry created an environment that enabledAshok Gupta and S. David Freeman, headof the New York Power Authority, to per-suade then-governor Mario Cuomo to can-cel the state’s contracts with Hydro-Québec for power, based on his belief thatthe state could do better through efficiencyand conservation.

“And with no new contracts, theprovince of Québec was unable to goforward with a $15 billion project,”Steve said. “So the premier of Québechad to put the project on the back burn-er, where it remains.”

The province is still looking at hydroprojects on other untamed rivers, and Stevecontinues to monitor the situation, butsince his success with the Great WhaleRiver, he’s reinvented himself.

Steve’s “next phase” of life became hiswork with the community of faith. It beganwhen he went to a 1993 hearing in Bostonregarding a bill that would applyMassachusetts’ generation standards to elec-tricity imported from outside the state. Theroom was filled with black suits—lobbyistsfrom the energy sector—so the two peopledressed as clergy immediately got Steve’sattention. The man was a representative ofthe Anglican Church of Canada who hadcome down to explain that not all

Canadians were in favor of Québec’s hydroprojects and to urge the Massachusetts leg-islature to adopt the bill. The woman wasan Episcopal priest from Massachusetts,and her church was opposed to the hydroprojects too.

A lifelong Episcopalian, Steve soonfound himself involved with a diocesancommittee of faith and the environment,an association that led to his own workwith Episcopalian dioceses across thecountry, as well as with members of otherfaiths, on energy issues.

“The community of faith is waking upto our responsibility to take care of cre-ation, to be stewards of the land,” Stevenoted. “If you love God, you’ve got to takecare of what God gave you. It’s prettymuch a no-brainer.”

This outlook coupled with his specificinterests in energy led to Steve co-founding with the Reverend SallyBingham, in 1998, an organizationcalled Episcopal Power & Light(www.theregenerationproject.org/epl.html), which aims to make church facili-ties more energy and resource efficient,and to buy green power by combining theenergy purchases of Episcopal churchesand their congregations. Although theeffort first centered on the EpiscopalChurch, the goal was to involve the entirecommunity of faith, which happened afterEpiscopal Power & Light had proven itself.After two years, the California Council of

Churches jumped onboard, and, as Stevenotes, “we were off to the races.”

Steve traveled endlessly, promotingenergy efficiency and renewable energy asan issue that churches should address, inthis country and around the world. Afterconsiderable effort, he decided to stickcloser to home, and foundedMassachusetts Interfaith Power & Light,which he continues to run (as ChiefEvangelical Officer). Today, there areInterfaith Power & Light branches inCalifornia, Oregon, Colorado, Iowa,Minnesota, New Mexico, Texas,Michigan, Tennessee, North Carolina,Georgia, Pennsylvania, Washington DC,New York, Maine, Massachusetts, andVermont—and other states are seeing“IPLs” forming regularly.

Steve, 56, is a lifelong resident ofDedham, Mass. where he still lives andwhere he and his ex-wife Amy raised histwo daughters, Charlotte and Dorothy. Hislongtime connection to RMI is importanthe says.

“RMI is like this nexus of good news,”he said. “Anything that matters in terms ofenergy and the environment crosses RMI’sdesk, so to speak, and the Institute focuseson solutions. RMI’s people aren’t just outthere hammering on people. They’re offer-ing workable, positive, inspirationalchange. I consider my support of RMI asan investment in the future and encourageothers to do likewise.”

And, clearly, Steve MacAusland is doingsome inspirational things himself—literallyand figuratively. Indeed, just two summersago Denny and Steve paddled down theRupert River in Québec. “Better keep aneye on that one!” Steve says with a smile.

—Cameron M. Burns

For more information on EpiscopalPower & Light, please visit www.there-generationproject.org.

For more information on MassachusettsInterfaith Power and Light, please visitwww.mipandl.org

”“T he community of

faith is waking up to our responsibility to take

care of creation, to bestewards of the land.

If you love God, you’vegot to take care of whatGod gave you. It’s pretty

much a no-brainer.— S te v e Mac A usland

B oard S potlight


A FEW YEARS BACK, RMI BOARD OF

Trustees member Michael Potts wentthrough a transformation. After selling asoftware company he had run for sever-al years, he took time off and did a fewpersonal things. He got heavily involvedwith yoga, he traveled extensively(meeting with “interesting people I’dalways wanted to meet”), and he gotdeeply involved in a number of organi-zations that are driving social change.Now, Michael’s main focus is aboutdriving innovation for positive change,and that includes serving on RMI’s gov-erning body.

“RMI is a hotbed of innovation. Itreally works the edge,” he said. “RMIapproaches problems in fresh ways. Thefolks there are continually challengingthemselves to find a way of doing some-thing that’s not obvious. In business,new ideas are usually considered sec-ondary to proven, established proce-dure. What I really like about RMI isthe commitment to challenging theestablished ways of doing things.”

Clearly, he has enthusiasm, and hehopes his extensive experience in busi-ness management can help guide theorganization forward. A close friend ofRMI Trustee Adam Albright, Michaeljoined the Board last fall.

“We need to support Amory and hisvision,” he said. “But at the same timewe need to build an organization thatprovides huge value with or withoutAmory. Another challenge facing RMI isthe imperative to constantly stay outahead with new ideas. RMI needs tocome up with ground-breaking ideas,and once they’re accepted RMI has togive them over to the market place andgo and find new ideas. Most businesseshit on an idea then flog it as long aspossible. At RMI, it’s kind of the oppo-site: the MO is to hit on a good idea,

substantiate that it’s a good idea, andthen move on.”

Michael grew up on the north shoreof Chicago, the oldest of six kids. Hisfather was in high-tech sales in the tele-com industry and his mother was ateacher. As a kid, he lived near thebeach on Lake Michigan, where hespent a lot of his boyhood time. Thefamily also owned a farm in Wisconsin,where weekends and summers werespent immersed in nature.

After attending high school, he head-ed off to Beloit College in Wisconsinwhere he studied creative writing. “Ilove to read, I love writing short sto-ries—humor and poetry,” he said. “Sowhen I got to college it just seemed nat-ural.”

After college, Michael thought he’dget into the publishing world, but achance to interview with IBM cameup, and on a whim Michael went, “andthey gave me an offer that was morethan double any of the offers from thepublishers.” Thus began a 25-yearcareer in high-tech sales and marketing,and general management, with IBM,BancTec, Recognition International,American Fundware, and as an inde-pendent consultant. At BancTec hehelped grow international sales from $8million to over $80 million in aboutfour years.

After that, he decided he wanted torun his own, private firm. Michaelfound a small software company inDenver doing just under $5 million insales, landed a job as CEO, and in fiveyears helped triple the size of the busi-ness. The company made financial soft-ware for complex non-profit organiza-tions, with clients such as CarnegieHall, the United Negro College Fund,and the Aspen Institute, among others.Michael sold the company to a larger

corporation and stayed on to run it forthe new owner until late 2004.

Then, he took that transformativetime off and became involved in a num-ber of organizations that are drivingtransformational change, including theBusiness School at the University ofColorado in Denver, a theater groupcalled Curious Theater, Kripalu Center,the nation’s largest spiritual retreat cen-ter, and, of course, RMI.

“I’m trying to spend my time withorganizations that are going to havetraction and make a difference,” hesaid. “RMI has a lot of faith in thepower of ideas, and there’s an underly-ing confidence that if we figure it out, itcan be done. I like the constructive wayRMI engages with business and govern-ment. It’s very tempting for organiza-tions that are driving social change topolarize and second-guess the peoplewho are actually doing the work and Ilove the way RMI goes out there andactually gets involved in the issues. Ithink that’s a powerful lever for trans-formational change.”

One big challenge he sees is the strate-gic issue of building a lasting hybrid organ-

Michael Potts

B oard S potlight


ization that consults for fees, but also doesresearch and education.

“Having worked with a company thatserves 2,500 non-profits, I’ve seen every-thing in the world,” he said. “And what Ithink I can contribute to RMI is helpingthe organization with transitions and long-term strategies. Most businesses look for-ward only one or two quarters at most. AtRMI there’s a uniformity of long-rangethinking across everyone on staff—that’s agreat basis for building a long-standinghybrid organization.”

Besides his new role with the Institute,Michael is interested to see if there’s away to get RMI involved with energyissues in the developing world.

“If you were to go to some of theseslowly developing countries and put someplanning into it, what would that looklike?” he asks. “And is there a role forRMI there, or are other organizations bet-ter suited to tackle those challenges?”

Outside his nonprofit service, the Denverresident’s interests include music, literature,history, mountain hiking, and water sports.While he never went into writing as acareer, his curriculum vitae proudly notes:“have written two bad screenplays andmany short stories.” He is also one of tworecent cofounders of the Rubicon Company,a holding company in search of small indus-trial acquisition candidates.

And the father of seven is finally put-ting his college degree to use, writing abook about business. Specifically, he’s writ-ing about the relationship between thecapacity of work in a person and in thatperson’s organization. The book will alsoexamine the stages of development thattop-level executives go through.

“Books like this can be fairly boring, so Ithought I’d try something new,” Michaelsaid. “I’m going to write it as a comicbook.”

From an innovative guy seeking topush transformational change, thatsounds about par for the course.

—Cameron M. Burns

In Memoria m:

Me l iss a N e wsom, a former RMI emp loye e, p a ss e d a w ay 17J a nuary 2006 af t er a t wo-c ar col l is ion on Int erst a t e 70 n e arS i lt, C olo.

Me lissa was born in 1972 and ra ised through childhood inC anoga Park, C a lif.

S he subsequently moved to B a inbridge, Wash. with her f amily,where Me lissa att ended B a inbridge H igh S chool; she graduat edin 1990. A f t er graduation, Me lissa’s f amily moved to G randJunction.

In 1991, Me lissa moved to C arbonda le. In the e arly 2000s, sheworked for RMI for thre e ye ars. In 2003, she moved to S ilt, whereshe took a posit ion as an executive houseke eper and was work-ing with the C ity of G lenwood S prings when she died.

Me lissa loved the outdoors, especia lly stre am fishing, moun-t a in biking, and skiing, and she made friends e asily. H er f amilyand her pets were her gre at est passions, and she was known forbringing home stray anima ls. S he had a big he art, and will bemissed gre atly by her f amily and friends.

“ S he was one of the warmest people I’ve ever met,” sa id RMIst aff editor C ameron B urns.

Melissa Rene Newsom

RMI Wins Design Awards

T he C ommunic a t ions D epartme nt re c e nt ly won t wo

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A nge la and J eremy Fost erA nn and Tom Friedman

J ess ica and John F ullertonJ ennie Muir- G ordon and Mark G ordon

D ana and Jona than G otts egenD iane Troderman and H arold G rinspoon

C hrist ina and C hristopher G uidoMargie and John H a leyMarcia and John H art er

Ela ine P ly and D avid H enryJ ess ica H erzst e in

Judy H illA biga il and Mark H orowit z

J acque line Merrill and J ames E. H ughes, Jr.H olly H unt

N ancy Reynolds and Logan H urstMary and Micha e l Johnston

Bruce K a t zC olle en and B ud Konhe imEla ine and Robert Le B uhn

N ancy G erdt and G lenn LyonsJ ane S harp MacRa e and D uncan MacRa e

B etsy and Lou Ma t lackLe e Me lly

S andra and Micha e l Mina idesB arbara Mitche ll and Robert B oyar

C yndi and J erry MixK aren S ett erf ie ld and D avid Muckenhirn

Ke lly Erin O ’ Brien and Martha Wa tsonMe linda and N orm Payson

Marty P ickett and Edge ll PylesX iaome i and Jos eph Reckford

N ancy and C y RichD iana and Jona than F. P. Ros e

Emily M. S ack and Robert J. S chlossS eymour S chwart z

Joan S emmerC hris S mith and Toni Z urcher

Srinija Srinivas anC oco and Fost er S t anback

A lice and Fred S t anbackRobin and D avid S wart z

N ancy K it zmiller TaylorLynda and D ouglas We is er

K arry and Tom W ieringaJane Woodward, Mineral A cquisition

Partners, Inc.S ue and J im Wools ey

R MI S upporters

From RMIQ lectures and informal visits with RMI’s Research & ConsultingTeams to opportunities to enjoy the arts, culture, and outdoor beauty of theAspen/Snowmass area, this summer’s National Solutions Council Weekendpromises a little bit of everything.

Highlights of the weekend follow.

Informal meetings with RMI staff on the following Research & Consulting projects:

Sustainable Communities: Hear about our experiences in sustainable eco-nomic developments, including information on our project Designing aRegeneration Zone in the Cuyahoga Valley (Cleveland). Help us developfuture plans to move cities and communities toward sustainability.Winning the Oil Endgame: An update on our implementation efforts regard-ing heavy trucks, the military, and biofuels. This session will also feature a pres-entation on the NSC-sponsored WTOE project: cars and light trucks. Smart Utilities of the Future: RMI’s Energy & Resources Team will briefNSC members on the state of the U.S. electricity industry. They will also dis-cuss RMI’s work helping energy utilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissionsefficiently and cost-effectively. Then, we’ll unveil ICARUS, a remarkable com-puter modeling system that predicts utility greenhouse gas emissions under avariety of scenarios. NSC members will challenge ICARUS and see who canreduce the most greenhouse gas at the lowest cost.

RMIQ lecture: “Strange Bedfellows: RMI, the Pentagon, Wal-Mart,and Texas Instruments.” RMI CEO Amory Lovins, Dr. Joel Swisher, PE,and RMI Trustee Sue Woolsey will join a prestigious panel of industry leaders

to discuss energy efficiency and why it is important to these organizations.

A highlight of the weekend will be Saturday, when NSC members participate inan all-day Green Building Charrette at Doug and Lynda Weiser’s home in OldSnowmass. When building their home, NSC Co-Chair Doug and his wife Lyndainvested in alternative energy systems and green building techniques, but theresults were only moderately successful. Doug and Lynda want to be greener.Together, we’ll participate in a green building charrette with a goal of providingpractical recommendations for making the couple’s home more sustainable andenergy-efficient. The process will provide us all with valuable information abouthow to green our own homes and communities, and how we can each reduceour individual environmental footprint.

Following the green building charrette, Doug and Lynda Weiser will host anNSC Salon/Reception for NSC members and their guests.

Additionally, NSC members will be able to choose from a variety of activities,from a Tour of Fiberforge (formerly Hypercar) and green buildings in the RoaringFork Valley to outdoor activities such as horseback riding and whitewater rafting,as well as various cultural activities.

Join us to learn more about RMI and celebrate the beauty of summer inAspen/Snowmass!

The NSC extends an invitation to all RMI donors of $1,500+ annually tojoin. For more information about the Council, please contactDevelopment at (970) 927-3851 or [email protected].

RMI National Solutions Council WeekendWe d n e sd a y, Ju l y 1 2 – Su n d a y, Ju l y 1 6 , 2 0 0 6

R MI S upporters

C ontributions to R MI bet ween 1 January 2006 and 30 April 2006

V I S I O N A RIE S$100,000 and aboveRichard & Rhoda G oldman F undT he S ummit Founda t ion

PA T H FI N D ER S$50,000 – $99,999Rache l & A dam A lbrightA nonymousA rgosy Founda t ionMary & John Frant zT he H enry Luce Founda t ion, Inc.

I N N O V A T O R S$25,000 – $49,999Pet er & S us an BradfordD e lt a Electronics Founda t ionT he Joyce Founda t ionWorking A ss ets

P I O N EER S$10,000 – $24,999A nonymous (2)A rnt z Family Founda t ionMarke ll Brooks, Westcliff Founda t ionT he C leve land Founda t ionT he C oca- C ola Founda t ion, Inc.Johanett e Wa llerst e in Inst itut e

I N T EG R A T O R S$5,000 – $9,999C urt is & Maryvonne A bbottA nonymous (2)A llen & J ane B oorst e inT he B e a trice R. &

Jos eph A . C oleman Founda t ionT he Roy A . H unt Founda t ionA mory B . LovinsJona than B . & A ndrew C . N orris,

T he Firef ly TrustT he S t aubach C ompanyJ eff Tannenbaum & N is a G e llerT he Wa lton Family Founda t ionLynda & D oug We is er

O P T IMIZER S$1,000 – $4,999S t anley & H ope A de lst e inD anie l A mory, T he J ebediah Founda t ionA nonymous (3)A spen Skiing C ompany -

Environment Founda t ionEdward L. B akewe ll, Jr. Family Founda t ionLes lie & Rutgers B arclayJosh Bra tt & Wendie Ke llingtonJudith & C . Frederick B uechnerC haff in Light A ssocia t esB etsy & J ames J. C haff in, Jr.D ade B ehring, Inc.Martha D avisEarth S hareT he Fackert FamilyFanwood Founda t ionJohn C . FoxJ ennie Muir- G ordon & Mark G ordonJona than & D ana G otts egen,

G otts egen Family Founda t ion S t ephen H . & Mary B ooth JohnsonC arolyn Konhe im & Brian Ketcham,

in memory of Eric Konhe imT homas & K aren KonradLawson Va lent ine Founda t ionG era ld Lins & A nn Parry Moorhe ad-LinsLI V IN G R Y F und of Tides Founda t ionRobert & Frances LudwigJ ane S harp MacRa e & D uncan MacRa eJ ames T. MillsMicha e l & S andra Mina idesMitsubishi Est a t e C o. Ltd.Money/ A renz Founda t ion, Inc.Ke lly Erin O ’ Brien & Martha Wa tsonPacif i C orp, Ra lph C avanaghW ill & Julie ParishKurt PaulusB ernard & N ancy P icchiMicha e l & J ennif er PottsS imon RichG ray & Mollie RogersS he lley & G reg S chlenderS eymour S chwart zTony S chwart z & D eborah P ines

S erendipity C harit able G if t F und of T he C ommunity Founda t ion S erving B oulder C ounty

Paulett & G anson TaggartW illiam Laney T hornton & Pasha D ritt T horntonT homas WarrenPa t & B ob Wa t erstonB arbara & G ilbert Wynn

S T E W A R D S$500 – $999Marcia A ngle & Mark Trust in A . Jona thon B ecker & Lynn Isra e lC ity of A spenLis a & D an C ulhaneLois-e llin D a tt aJoan Farver, in honor of S uzanne FarverK aren Fre edman & Roger We isbergMarian & A ugust G erecke, Jr.G raybe a l A rchit ects, LL CTobias & S ummer K ircherMargaret & Paul LurieB etty & A nthony PennockMarcia & P hilip Rothblum Founda t ionG arret S wartMr. & Mrs. Robert TierneyB arbara W idmer & D ave H ennermanFrancy & Randy W illiamsT. Wa lley W illiams, IIIH ans & A nn Z ulliger

I N- K I N D C O N T RI B U T I O N SA ustra lian A rt is ana l, John B e a ttyC ity MarketEurope an C a t erers, Ltd., Robert S ut erEthe l Loss ing C hris Q uart ett iVa l’s G ourmet D e li

We a lso w a nt t o t ha nkt hos e indiv idua ls whohave contr ibut e d t oRMI t hrough E art hS hare, t he combine d

f e d er a l c amp a ign, a nd ot her work-p l a c e char it abl e progr ams. If youwould l ike t o have RMI a s a char it abl eopt ion in your workp l a c e c amp a ign,p l e a s e cont a ct our D eve lopmentD e p artme nt a t (970) 927-7201.

T he following people have noti f iedus that they have included R MI in

their wills and / or trusts. We aregrate f ul to each o f them.

E st her & Fr a nc is B l ighJoa nn e & Mike C af frey

V irg ini a C ol l i erA nn e C ooke

R ichard FordS t a nt on K los e

Er ik a L e afJo e l S hap iro

Marg e Wurg e l & K e it h Me s e cher

WillsBelow is suggested wording for including

RMI in your will. But we also suggest you

consult your attorney.

“I hereby leave _____ percent of my

estate (or a fixed amount, specific prop-

erty, or the remainder of my estate) to

Rocky Mountain Institute, a Colorado

nonprofit corporation, whose purpose is

to foster the efficient and restorative use

of resources to make the world secure,

just, prosperous, and life-sustaining.”

S u m m e r 2 0 0 6

26 RMISolutions

B Y CO RY L OW E

In early December, Cliff Colia, princi-pal and head Wolverine at CarbondaleMiddle School, brought 25 of his

most gifted students to RMI’s super-effi-cient Headquarters building. My initialuncertainly about how much the 12-to-14-year-old students would understandabout energy efficiency was quickly laidto rest by thought-provoking questionssuch as “How much energy is RMI savingby using photovoltaic panels?” and “Whatis the payback period for all of these alter-native technologies?”

The tour began like most, with a lookat all of the building’s alternative energytechnologies and an overview of RMI’swork. The students were intrigued byCEO Amory Lovins’s hot tub. Theythought (as many do) that such modernextravagances couldn’t be enjoyed insuch an energy-efficient building.However, once I explained the solar hotwater heating system and RMI’s beliefthat modern comforts don’t need to besacrificed, the students got pretty firedup about improving energy efficiency intheir own homes.

We continued to the roof where Igave detailed explanations of the track-ing photovoltaic panels, air-to-air heatexchangers, solar clothes dryer, andsolar hot water heater. None of thedescriptions was lost on these young-sters and they continually asked chal-lenging questions about how the tech-nologies work and where their familiescould purchase them.

Back down at the front of the building,the students took a close look at the exteri-or walls and windows. With no traditionalheating system in the building, the wallsand windows are crucial to maintainingwarmth during the cold winter season.The walls, constructed of locally harvestedDakota sandstone, have an R-value (a

measure of insulative capacity) of 40 andthe Heat Mirror superwindows that fea-ture a layer of krypton gas sandwichedbetween two panes of glass boast an R-value of 12. Both of these features are con-siderably better performing than the build-ing industry’s standard windows and walls.

The group moved into the workroomto examine the solar-electric system’s bat-teries. These nickel-iron batteries, recov-ered from China, boast enough storagecapacity to keep the building up and run-ning for a week in the event of a poweroutage. In fact, during a fierce storm andresulting power outage several years ago,Amory welcomed local emergency work-ers into the building to charge the batter-ies in their radios. The students then con-vened in the kitchen and examined theappliances, all designed to maximizeenergy savings.

The tour culminated in the greenhouse,

clearly the highlight of the trip for the stu-dents. After I explained how the green-house serves as the furnace for the build-ing, the students wanted to know moreabout the materials used to store heat,including the cement, water, dirt, andplant matter. Next, the students turned toexploring the plants and animals that livein the greenhouse. Everyone searched highand low to find Hedgemon the Hedgehog,RMI’s insect eliminator, but to no avail asthe nocturnal animal had likely found adiscreet place to sleep.

After the tour concluded, I answeredsome final questions before the studentsboarded the big yellow school bus withPrincipal Colia at the wheel and headedback to school. Clearly many ofAmerica’s youngsters get it when itcomes to energy challenges and solu-tions. In leaving, one student remarkedto me that she would love to live in abuilding like RMI’s. With that comment,I felt confident that RMI’s messages had-n’t fallen on deaf ears; hopefully, in afew years, kids like these will be run-ning our country.

Cory Lowe is the Outreach Coordinatorin RMI’s Communications Department.For more information, please visitwww.rmi.org/sitepages/pid379.php.

C ory ’s K ids

The Next Generation Is Getting It


RMI Solutions is published three times a yearand distributed to more than 10,000 readers (by mail and online) in the United States andthroughout the world. © 2006 Rocky MountainInstitute. All rights reserved.

Let ters to the EditorWe want to hear your comments. Please address all correspondence to:

Cameron M. Burns, EditorRocky Mountain Institute1739 Snowmass Creek RoadSnowmass, CO 81654-9199tel: (970) 927-3851fax: (970) [email protected]

For reprint permission, please [email protected]. As a leader in promotingresource efficiency, RMI supports innovative recycled paper manufacturers. This publicationis printed on New Leaf EcoOffset (100% post-consumer waste, processed chlorine-free) usingvegetable-based ink. Contact New Leaf Paper formore information, (888) 989-5323. No new trees were used in the production ofthis newsletter, and we offer paperless electronicdelivery via our website or on request.

A bout the InstituteRMI is an entrepreneurial nonprofit organizationthat fosters the efficient and restorative use of nat-ural, human and other capital to make the worldsecure, just, prosperous, and life-sustaining. We dothis by inspiring business, civil society, and government to design integrative solutionsthat create true wealth.

Our staff show corporations, communities, individuals, and governments how to createmore wealth and employment, protect andenhance natural and human capital, increaseprofit and competitive advantage, and enjoymany other benefits—largely by doing what theydo more efficiently.

Our work is independent, nonadversarial, and transideological, with a strong emphasis onmarket-based solutions.

Founded in 1982, Rocky Mountain Institute is a §501(c)(3)/509(a)(1) public charity. It has a staffof approximately 50. The Institute focuses itswork in several main areas—business practices,climate, community economic development, ener-gy, real-estate development, security, transporta-tion, and water—and carries on internationaloutreach and technical-exchange programs.

RMISolutionsfor a decade;

• new Integrative Design Team leaderJohn Waters, who led the design of theEV1 and S10 battery packs for GM andDelphi, will use his expertise to explorebattery technologies, market develop-ment, and manufacturing hurdles. Hebrings 17 years’ experience in theadvanced battery and auto industries; and

• Larry Zahn joined RMI’s IntegrativeDesign Team as a Principal to helpimplement WTOE’s recommendationsfor doubling or tripling the efficiency ofheavy trucks. Larry has 30 years’ experi-ence in the auto industry, in leadershipand executive roles in engineering,manufacturing, financial, and operationsat Chrysler, Volkswagen, AmericanMotors/Jeep, and others.

These are just a few of the Institute’songoing capacity-building activities inour Research & Consulting Teams.

! Diverse Engagements in Oil and BiofuelsBoth enlisting the interest of the oilindustry and accelerating the emergenceof the advanced biofuels industry showpromise. In March 2005, CEO AmoryLovins’s lectures at Rice University’sBaker Institute and SMU’s MaguireEnergy Center were packed with oil-

industry officials and investors, includ-ing numerous independents. A March2006 presentation to the CalgaryChamber of Commerce was similarlyreceptive, as was an April 2006 lunch-eon keynote at the Houston annual con-ference of the American Institute ofPetroleum Geologists.

! Public OutreachWinning the Oil Endgame has remainedin the public eye with continuing favor-able media coverage. Although theabundance of coverage has droppedsince the book was first published, it hasbeen given attention in high-circulationvenues, including the Washington Post,Grist, Discover, Knight Ridder newspa-pers, and Salon magazine (among oth-ers) within recent months, as well asmany smaller publications includingsuch local outlets as the Aspen TimesWeekly. All told, Winning the OilEndgame has appeared in the press inone way or another 15 times since thestart of 2006. RMI also continues tofield 3–5 phone calls per week aboutWTOE, varying from congratulations torequests for topical information.

! And Finally…• More than 150,000 visitors towww.oilendgame.com have down-loaded our book since its publication inSeptember 2004.

completes several backcountry huttrips every year and has taught tele-mark skiing. Despite his seriousmountain endeavors, John claims thathis biggest adventure of late has beenteaching his 15-year-old daughter todrive. John also has a 12-year-old sonand his wife Karen Wyatt is an aca-

demic counselor to athletes at theUniversity of Colorado.

Although his Midwestern approachto life has remained strong, John hasset down roots in Boulder, andbelieves that he has found home. Heis proud to work with such talentedcolleagues and he is buoyed aboutRMI’s recent efforts in the energy sec-tor. And RMI is lucky to have him.

—Cory Lowe

Winning the O il Endga me(continued from page 5)

S t a f f S potlight(continued from page 19)

Rocky Mountain Institute1739 S nowma ss C re e k R oadS nowma ss, C O 81654-9199

C H A N G E S E R V I C E R E Q U E S T E D

N O N - P R O F I T O R G

U. S . P O S T A GE P A I D

P E RMI T #90

G L E N W O O D S P RI N G S, C O

G re ening a G iant

W inning the O il Endgame, T hus Far

H igh-Performance B uilding T hrough Int egrat ed D esign

H awa i‘i Takes the Le ad in E nergy Independence

RMI Ref ines C ommunity E nergy O pportunity Finder

A G re en D re am C ome True in Texas

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16 L if e a t RMI: T E A M

18 S t af f S pot l ight: Te am L e aders; G reg Fr a nt a, F A I A , John W a t ers, John A nd erson, P E

20 D onor S pot l ight: S t eve Ma c A us l a nd

22 B oard S pot l ight: M icha e l Pot t s

25 RMI S upport ers

26 C ory’s K ids

Features In Every Issue

R o c k y M o u n t a i n I n s t i t u t e / V o l u m e x x i v # 1 / S u m m e r 2 0 0 6

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