Nature Inside: A Biophilic Design GuideWilliam D. Browning and Catherine O. Ryan, RIBA publishing, 2020A practical guide to biophilic design principles for interior designers.RMI Bookshelf
Over the years, RMI staff and board members have written about the energy transition, energy security, efficiency, the environment, sustainable energy and buildings, and more. Click on the authors below to see some of the books written by our expert colleagues and board.
RMI staff (current and former)
Nature Inside: A Biophilic Design GuideWilliam D. Browning and Catherine O. Ryan, RIBA publishing, 2020A practical guide to biophilic design principles for interior designers.
A Primer on Sustainable Building William D. Browning and Dianna Lopez Barnett, RMI, 1995The most complete introduction to date on the principles of sustainable design and construction.
Building Without Borders: Sustainable Construction for the Global Village Cameron M. Burns, New Society Publishers, 2004Pioneering efforts to create sustainable shelter for the billions of under-housed people around the world.
Contact: Mountain Climbing and Environmental Thinking Cameron M. Burns, University of Nevada Press, 2008First-person climbing stories on the relationship between climbers and nature from America’s best-known climbers and writers.
Two Billion Cars: Driving Toward Sustainability
Deborah Gordon and Daniel Sperling, Oxford University Press, 2009How we arrived at America’s love affair with cars and what we can do about it.
No Standard Oil: Managing Abundant Petroleum in a Warming World
Deborah Gordon, Oxford University Press, 2021The varying climate impacts of global oil and gas, and solutions to cut oil and gas emissions while making transitioning to a carbon-free energy future.
Security Without War: A Post Cold War Foreign Policy
Hal Harvey and Michael Shuman, Westview Press, 1993Security principles and policies for the United States to adopt in a post-Cold War world.
Designing Climate Solutions: A Policy Guide for Low-Carbon Energy
Hal Harvey, Robbie Orvis, and Jeffrey Rissman, Island Press, 2022The latest research and analysis around low carbon energy solutions.
The Big Fix: Seven Practical Steps to Save Our Planet
Hal Harvey and Justin Gillis, Simon & Schuster, 2023How the really big decisions that affect our climate get made and how each of us can influence these decisions to deliver change.
Homemade Money: How to Save Energy and Dollars in Your Home
Richard Heede et al, RMI, 1995This book helps homeowners and renters sort through the array of new and old technology and explains how to save money and the environment.
Economic Renewal Guide: A Collaborative Process for Sustainable Community Development
Michael J. Kinsley, RMI, 1997A manual for how to steer your community toward development that is sensitive to local values and the environment.
Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy EraAmory B. Lovins and Rocky Mountain Institute, 2013, Chelsea Green PublishingReinventing Fire roadmaps how to run a 158%-bigger US economy in 2050 needing no oil, coal, or nuclear energy — $5 trillion cheaper.
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial RevolutionPaul Hawken, Amory B. Lovins, and Hunter Lovins, 1999, Little, Brown and Co.Natural capitalism is a business approach not only for protecting the planet but also for improving profits and competitiveness.
The Essential Amory Lovins: Selected writingsAmory B. Lovins, 2011, RoutledgeA collection of Amory’s most important and influential writings to date.
A New Dynamic: Effective Business in a Circular EconomyAmory B. Lovins, et al., 2014, Ellen Macarthur FoundationThe case for a profound shift from throughput to “roundput” and from ownership to access.
Small Is Profitable: The Hidden Economic Benefits of Making Electrical Resources the Right SizeAmory B. Lovins, 2003, RMIMore than 200 ways in which the size of electrical resources — devices that make, save, or store electricity — affects their economic value.
Soft Energy Paths: Towards a Durable PeaceAmory B. Lovins, Harper Collins, 1979Soft energy paths describe an alternative future where energy efficiency and appropriate renewable energy sources steadily replace a centralized energy system based on fossil and nuclear fuels.
Winning the Oil Endgame: Innovation for Profits, Jobs and SecurityAmory B. Lovins et al., RMI, 2004A roadmap for getting the United States completely, attractively, and profitably off oil.
Factor Four: Doubling Wealth, Halving Resource Use: A Report to the Club of RomeErnst U. Von Weizsacker, Amory B. Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins, Routledge, 1998How a new form of progress, resource productivity, can meet the overriding imperative for the future (sustainability).
The Energy Controversy: Soft Path Questions and AnswersAmory Lovins and his critics, Brick House Publishing Company, 1979A comprehensive overview of the energy controversy, presenting both sides of the argument in a clear and concise manner.
Energy Unbound: A Fable for America’s FutureAmory B. Lovins, Hunter Lovins, and Seth Zuckerman, Random House, Inc., 1986A vision for a sustainable energy future, emphasizing energy efficiency and renewable sources.
World Energy Strategies: Facts, Issues and OptionsAmory B. Lovins, HarperCollins, 1975A technical assessment of the nature and magnitude of constraints on our already inadequate energy resources.
Brittle Power: Energy Strategy for National SecurityAmory B. Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins, Brick House Publishing, 1982Originally prepared as a Pentagon study, the book shows that a resilient energy system is feasible, costs less, works better, and is favored in the market, but is rejected by US policy.
A Finer Future: Creating an Economy in Service to LifeHunter Lovins, Stewart Wallis, Anders Wijkman, and John Fullerton, New Society Publishers, 2018A blueprint for business leaders, entrepreneurs, environmentalists, politicians, policymakers, and others working to create a world that works for people and the planet.
The Way Out: Kickstarting Capitalism to Save Our Economic AssHunter Lovins, Hill and Wang, 2019A roadmap for transforming capitalism to create a regenerative economy that works for all.
Creating a Lean and Green Business System: Techniques for Improving Profits and SustainabilityKeivan Zokaei, Hunter Lovins, Andy Wood, and Peter Hines, Routledge, 2013Opportunities for innovation that can simultaneously reduce dependence on natural resources and enhance global prosperity.
Girl Warriors: How 25 Young Activists Are Saving the EarthRachel Sarah, Chicago Review Press, 2021Stories of 25 female climate leaders under age 25.
Climate Champions: 15 Women Fighting for Your FutureRachel Sarah, Chicago Review Press, 2023Stories of female climate scientists, journalists, professors, academics, researchers, and policy makers from around the world.
Farming is Female: Twenty Women Shaking Up the FieldRachel Sarah, Yellow Jacket, 2025How modern farmers are changing the way we think about food production.
The Efficient House SourcebookRobert Sardinsky, RMI, 1992Reviews of selected books and a directory of organizations devoted to home-scale resource efficiency.
The New Business Climate: A Guide to Lower Carbon Emissions and Better Business PerformanceJoel N. Swisher, RMI, 2003An easy-to follow guide on how businesses can become more profitable and efficient while reducing their global warming impacts.
Tools and Methods for Integrated Resource Planning: Improving Energy Efficiency and Protecting the EnvironmentJoel N. Swisher, Gilberto de Martino Jannuzzi, and Robert Y. Redlinger, UN Environment Programme, 1997Tools and methods for integrated resource planning with particular attention toward improving energy efficiency in developing countries.
Trustees (current and former)
Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty SecretCatherine Coleman Flowers, The New Press, 2020The story of systemic class, racial, and geographic prejudice that foster Third World conditions not just in Alabama, but across America.
Holy Ground: On Activism, Environmental Justice, and Finding HopeCatherine Coleman Flowers, Spiegel and Grau, 2025Essays that illuminate and contextualize the most pressing issues of this moment: climate change, human rights, rural poverty, reproductive justice, and more.
Building the Bridge to the New Millenium (in Spanish)José María Figueres, Ministry of Information and Communication, 1998A curated selection of speeches by Costa Rican President José María Figueres Olsen during the final year of his administration.
Fossil Free: Reimagining Clean Energy in a Carbon-Constrained WorldSumant Sinha, Harper Collins, 2020A concise introduction to the challenges, realities and complexities of the global and local energy industry, as well as the trends and forces driving the energy transition.
Landing the Paris Climate Agreement: How It Happened, Why It Matters, and What Comes NextTodd Stern, The MIT Press, 2024An inside account of the seven-year negotiation that culminated in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015—and where the international climate effort needs to go from here.
