Commercial Buildings
Greening the White House: a Comprehensive Energy and Environmental Retrofit
This report describes RMI’s experience with the “Greening the White House” project. In this initiative, the Clinton administration analyzed, designed, and implemented a program to improve the energy use in the building. The White House has had a long tradition of demonstrating technological innovation. In keeping with that tradition, the…
Greening the Building and the Bottom Line
This paper, which was written jointly by RMI and the Department of Energy, describes the energy efficiency measures undertaken by eight organizations. In each of the cases presented, improved efficiency in lighting, heating, and cooling increased worker productivity, decreased absenteeism, and sometimes improved the quality of the work being performed.
Negawatts for Buildings
Growing concern about energy and the environment is increasing the pressure on developers and property managers. This paper argues that cutting energy use is the best way to yield significant savings both in energy costs and user experience. State of the art lighting retrofits, effective daylighting, superwindows, office equipment, motor…
NMB Bank Headquarters: The Impressive Performance of a Green Building
This paper describes the development, design, and construction of an early green building, the NMB Bank Headquarters in Amsterdam. The integrated project team worked across disciplines to design the building. The team included architects, construction engineers, landscape architects, energy engineers, and artists. This paper details the green characteristics of the…
Energy Efficient Buildings: Institutional Barriers and Opportunities
In this 1992 paper, Amory Lovins explains that buildings are rarely built to use energy efficiently, despite the sizeable costs that inefficient designs impose on building owners, occupants, and the utility companies that serve them. The reasons for this massive market failure have to do with the institutional framework within…