Buildings
Energy Performance Contracting for New Buildings
This guide describes energy performance contracts and performance-based fees for new buildings. Performance contracting provides an incentive for architects to design and construct efficient buildings and promotes better integration between architects, engineers, builders, owners, and operations and maintenance staff. The contracts provide an incentive to the design and construction community…
Home Energy Briefs: #1 Building Envelope
This Home Energy Brief focuses on the building envelope. It provides guidance for making improvements to a residential building envelope. One of the key features of an energy efficient home is a tight and properly insulated building envelope. Improvements such as adding insulation, sealing air leaks, and improving window features…
Design Recommendations for High-Performance Data Centers
In 2003, RMI convened an innovative whole-system design charrette to challenge the current model for data centers and develop a groundbreaking data center design—a clean-sheet model with no compromises. We brought together about ninety high-level, broad-thinking, technically deep industry experts with strategic visions in engineering, computer design, energy, data management,…
Introduction to Green Building: Environmental Sensitivity with Building Materials
This article, which is the second part of a two-part series on green building originally published in RMI Solutions, discusses the use of environmentally sensitive building materials. Alexis Karolides details the environmental impact of building materials such as concrete, metals, wood, and carpeting. Environmentally sensitive alternatives are also suggested. Karolides…
Cool Citizens: Everyday Solutions to Climate Change: Household Solutions
This brief describes residential carbon dioxide emissions profiles and calculations of carbon dioxide reduction measures. The brief contains a profile for energy consumption, energy costs, and the emissions of greenhouse gases resulting from the direct and indirect use of energy in the household. The goal of this brief is to…