Buildings
Getting the Facts Right: Clean, Electric Buildings Can Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions AND Save Money in New Construction
Replacing the burning of fossil fuels in our residential and commercial buildings with clean electricity is a crucial step to protecting public health and eliminating climate pollution. Multiple studies, including RMI’s The Economics of Electrifying Buildings and E3’s Residential Building Electrification in California, have shown that using efficient…
An Affordable, Net-Zero, All-Electric Community in the Colorado Rockies
Last week the Rocky Mountain Institute Basalt office (and two of our Boulder colleagues) had an amazing opportunity. We were able to volunteer to help build houses with Habitat for Humanity. But these weren’t just regular houses. These are in the first affordable, net-zero, and all-electric housing project in Western…
Cities Hold the Keys to Greener, More Efficient Homes
Our homes may be a source of safety, comfort, and stability—but they also represent a considerable slice of our country’s carbon emissions (19 percent, according to the latest estimate from the US Energy Information Administration). Addressing this piece of our energy system is essential to achieving our climate goals. Perhaps…
Zero-Energy Homes: Tunneling Through the (Electrification) Cost Barrier in Cold Climates
A decade ago, the prevailing wisdom held that all-electric buildings presented many challenges: they were served by dirty coal instead of cleaner natural gas, they struggled to meet temperature setpoints in cold climates, and they drastically increased utility bills. Why then this big push toward electrification? Simply put, electrification is…
How to Cost-Effectively Withstand the Next Polar Vortex
The 2019 polar vortex has passed, leaving behind many harrowing stories in its wake. The new Cold Climates Addendum of Rocky Mountain Institute’s Economics of Zero Energy Homes report illuminates how our homes can be better prepared for weather extremes cost-effectively, even in some of the coldest climates in…