Buildings
Could Net-Zero Energy Schools Improve Children’s Education?
Can we afford to teach our children? In the U.S. we can generally agree that educating our children is important. Consensus stops there. Whether the U.S. education system is broken, and if so, how to best fix it, is an increasingly politicized debate. Current discussions on how to improve education…
Home Energy Performance Is Key to Avoiding the Next Mortgage Crisis
Every day, thousands of Americans make the biggest purchase they’ll make in a lifetime—their home—without knowing the true cost. In spite of stringent post-recession safeguards intended to protect homeowners and hold lenders to a higher level of accountability, there’s more we can do.
Fannie Mae’s Financing for Solar: A Game Changer for the Solar Industry
Guest author Jamie Johnson is the founder and CEO of Energy Sense Finance. Mortgage companies play an important role in making solar photovoltaics (PV) more affordable and accessible for homeowners, which is a key component to unlocking the economic opportunities of home energy upgrades. Learn more about how this complements RMI’s…
Top 5 Steps to Redefining Thermal Comfort
When the story broke that RMI’s 15,610 square foot innovative new office building and convening center in Basalt, Colorado, has no traditional central heating and cooling system in spite of being located in the coldest climate zone in the continental U.S., we definitely raised some eyebrows. How would occupants stay…
Your Garage is Worth At Least $55,000
The global energy revolution is knocking at your door. With improving economics for home energy upgrades, plummeting costs for rooftop solar systems, and even the potential for defection from the electric grid, homeowners face a bevy of new options to control their own energy supply and demand—as well…
