Amory Lovins
Natural Capitalism: Chapter 5 – Building Blocks (original)
Buildings consume vast amounts of energy and natural resources. Perverse incentives and priorities have contributed to wasteful designs and construction practices. Today, a new design mentality is lowering construction costs, creating healthier work and living spaces, and benefiting the planet.
Natural Capitalism: Chapter 6 – Tunneling Through the Cost Barrier (original)
Most of the costs and environmental impacts of human artifacts are determined well before they are ever built. But when designed properly from the start, systems can be optimized to create both financial savings and lifetime environmental benefits.
Natural Capitalism: Chapter 8 – Capital Gains (original)
Business has long neglected to value the ecological systems that support life. At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, labor was scarce and natural capital was abundant. As that pattern of scarcity changes, putting natural capital on the balance sheet can open new avenues for profitability and environmental restoration.
Natural Capitalism: Chapter 9 – Nature’s Filaments (original)
Global fiber production—from forest products to synthetic, hydrocarbon-derived fabrics—is a hugely energy- and materials-intensive endeavor. An in-depth look at forestry and its associated products from cradle to grave indicates that numerous efficiency and productivity improvements are possible. Together these changes can and will transform the way that fiber is made…
Saving Forests From the Demand Side
“Saving Forests From the Demand Side” is a presentation given by Amory Lovins to the World Resource Institute. In the presentation, Lovins argues that efficiency and substitution in all forest-product value chains profitably displace most cutting of forests while providing the same services. Efficiency improvements can be made along the…