summer 2023
IMPACT REPORT
Accelerating the pace of change. RMI’s vision of a clean energy future commits us to THINK bigger, DO boldly, and SCALE globally.
RMI’s vision of a clean energy future commits us to THINK bigger, DO boldly, and SCALE globally.
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THINK
How to retrofit 3.2 million multifamily units
For California to achieve its climate goals, affordable multifamily housing must improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and lower tenant utility bills while enhancing quality of life. Our new report covers how energy service agreements, combined with federal incentives, help scale needed decarbonizing retrofits.
Related Content
Energy Service Agreements for Deep Efficiency and Electrification Retrofits of Affordable Multifamily Housing in California 2030 Climate Challenge--Scale Zero: Accelerating Healthy Zero-emission, Affordable Housing for All Transforming Existing Buildings from Climate Liabilities to Climate Assets
Boosting research for accelerating transportation electrification
Catalytic funding from FedEx and General Motors means RMI can now provide complex transport electrification and investment analysis at the census-block level, arming decision makers with the information to quickly, effectively, and equitably upgrade the US grid to meet increasing demand.
A cement alternative could reduce CO2 emissions by up to 40 percent
Our insight brief, The 3Cs of Innovation in Low-Carbon Concrete, explores emerging and alternative concrete and cement technologies. RMI also co-hosted a workshop on LC3 — a climate-friendly cement blend that can achieve major emissions reductions. Of the 80 cement supply chain companies attending, one has announced that it will produce LC3, and several more are considering it.
DO
Slashing aviation's 2.5 percent of global CO2 emissions
30o enable the sourcing of high-quality data.
Supporting applications to two important US federal funding programs
A new version of e-Lab — created by RMI to bring leading energy practitioners together to solve key energy transition problems — generated buzz for the US government’s Empowering Rural America (New ERA) Program and Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment program. Two boot camps for energy leaders supported Rural Electric Co-operatives’ applications to the New ERA program.
Electrifying our favorite movie and TV productions
Disney, Netflix, and RMI are reimagining how film productions are powered. The Clean Mobile Power Initiative aims to galvanize the industry to deploy clean, reliable, mobile-power solutions as alternatives to diesel generators. To accelerate the number of technological solutions, the Clean Mobile Power Initiative invites innovative startups to apply to participate in RMI’s global climate tech accelerator Third Derivative’s clean mobile power cohort that will launch in Fall 2023.
SCALE
Millions in climate finance mobilized by seven advisors
One year into their work supporting eight small island nations in accessing climate finance — often the biggest barrier to climate mitigation for frontline nations — the Climate Finance Access Network’s (CFAN) Pacific advisors have mobilized US$67 million, with an additional $364 million in the pipeline.
Securing 3x more cost-effective building codes
New building codes in Colorado will ensure new construction is more electric-ready, laying the foundation for more EV, heat pump, and on-site panel deployment. RMI mobilized the America is All In coalition and provided testimony and analysis to show how EV-ready building codes are more cost-effective than adding infrastructure later.
Impact Spotlight
Modern all-electric HVAC systems in schools are game-changers for student health and learning
June 2023 was the hottest June on record since 1850. As summer temperatures stretch into fall, can schools’ climate control systems keep up?
Across the US, 41 percent of US school districts need to update or replace HVAC systems in at least half of their schools, representing about 36,000 schools nationwide.
RMI’s recent report, HVAC Choices for Student Health and Learning: What Policymakers, School Leaders, and Advocates Need to Know, argues that schools should transition to all-electric, high-performance HVAC systems — with electric heat pumps as a centerpiece — that will deliver health, learning, climate, and economic benefits for decades to come.
With nearly 700 downloads and direct distribution to more than 200 organizations, our report has received accolades from new and existing partners, strengthened policy efforts like California Schools Healthy Air, Plumbing and Efficiency Program, and landed RMI first-time meetings with influential K-12 stakeholders, including the US Department of Education; the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers; and leaders from the nation’s largest school districts.
Transitioning schools to these HVAC systems is a job for everyone: superintendents, school board members, policymakers, students, teachers, and parents. It starts with understanding how HVAC choices affect student health and learning, which guides resource allocation and funding opportunities, helping advance supportive policy at all levels.
Related Content
Four Reasons Why K-12 Schools Are Warming Up to Heat Pumps HVAC Choices for Student Health and Learning HVAC Choices for Student Health & Learning: What Policymakers, School Leaders, and Advocates Need to Know HVAC Choices for Student Health and Learning webinarSupporter Spotlight
The Lorax's final plea aligns well with RMI's core value of applied hope — that hope is not about some vague, far-off future but is expressed and created moment by moment through our choices.
The Dr. Seuss Foundation shares these values, acting as a catalyst for improved literacy in arts and humanities, health and well-being, animal welfare, and the environment. Foundation board member Ted Owens — also an RMI donor — is the great-nephew and namesake of Dr. Seuss, also known as Theodor Geisel. Owens says the foundation's recent unrestricted donation supports RMI's work to make people, companies, and governments more clean-energy and climate literate.
We thank the Dr. Seuss Foundation and Ted Owens for their generosity.
Learn about how you can support RMI's work.In Case You Missed It
Illuminating the realities of the energy transition
The energy transition is big, complicated, and often challenging to understand. Two new feature types on rmi.org are meant to combat that. Clean Energy 101s provide clear explanations of energy essentials, while Reality Checks help debunk myths. Help us set the record straight on misconceptions hindering the energy transition by reading and sharing them.