Alisa Petersen is an Senior Associate on Rocky Mountain Institute’s Buildings team. She currently works on the Residential Energy+ initiative analyzing paths to zero carbon performance for existing residential buildings.
Prior to joining RMI, Alisa worked for Seventhwave, a nonprofit energy efficiency company in Madison Wisconsin, where she served as an Energy Engineer and Project Manager. At Seventhwave, Alisa provided technical assistance to building owners and design teams to help inform a more energy efficient building design. Although she analyzed all types of commercial buildings, she specialized in multifamily buildings and supermarkets. She also researched and wrote publications on building energy conservation measures including demand control kitchen ventilation, high efficiency refrigerated display cases, lighting task tuning, and cold climate facades.
B.Sc.,, Mechanical Engineering, UW-Madison
Certificate in Engineering for Energy Sustainability, UW-Madison
Certifications:
LEED Accredited Professional, Building Design and Construction (LEED AP BD+C)
Engineer in Training (EIT)
As we enthusiastically bid 2020 farewell, for many reasons 2021 is starting to feel like a year to be hopeful. While the roll-out of vaccines signal an impending slow-down to the pandemic, recent activity in DC is offering a similar glimpse to solutions on the horizon for the climate crisis.
As we approach the fourth month of the pandemic, cities across the United States continue to be hit hard. I recently spoke with mayors who are being asked to simultaneously manage unprecedented public health challenges, a rise of social unrest, increased unemployment, and a looming housing crisis, on top of…
The report recommends five strategies that Congress could use to direct stimulus investment toward helping cities recover and build back better from the dual challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic downturn.
Last Tuesday, the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis released its Climate Crisis Action Plan report, which maps a comprehensive federal response to climate change. Many of these ideas are included in the “Moving Forward Act” (H.R.2) that passed the House last Thursday and now goes to…
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…
If you had a choice between building new homes that meet basic standards and building comfortable, healthy homes that dramatically cut energy bills, which would you prefer? How about if the low-energy homes cost the same (or nearly the same) as a standard home to build? If the cost is…
Since moving into Boulder Commons in late 2017, Rocky Mountain Institute’s (RMI’s) net-zero energy (NZE) multitenant Class A office in Boulder, Colorado, RMI has been working to share lessons learned and increase adoption of advanced green and net-zero energy leases. While innovative efforts such as RMI’s have been raising…
Zero-energy (ZE) homes—efficient homes that produce or procure as much renewable energy as they consume over the course of a year—are often marketed as luxury homes, only available to the select few that are willing to pay a significant premium to do the right thing for the environment. In keeping…
NEW: Cold Climates Addendum offers additional guidance for ZE and ZER homes built in climate zones 6 and 7. This report demonstrates that the cost increase to build a zero-energy or zero-energy ready home is modest—far less than consumers, builders, and policymakers realize—and highlights methods builders and policymakers can use…
Net-zero energy (NZE) buildings are gaining interest from building owners, tenants, and landlords alike. A zero-over-time (ZOT) approach focuses on cost-effective energy efficiency and renewable energy by prioritizing projects that pay back quickly in the short term, while aligning larger energy efficiency projects with major…
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