Buildings
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…
New Zero-Energy Homes Almost to Cost Parity, While Codes & Incentives Help Cross the Finish Line
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…
Grid-Integrated Buildings: A Profitable Linchpin to Decarbonization
I was recently asked by the director of sustainability of a major corporation, “What’s beyond LEED Platinum and net zero energy?” I was excited by her question, not only because is it the same question that we are grappling with at Rocky Mountain Institute, but because it is coming from…
