Buildings
Reality Check: Debunking Industry Myths on Leased Net-Zero Energy Buildings
I recall my father’s advice, “Do the best you can with what you have, and if the stars align, you’ll have the opportunity for better.” The staff at Rocky Mountain Institute’s (RMI’s) office in Boulder, Colorado, had made the most of the space we occupied for the past nine years—a…
FHA Should Reconsider Its About-Face—About PACE
Last week, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced it will stop insuring new mortgages on homes with property assessed clean energy (PACE) loans. As to what motivated its decision—according to its letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development—the FHA is “concerned with the lack of consumer…
Rebuilding America and the “New Normal” of Resilience
This year’s hurricane season is the most expensive on record, with $202.6 billion in damages according to Bloomberg. These storms across the Atlantic had devastating impacts on people’s lives and homes, on communities, and on infrastructure in the hardest-hit areas. In fact, the damage from Hurricane Harvey is still…
Transforming the Real Estate Market: Scaling Net-Zero Energy Homes at No Additional Up-front Cost
Download our new insight brief, R-PACE: A Game-Changer for NZE Homes, to learn more about the opportunities for state and municipal leaders and policymakers to adopt innovative residential PACE programs as a means to deliver high-performance, net-zero energy (NZE) homes at no additional up-front cost. The U.S. residential…
MPG for Homes—The Quest for the Best
An mpg-like rating for homes is here. For the first time in history, people can find out the expected energy use of any home in the U.S. This single piece of information conveys helpful insights including the expected cost of maintaining a home, the environmental impact of…
