The Rocky Mountain Institute is widely regarded as the gravitational center of the sustainable design universe. As an independent research and design institute, it has been a driving force behind the concepts of radical resource efficiency, sustainable design, and environmental renewal. Led by a collaborative team of scientists, engineers, and designers, its mission is to push the boundaries of innovation in the built environment, energy production, and transportation technologies. Its long-term vision is to accelerate the global transition from fossil fuels to efficiency and renewable energy technologies. James Scott Brew, FCSI, AIA, LEED BD+C, Certified Passivhaus Design Consultant, is a Principal Architect in the Buildings practice at RMI. He has over 30 years of sustainable design experience in commercial, institutional, and residential architecture and speaks at conferences around the world about high-performance buildings and emerging trends and solutions in sustainable design. He spoke with projectnorth.org about his work at RMI and his view on the future of design.
Could you describe your role at RMI and the types of projects you and your colleagues in the Buildings practice are working on?
“As one of two Principals leading our Buildings practice, I am charged with driving, developing, and overseeing some of the insightful and important technical work that our team of professionals creates for our own research and initiatives as well as our collaboration work we perform on behalf of governments, corporations, and non-profits around the world.
“We currently have two strategic initiatives in the buildings practice. One is called RetroFit, which is aimed at profitably transforming the existing commercial buildings stock to save >50% in current energy use. And the other is our Superefficient Housing Initiative, which is focused on transforming affordable housing to being designed and built to be 60% better than code, at comparable costs to conventional approaches.
“Collaboration projects from these initiatives include the retrofit of the Empire State Building and Deutsche Banks’ Twin Towers (Frankfurt), as well as workforce housing for the U.S. Forest Service and a global multi-national corporation in Australia. Some of our partners include the New Buildings Institute, the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, and Enterprise Green Communities.”
Because of the enormous impact that buildings have on global resource consumption and carbon emissions, one of RMI’s primary objectives is to help transform the built environment through innovation and energy efficient technologies. What strategies are you using to achieve this goal?
“We have known for a long time that energy efficiency is at least 2 times less costly than renewable energy sources, such as photovoltaics and wind power, so we tend to start there. This means the sharpest tools in the toolbox are the passive strategies that I like to call the “free” things you’ll do anyway, if you are building a home or building. These include the orientation of a building, the form, mass, glazing, daylighting, and insulation, which are going to be needed and paid for whether selected blindly as prescriptive code-compliant elements, or, if these items are tuned for the climate they are being built in, they can contribute multiple benefits that can even sometimes reduce capital expenses. That said, energy efficiency remains one of the least understood strategies by most Americans and even many practitioners and building owners and managers.
“When these efficiency measures are properly implemented, the need for mechanical systems and technologies to power, heat, and cool our buildings and homes can often be reduced in size, and even eliminated in some climates. Efficiency is much more important than technology, yet this remains mystical to most Americans, as shown in a study released last year titled “Public Perceptions of Energy Consumption and Savings” (Attaria, DeKayb, Davidson, and Bruine de Bruin) where more Americans cited conservation strategies, such as leaving their lights off or not using their appliances, much more often than efficiency, such as changing incandescent bulbs to CFL’s or LED’s, or purchasing a more efficient appliance. In this same study, when asked an open-ended question such as “what’s the best way to save energy at home?” more Americans cited “sleeping or relaxing more” than “adding insulation to their homes”. This is our industry’s biggest challenge – how best to educate Americans about efficiency.”
While you and your colleagues at RMI are striving to hasten the U.S. transition away from fossil fuel dependence, the fossil fuel industries are using their immense resources to halt or delay this transition. How do the staff at RMI plan to overcome this enormous challenge?
“We work with them as partners. Our Next Generation Utility initiative has been working with utilities and developing keen insights into how utilities can profitably transition their business model and fuel mix to increased efficiency and renewables. The reason our newsletter is called “Solutions Journal” is because we prefer to focus on just that, solutions, not problems. Our new book, Reinventing Fire (appearing in book stores this month; www.reinventingfire.org) shows and maps how the business-led transition from oil and coal to efficiency and renewables can be profitably accomplished by 2050, saving over $5 trillion dollars, while adding jobs, growing the economy by 158%, and using zero energy from oil, coal, and nuclear – all while protecting the environment.”
RMI is strictly a non-political organization. However, as the political climate in the U.S. becomes increasingly polarized on the issues of energy and the environment, organizations that advocate green initiatives are becoming politically labeled. Has this been an obstacle for you and your colleagues? Has it become more difficult to remain politically neutral while advocating a strong position on energy and the environment?
“Not at all. Our ideas are trans-idealogical and not class or party-specific; we do not see the artificial boundaries many people do in political arenas and surrounding specific issues. We believe our ideas can work for everyone—whether you care about money, jobs, or the environment—we think awareness and application are more important than party and politics. Many years ago, I actually looked up the word politics in the dictionary and I learned it is a two-part or compound word made up of “poli” meaning many and “tics” meaning blood sucking insects – so I have personally steered clear of this area for most of my life.”
What emerging technologies will play a major role in the building/design industry in the years to come?
“Before I mention any technologies, I want to remind you of what I said earlier about efficiency. Efficiency (by design) is 2 times more cost-effective than renewables on average and yet remains the least understood by most Americans. When it comes to architectural design, in any climate or location, my mind tends to go toward historical vernacular first before thinking about any kind of potentially interesting technologies. How did people build BFF (Before Fossil Fuel)?
“That said, I am really excited about some of the new and interesting window technologies that are emerging – windows that heat your home on a cold winter evening, windows that produce energy from illuminance (daylight—from any direction, not sunlight), and windows that adjust their solar heat gain coefficient depending on the temperature they “see” (Thermachromic windows).
“There are also some U.S. companies that are going to change the window market here by manufacturing (versus importing) German windows in the U.S. – these windows perform 3-5 times better than our most well-known, Energy Star rated, U.S. manufactured windows. And this means that eventually, our well-known window manufacturers will either improve their products or be left behind as climate and carbon increase in importance. It’s really up to them – evolve or dissolve.
“With the arrival of Passivhaus* on U.S. soil (*the world’s most aggressive energy design standard), we are poised for even more interesting dialogue and development ahead in the product, technology, and systems approaches to better buildings.”
For more, view Mr. Brew’s talk at the TEDx Boulder Conference.
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