I recently came across this great quote from Amory Lovins at the Rocky Mountain Institute (and used in a recent BIM Beyond Barriers report)

“As we shape our buildings and then our buildings shape our lives, we can choose to create abundance by design, not scarcity through inattention.

We can design radically efficient buildings that take nothing, waste nothing, do no harm, and create delight when entered, tranquility when occupied, and regret when departed—yet cost the same or less to build, cost almost nothing to run, and make people happier, healthier, and more productive.

 The key is integrative design that optimizes the building as a whole system, for multiple benefits, rather than its disjoint components for single benefits. Many similar benefits are available in existing buildings, as RMI’s RetroFit initiative aims to spread.

 And Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a powerful tool for spreading these results worldwide

Amory B. Lovins
Chairman and Chief Scientist
Rocky Mountain Institute

EMPOWERING THE LARGER COMMERCIAL BUILDING INDUSTRY

Seventy-five percent of global electricity goes to buildings, and at least half of that is wasted. We want to reduce building energy use by 50 percent by 2050. We believe that building owners can lead the way to meeting this goal and significantly reducing global carbon emissions while improving their bottom line. During the Challenge, RMI is testing a number of approaches for accelerating building energy efficiency to result in more effective, and more implementable, portfolio energy strategies. Our portfolio partners will help lead other building owners in changing the way we all use energy. Lessons gleaned from the Challenge will inform RMI’s own publications and educational outreach, providing a foundation for larger scale implementation projects that demonstrate the vision of Reinventing Fire.