RMI Staff Who Walk (Or Ride!) Their Talk
Some Rocky Mountain Institute staff don’t just work on resource efficiency at the office, they practice what they preach. Below we list a few ways that RMI team members save energy.
Every Tuesday morning, THOMAS KOCH BLANK (below, pedaling with Brad Mushovic) offers to pick up a colleague on his tandem bicycle, helping to cut down on vehicle miles traveled for commuting to the office.
VICTOR OLGYAY has a green roof on his passive-solar superinsulated solar-powered house. Victor and his wife planted native grasses and sedum plants on the roof, creating another 600 ft2 of habitat for birds, squirrels, and butterflies.
In 2016, ELLEN FRANCONI retrofitted her house, built in 1999, with all LED lighting, ENERGY STAR® appliances, an induction stove, a solar thermal system, and upgraded insulation, including R-50 Rockwool insulation in the attic.
PAOLO NATALI and his wife live in a 350 ft2 home that contains everything they own.
ADAM KLAUBER installed a recirculation pump for instant hot water in the bathroom farthest from his basement water heater, saving thousands of gallons water per year and eliminating the wait for the shower to warm up.
CINDIE BAKER reinsulated and sealed her mountain home’s overhangs, which not only reduced heating costs but also eliminated mice incursions and made her home quieter inside.
STEPHEN DOIG and family live in a totally off-grid solar-powered house in New Hampshire, and use any excess electricity that they produce to heat water that they store.
LAURIE GUEVARA-STONE built a solar oven into the south wall of her passive-solar PV-powered strawbale home, which she uses to cook and bake without using any fuel while keeping the heat out of the kitchen.
GREG RUCKS lives in a tent year-round (in the Colorado Rockies) — no heating or cooling energy used, not to mention no mortgage payments.
While MOST RMI EMPLOYEES choose to take public transit to work, at least 24 actually own no car, so they and their families rely on carshare, bikeshare, and public transit. Of the at least 12 RMI employees who own electric vehicles, seven charge their EVs from their home solar photovoltaic systems.
