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Rocky Mountain Institute/volume xx #1/Spring 2004Rocky Mountain Institute/volume xx #1/Spring 2004

RMISolutionsRMISolutions

By Andrew Kean

E ach year, Rocky MountainInstitute attracts a handful ofdevoted young engineers.

Many are looking for alternatives totypical engineering practice, charac-terized by rushed or copied design and excessive resource consumption,pollution, and costs. Often from the best engineering schools in theUnited States, they recognize thatwhole-system design, a concept usedthroughout RMI’s research and consulting practice, is a sensible,money-saving approach to technical challenges.

Engineering-as-usual not only reducesthe ability of future generations tomeet resource needs; it’s also a rootcause of many present-day environ-mental, political, and economic prob-lems. Conversely, increased resourceproductivity—wringing the same or more services from less energy and fewer materials—reduces our ecological footprint, creates wealthand employment, and increases globalequity and security. RMI believeswhole-system design is the key toadvanced resource productivity, andcan often reduce its capital cost tozero or less. RMI’s technical expertsdo this routinely in our work to makemajor corporations radically more efficient, so why can’t we create thetools to equip the next generation ofengineers (and retread existing ones)to do it right the first time?

Last fall, RMI kicked off Factor TenC O N T I N U E D O N N E X T P A G E

The NonviolentOverthrow of Bad

Engineering. Whole-system design is used throughout RMI’s research and consulting practice but it’s seldom taught in engineeringschools. Our new Factor Ten Engineering project is designed to change all that. (p. 1)

Finding Energy, Jobs, and Money. RMI’s newest web-based tool helps communities find energy savings, jobs, and new industries—with just a few clicks of a mouse. Find out (here and online) how energy efficiency can power small economies. (p. 4)

and the Built Environment. We’ve told you about biomimicry; now read about RMI’s Green Development Services’ other area of important new research: biophilia. It’s the reason we really like some buildings, and in this issue of Solutions we explain why it’s a promising approach to building design. (p. 7)

Mad as a Hatter. Toxins and pollutants are common in many hospitals. Now RMI is working with the Washington DC-based Health Care Without Harm to ridhealth care facilities of many of them. Here we check up on the effort. (p. 12)

Getting to the CORE of Local Energy Issues. A decade ago it was just a modest idea. Today this little community energy office is on track to helpRoaring Fork Valley residents keep nearly 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. (p. 18)

Other Voices. You know what’s going on in the Middle East. Do you know what’s going on at Fort Bragg, North Carolina? Well, everything from recycling toregional sustainability planning. (p. 20)

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Biophilia

Increased resource productivity reduces our ecological footprint, creates wealth and employment, and increases global equity and security.

10XE “FAC T O R T E N ” A N D T H E N O N V I O L E N T OV E R T H R O W

O F B A D E N G I N E E R I N G

RMISolutionsS p r i n g 2 0 0 4

Engineering (a.k.a. “10XE”), a four-year program to develop and intro-duce pedagogic tools on whole-system design for both engineeringstudents and practicing engineers.The focus is on case studies wherewhole-system design boosted resourceproductivity by at least tenfold, usually at lower initial cost than traditional engineering approaches.

Whole-system design optimizes anentire system to capture synergies.The concept is straightforward, butimplementation is not trivial. Itrequires creativity, good communica-tion, and a desire to look at causes ofproblems rather than adopting familiarsolutions—and it requires getting tothe root of the problem: education.Like the engineering profession itself,engineering education is often com-partmentalized, with minimal consid-eration of systems, design, sustainabil-ity, and economics. It stresses analysis

over synthesis. The traditional designprocess focuses on optimizing compo-nents for single benefits rather thanwhole systems for multiple benefits—thereby “pessimizing” the system.This, plus schedule-driven repetitis(i.e., copy the previous drawings),perpetuates inferior design. Whole-system design, on the other hand,offers competitive advantage byrevealing better, simpler solutions.

Whole-system design has alreadyproved its value in industrial engineer-ing. More than half the world’s elec-tricity turns electric motors. Thelargest use of electric motors is pump-ing. In 1997, a major carpet manufac-turer was building a factory in Shang-hai. One heat-transfer loop wasdesigned to use fourteen pumps totaling 95 horsepower. Using whole-system design that RMI’s Amory Lovinsbrought from Lee Eng Lock in Singa-pore, Dutch engineer Jan Schilham cutthe power use by 92 percent to just 7

horsepower by using fat, short, straightpipes rather than skinny, long, crookedpipes. Thanks to smaller motors andpumps, total capital cost went down.

RMI isn’t the only organization con-cerned about the state of engineeringeducation and practice. In an effort toimprove the design abilities of engi-neers, the Board of Direction of theAmerican Society for EngineeringEducation has recommended that“engineering faculty should use sys-tems approaches, including interdisci-plinary teams, to teach pollution pre-vention, life cycle analysis, industrialecology, and other sustainable engi-neering concepts.” The AccreditationBoard for Engineering and Technologyrequires a major design experience toinclude most of the following consid-erations: economic, environmental,sustainability, manufacturability, ethi-cal, health and safety, social, and polit-ical. These organizations agree withDr. Shirley Ann Jackson (the presidentof Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)that “in today’s environment, innova-tion and technological breakthroughsmore likely are driven by conver-gence—where disciplines intersect…once-singular fields now collaborate,with sometimes surprising, andalways interesting, results.” Clearly,

2

RMI Kicks Off ’04 Lecture SeriesRMI’s popular series of Aspen-area lectures (“RMIQs”)* will be returning this year with

at least three events. The first lecture will take place 17 February at the Given Institutein Aspen, 5:30–7:00 p.m. Founder and principal of RMI’s Green Development Services

Bill Browning, Hon. AIA, will lecture on “Big and Green” architecture, and describe why big architecture is increasinglygoing “green.” Dr. John Todd will be the featured speaker at our second RMIQ lecture (also at the Given Institute,5:30–7:00 p.m.) on 24 March. One of the pioneers of biological design, John is the inventor of the “EcoMachine,” adevice that naturally removes pollutants from water. Finally, this summer, RMI CEO and Cofounder Amory Lovins willpresent RMI’s latest research on specific ways to end the United States’ addiction to oil. “Winning the Oil Endgame” will be presented at Paepcke Auditorium in Aspen; date and time to be announced. Watch RMI’s website (www.rmi.org) for more details on these and other upcoming events.

*RMIQ is shorthand for RMI’s Quest for Solutions.

RMI in the news

10XE

“In today’s environment, innovation and technological breakthroughs more likely are driven by convergence—where disciplines intersect… once-singular fields now collaborate, with sometimes surprising, and always interesting, results.”

Dr. Shirley Ann JacksonPresident, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute


demand for whole-system design and10XE is high. And these educatorsaren’t the only ones behind it. TheWilliam & Flora Hewlett Foundationhas funded RMI’s planning efforts thus far, and two private firms havealready agreed to provide considerablesupport in the future.

While whole-system design can enrichfar more engineering disciplines thanit now does, getting 10XE principleswidely adopted will require RMI to sustain a complex multi-year cam-paign. It starts by understanding thecurrent state of engineering educationand practice worldwide, defining case-study criteria, collecting initial cases,and recruiting expert practitioners. A charrette-format “summer study”will then collect, write up, and refinethe most vivid, memorable, high-brain-Velcro case studies. A first draftof the casebook will next be devel-oped and field-tested with both engi-neering educators and practitioners.Following revision, a second versionwill be developed and disseminatedthrough a series of steps engagingboth academic leaders and engineer-ing firms. The ultimate “demand-pull”driving both engineering schools andfirms will come from major cus-

tomers—like many of RMI’s industrialclients—who need whole-system engi-neers for their business success.

Firms that apply 10XE will gain com-petitive advantage, hire more practi-tioners and recent graduates with10XE experience, and increase thoseemployees’ market value. Progressiveeducators will adopt 10XE quicklybecause of the economic and environ-mental advantages, but less progressiveeducators are likely to change onlywhen forced by their graduates’ diffi-culty finding jobs. Thus, demand fromindustry for a different way of doingengineering will prompt change evenby those satisfied with the status quo.

The success of this ambitious effortwill require international collabora-tion, so the Institute has teamed up with The Natural Edge Project (see www.naturaledgeproject.net).It helps to develop robust frameworks,operational methodologies, and bestpractices for sustainability, chiefly inthe Asia-Pacific region.

Our several dozen Factor Ten Engin-eering case-studies, spanning therange of engineering disciplines and applications, will optimize wholesystems, achieve ten times better

resource productivity with no loss ofservice, have lower first and operatingcosts, tunnel through the cost barrier,and demonstrate simple, elegant solutions. Whole-system design princi-ples used by RMI’s Green Develop-ment Services already integrate build-ing orientation, envelope, lighting,and equipment to use an order ofmagnitude less energy with short ornegative payback times.

RMI’s casebook will tell many suchstories, contrasting their design logicand calculations with traditional ones,side-by-side in two columns. Our goalis to ensure that the reader will neverdo it the old way again (at least with-out wincing)—and will run out andtell every engineer within earshotabout the great new way to do design.

By the time most designs have beencompleted, but before they’re built,about 80 percent of their lifetime economic and ecological costs havealready been determined. It is thus awise investment in our future to helpre-wire the mindsets of engineersworldwide to focus on resource effi-ciency up front (all the really impor-tant mistakes are made on the firstday). Making whole-system design thenew norm is challenging, but that’swhat the past twenty-two years havebeen preparing us for. Through FactorTen Engineering, Rocky MountainInstitute expects to improve engin-eering education and practice in the service of a more secure, just, prosperous, and life-sustaining world.

Dr. Andrew Kean, until recently a Berkeley-edu-cated mechanical engineer with RMI’s Educa-tion Team, has now migrated to our frequentpartner Rumsey Engineers in Oakland, Calif.

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10XE

By the time most designs have been completed about 80 percent of their

lifetime economic and ecological costs have already been determined.

Conventional wisdom. 10XE wisdom.


When cities and towns lose jobs, community leaders are left wondering

how to replace them. A common reac-tion is to hire economic developmentconsultants who typically advise thetown leaders to offer tax breaks orfree infrastructure to new industriesor retail developers. These then com-pete with existing businesses, andafter paying the costs of growth, the community may be worse off thanwhen it started.

But there’s another alternative, according to Michael Kinsley, of RMI’sResearch & Consulting team.

“Economic development professionalstend to focus exclusively on recruitingnew businesses,” Kinsley said. “Most

simply don’t know that there are busi-ness development and job creationopportunities in energy efficiency andrenewable energy.” Kinsley and ateam of RMI researchers have devel-oped an interactive website called theCommunity Energy OpportunityFinder to help communities discoverthose opportunities.

“We know that efficiency and renew-ables work, both through logic and by the examples of such cities asSacramento,” Kinsley continued.

“Sacramento voters told the municipal

utility company to shut down a poorlyperforming nuclear electric generationplant after costly repairs failed. The utility responded by helping customers use energy more efficiently,which avoided the need for newpower. It also had this amazing unanticipated side effect: it created880 new jobs and increased regional income by $124 million. And that’s before counting the benefits of making power generationmore diversified and renewable.”

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Former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig Visits RMIAs RMI Solutions readers have likely noticed, the Institute’s work on security, particularly energy security, has picked up in the past two years. Last fall it got an even bigger boost when former Secretary of the Navy RichardDanzig, Ph.D. made a presentation to RMI’s Board and staff about terrorism and some of its more malicious incarnations. Mr. Danzig (pictured here withRMI Board member Adam Albright and RMI researcher/consultant Odd-Even

Bustnes) has lately been working in both the private and public sectors, and commented on how he has benefited fromthe security thinking of several RMI scholars—including Senior Fellow Dr. Eric Rasmussen and RMI CEO Amory Lovins.

“We’re lucky to have the benefit of Richard’s visit,” said Executive Director Marty Pickett. “He brings years of experienceand international credibility, and reinforces the perspectives that we articulated in Brittle Power ”(www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid533.php).

As Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Danzig was known for promoting Sailors and Marines as trained professionals; directing newcapital investments to support them better; achieving better synergy between the Navy and Marine Corps; and embracingInformation Age and other new technologies that can better achieve these goals. One of the programs he championed during his tenure involved “Electric Drive and Integrated Power Systems” for the next class of ships—an area RMI is sup-porting in technical discussions with Naval leaders. Clearly, we’re glad to have his energy.

RMI in the news

“[Energy efficiency] also had this amazing unanticipated side effect: it created 880 new jobs and increased regional income by $124 million.”

Michael KinsleyPrincipal, RMI Research & Consulting

Helping Communities Find the Benefits of EfficiencyR M I ’ S N E W W E B S I T E C A L C U L AT E S E N E R G Y S AV I N G S P O T E N T I A L

By Jeremy Heiman


But the people who understand energy efficiency and renewable energy sources and those who workin economic development and busi-ness improvement seldom come into contact with each other. That missed communication causesmissed opportunities.

“I began to wonder if there were a way that community leaders could be made aware of these huge opportu-nities without hiring an expensive consultant,” Kinsley said. Hence, the idea of an interactive website that would calculate a community’senergy savings potential.

Kinsley and Kate Parrot, then an RMI researcher, met with RMI’sEnergy & Resources team leader JoelSwisher and other RMI energyexperts early in 2001. They askedwhether it would be possible to use awebsite to calculate the local effects of improving energy efficiency. The answer was a resounding yes.

Parrot, named project manager andtechnical lead, set to work creating a mockup and developing criteria for a website that could help commu-nities and would actually be used. The site she and Kinsley imaginedwould be accessible to both citizensand community officials, regardless of their technical knowledge, andusers would have to spend no morethan three or four days on the project,using easy-to-find local data.

“We decided what we wanted the outputs to be, then backed up fromthere to see what data we’d need,”Parrot said. They also reduced thecomplexity of the site so it wouldn’tneed data that weren’t available at the community level.

They began to speak of the site using the analogy of an automobile. The part visible to the user was the “body,” and the unseen part that does the calculations would bethe “engine.” The engine would

be a massive spreadsheet that calculat-ed potential energy savings, dollar savings, air pollution emissions reduc-tions, and job creation from energyefficiency programs.

The spreadsheet was sent to the Land Information Access Association,RMI’s partner in the project (alongwith the Environmental ProtectionAgency). LIAA, a nonprofit group that helps communities sustain their cultural and natural resources andcope with the impacts of changingland use, had the expertise in comput-er programming to make the Finder’sengine work. LIAA staffers, long famil-iar with RMI’s work, were motivatedto work on the project because theywanted to develop their own ability to make changes in communities, and saw the Finder project as a way to further that end, Parrot said.

While the engine was being built atLIAA’s Michigan headquarters, Parrotand Andy Smith, an RMI intern, werebusy designing the appearance of theFinder’s body and writing the websitetext. The team then connected theengine to the body. Jennifer Atlee, aformer intern, was instrumental inthe project’s conceptual development,while another former intern, graphicartist Michael Padget, translated draw-ings by Parrot and Smith into actualweb pages. Rob Astor of LIAA tied thepages to the programming that acti-vates the calculations. Parrot’s teamleaned heavily on RMI’s 1994

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The Finder

Energy efficiency works as an economicdevelopment engine in two ways:

1. It requires investment in energy-efficientdevices and their installation—

supporting local payrolls

2. Energy efficiency frees up money for local respending

while improving quality of life

The Finder’s no-nonsense, user-friendly interface. Users are asked to enter basicphysical and energy information about their community. The Finder then allowsusers to create and save multiple scenarios for their community based on differenteconomic assumptions and performs a series of calculations to determine potentialdollar savings, emissions reductions, and jobs gained.

Community Energy Workbook, by Alice Hubbard and Clay Fong (see below), using some of its textverbatim.

The pages of the finished site have asimple, efficient appearance. Users are asked to enter basic physical andenergy information about their com-munity. The Finder lets users createand save multiple scenarios based ondifferent economic assumptions. TheFinder then performs a series of calcu-lations and displays potential dollarsavings, emissions reductions, andjobs gained.

RMI’s Community Energy OpportunityFinder website is intended to be theequivalent of an energy consultant’spreliminary analysis, Kinsley said,helping to frame energy efficiency andrenewables for influential communityleaders.

“We wanted to create an even playingfield, so energy efficiency and renew-ables can compete with other oppor-tunities for economic development,”he said. Community leaders need tobe informed that energy efficiencyworks as an economic developmentengine in two ways:

1. It requires investment in devices and equipment—efficient motors,efficient lights, and the laborrequired, for example, to insulatehomes and businesses—supportinglocal payrolls.

2. Energy efficiency reduces utility bills for residences and businesses,freeing up money for local respend-ing while improving quality of life.Most of this money stays in thecommunity and may turn over several times.

Communities often try to solve economic problems with expansion,which doesn’t usually have widely dis-tributed benefits: a new stadium orsubdivision may benefit relatively fewconstituents, and seldom those trulyin need. This type of development,too, may cause such secondary prob-lems as increased traffic and infra-structure costs.

In contrast, Kinsley said, develop-ment via energy efficiency or renewable energy provides benefitsdistributed widely among the community’s citizens, especially those in need. And when cashflow is freed up for such basic necessitiesas heat and light, additional wealth is created community-wide.

The Finder (www.finder.rmi.org) will go live this month.

The Finder

For an example of a community-based energy

efficiency effort, see “What Are You Doing?”

on p. 18.

To order a copy, visit www.rmi.org/store/p12details2122.php

or call 970-927-3851


6

“Mad Aussies” and Their “Eco Trekker”Visit RMIRMI seems to be a magnet for a lot of interesting people. In early October, some of 2003’s mostunusual visitors showed up in the form of the “Eco Trekker” (see www.ecotrekker.com). It’s a project put together by a group of Australians to cross the United States (in a huge, meandering loop) while showing off and promoting alternative fuels and technologies. All told, the group aims to visit thirty U.S. states in eight months in and on a variety of vehicles, including a huge biodiesel-powered “Mothership” (a recreational vehicle boasting a 500-amp photovoltaic array on the roof powering other vehicles and an office), several electric scooters and motorcycles, and a grass car that also runs on biodiesel—not to mention asolar canoe (see www.ecotrekker.com/technology.htm).

The leader of the effort, Shaun Murphy, a former television series host and self-described eco-enthusiast, gave RMI CEOAmory Lovins a quick tour of the Mothership and the various gadgets and machines located therein. Amory was impressedby both the half-ton hydraulic tailgate lift (solar-powered) and the fact that Shaun & Co.was able to get by on mostly biodiesel.

Amory’s thoughts were recorded on the Ecotrekker website: “Trust a bunch of crazy Aussies to take on something likethis.” Not surprisingly, over the years a lot of Aussies have worked at RMI.

RMI in the news

Kaufmann’s question is a good one as over 140,000people visit Fallingwater in

remote Western Pennsylvania everyyear. In a poll of its members in 2000,the American Institute of Architectsnamed Fallingwater “Building of theCentury.” Despite Fallingwater’s struc-tural issues (which a multimillion-dollar renovation has recently fixed)and other problems, this unique building is still regarded by many asthe single finest piece of Americanarchitecture.

The appeal of Fallingwater may lie inits multiple connections to the naturalenvironment and, consequently, biophilia. First defined and describedby Harvard biologist Prof. Edward O.Wilson in 1984, biophilia is the studyof the human response to the naturalenvironment and the relationshipbetween humans and natural systems,which is, in its simplest form, a senseof place. While there has been a sig-nificant amount of study of biophiliaand its implications for landscapedesign, little research or literatureexists on biophilia and its connectionto the rest of the built environment,particularly architectural design.

Today, the technology and knowledgeexists to create a building that

touches the earth lightly during bothconstruction and day-to-day operations.However, what has been often neglect-ed by creators of low-impact “green”buildings is the need for spaces to behabitable. Occupants of built environ-ments don’t want simply to work, play, eat, or sleep in a functional build-ing. They want to be inspired, invigor-ated, comforted, and reassured bytheir surroundings. They want spacesthat will make them more productiveand healthy, and they want spaces in which they love to be—spaces that,as RMI’s Amory Lovins puts it, create

“delight when entered, pleasure whenoccupied, and regret when departed.”

Over the past two years, RMI’s GreenDevelopment Services (GDS) has beenexamining the literature on biophiliaand the built environment. In con-junction with Yale University, GDS isnow seeking funding for a major mul-tiyear initiative that will collect anddisseminate defined and quantifiedinformation about “biophilic” design.

“Many of our most cherished buildingsand landscapes contain prominent biophilic features only vaguely recognized by occupants and users,although they nonetheless exert powerful effects,” said Jenifer Seal of GDS. “What we will be doing is figuring out why these forces occur—both qualitatively and quantitatively—so they can then be better promoted,incorporated, and enjoyed in our manmade environments.”

“Also, much of the material that hasbeen generated so far is very theoreti-cal in nature and not directly tied

to today’s real estate development,” Seal said. “I hope RMI’s contributionwill be to make this knowledge more accessible and attractive to the building industry—practical, profitable, and not just for high-endprojects. Finding ways to incorporatethese concepts into the existing fabricof our already-built environment isimportant as well.”

Biophilia and Our Ancestors

Before discussing the potential connection between biophilia andarchitecture, the concept of biophiliadeserves a deeper explanation. Wilsonfirst described the concept as “theinnately emotional affiliation ofhuman beings to other living organ-isms. Innate means hereditary andhence part of ultimate humannature.”2 The hypothesis is that thisaffiliation leads to positive responsesin terms of human performance and health—even emotional states.

“Why does a house designed by

an architectural individualist

for the purposes of a special client

appeal so much

to the public in general?”1

Edgar Kaufmann, Jr.commenting on Frank Lloyd Wright’s

Fallingwater

An Introduction to Biophiliaand the Built EnvironmentBy Corey Griffin


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Connecting to the natural environment.

Photo: Huston Eubank


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Introduction to Biophilia

Roger S. Ulrich summarizes this idea best in his essay on biophilia and natural landscapes:“The speculation that positive responsesto natural landscapes might have a partlygenetic basis implies that such responseshad adaptive significance during evolu-tion. In other words, if biophilia is rep-resented in the gene pool it is because a predisposition in early humans for biophilic responses to certain naturalelements and settings contributed to fitness or chances for survival.”3

Even before Wilson published Biophiliain 1984, British geographer Jay Apple-ton had applied this hypothesis tolandscape design by suggesting thatelements of prospect (an extensiveview) and refuge (being protectedfrom danger) that would have enabledour ancestors to survive can be foundin preferred landscapes today. SinceAppleton published The Experience ofLandscape in 1975, many landscapearchitects and theorists have exam-ined human responses and prefer-

ences for certain landscapes. Mostnotable are the psychologists Racheland Stephen Kaplan who have writtenmultiple articles on the subject and,in 1998, compiled a book of land-scape design elements partially basedon biophilic concepts entitled, WithPeople in Mind.

Judith Heerwagen (a partner on thisRMI research initiative) and Prof.Gordon Orians did some particularlyinteresting work on landscape prefer-

RMI Helps Make Financial Case for Green BuildingRMI has contributed to probably the most impeccable argument ever made for green real estatedevelopment. In late 2003, various Institute staffers helped former RMIte Greg Kats (see RMISolutions Fall/Winter 2003) assemble a report to California’s Sustainable Building Task Force onthe costs and benefits of building green.

“This is one impressive report,” said RMI’s Jenifer Seal. “Most people are skeptical about thefinancial component of green building. Many still carry the belief that green development has to cost significantly more.This report is the first to thoroughly assess and address this misconception.”

The report shows that major financial benefits of building green can flow from operational savings after construction—through saved energy costs, saved water costs, saved materials costs, saved waste disposal costs, and saved constructionand demolition costs. The report also addresses gains in worker productivity via indoor air quality and natural ventilationand lighting. And it shows that capital cost, if any, is surprisingly modest.

“Integrating ‘sustainable’ or ‘green’ building practices into the construction of state buildings is a solid financial invest-ment,” states the executive summary. “In the most comprehensive analysis of the financial costs and benefits of greenbuilding conducted to date, this report finds that an upfront investment of less than 2 percent of construction costs yieldslife-cycle savings of over ten times the initial investment. For example, an initial upfront investment of up to $100,000 toincorporate green building features into a $5 million project would result in a savings of at least $1 million over the life ofthe building, assumed conservatively to be twenty years.”

Kats was the principal author for the report, prepared as a result of an August 2000 executive order by California’s then-Governor Gray Davis, establishing sustainable building as a primary goal for state construction. The report was preparedfor more than forty California agencies, including the state’s department of finance, which endorsed its conclusions. Althoughit focuses on California buildings and operations, its data and conclusions are relevant nationally.

Kats is currently writing a chapter about the report for a new book to be published by the Urban Land Institute.

Based in part on the report, the California Board of Regents has decided that all future higher education construction inthe state will be green—billions of dollars’ worth of construction. Kats observes that “The report is already helping publicagencies and private institutions make the choice to build green with the confidence that this is the most cost-effective andsensible option.”

Contributing authors included Leon Alevantis, Adam Berman, Evan Mills, and Jeff Perlman. Besides Jenifer Seal, RMI’sBill Browning, Bob Wilkinson, and Amory Lovins reviewed the report. It’s available at www.cap-e.com/spotlight/index.cfm?Page=1&NewsID=25770, along with downloadable PowerPoint slides, assumptions, and some media coverage.

RMI in the news


ences. They surveyed people in a variety of cultures and locationsaround the world to see if there werea preferred image of landscape. Whatthey and others found is that peopleprefer landscapes that have copses oftrees with horizontal canopies, water,elevation changes, distant views, flow-ers, indications of other people orinhabited structures—all elementsthat indicate possible food, shelter,and places to explore (or, as Heer-wagen and Gordon Orians describe itin The Biophilia Hypothesis, “habit-ability cues, resource availability, shel-ter and predator protection, hazardcues, wayfinding and movement”).4

These elements evoke the conditionsof our ancestral habitat, the Africansavanna. Humans frequently replicatesavannas in gardens, lawns, parks and other settings. Some argue thatthis is a purely cultural artifact—the English landscape architect’svision spread by colonialism. On the other hand, we find appealinghabitats like the oak savannas of the American Midwest,

which came into being through the annual burning of trees by theIndians. In the Algonquian languagethese savannas are called the

“teewahcah,” which translates as “the beautiful place.”5

From Landscape to Architecture

While a lot has been written aboutlandscape design and biophilia, GrantHildebrand, a professor of architec-tural history at the University ofWashington, was the first to make theleap of applying the concept of biophil-ia to the entire built environment.Using evolutionary theory, Hildebrandargues that in the span of Homo sapiens’ existence, the era in whichhumans have constructed habitats forthemselves is like a blink of an eyecompared to the time spent building-less in the ancestral habitat of theAfrican savanna. Consequently today,upon “reflecting on the various settings and experiences of our lives,we should be able to find some fairly close matches between characteristicswe like and characteristics that would have improved our chances of survival.”6

Furthermore, these same qualities can and should

translate into architecture builtover the past few thousandyears that humans “like.”While Hildebrand says thesequalities create architecturalpleasure, this study arguesthat humans find that spaces

“that would have improved our chances of survival” make

the built environment more habitable. That habitability is the

essence of their appeal and whyHomo sapiens continues to seek theseevolutionary design attributes today.

Benefits of a Connection to the Natural Environment

A handful of scientific studies hasshown major benefits of a connectionto the natural environment—two ofwhich are increased productivity and improved well-being—but the

“natural environment” needs a properexplanation.

The natural environment includes theancestral environment describedabove as well as such natural systemsas the cyclical dynamics of daylight,weather, and temperature, and theannual changes of seasons and themovement of the sun. The naturalenvironment also includes the moretraditional definition of nature: ecosys-tems, trees, flowers, flora and fauna of all types, either inside or out.

Greater access to natural systems—such as diffuse sunlight and outdoorair through natural ventilation—hasbeen linked to increased productivityof building occupants. In a 2001study, the Heschong Mahone Groupshowed that “elementary school stu-dents in classrooms with the most[diffuse] daylight showed a 21 percentimprovement in learning rates com-pared to students in classrooms withthe least daylight.”7 According to astudy by Sterling and Sterling (1983),absenteeism rose from 1.3 percent to4.5 percent when an organizationmoved from a building with operablewindows and natural ventilation to abuilding with central air and sealed

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Greater access to natural systems—such as diffuse sunlight and outdoor air through natural ventilation—

has been linked to increased productivity in building occupants.

The natural in-vironment at RMI’ssuper-efficient HQ green-house.


windows, while the rest of the workenvironment, including managementand furniture arrangements, remainedrelatively constant.

The clinical benefits of a greater con-nection to the natural environmentinclude reduced stress, faster recoverytime, and decreased use of strongpainkillers. In a 1991 study by TerryHartig and his associates (Mang, and Evans), stressed individuals whotook a forty-minute walk in an urbannature area dominated by trees report-ed improved emotional states and performed better at a proofreadingtask than equivalently stressed individuals that took a walk in anurban setting without trees. Similarly,M.J. West (1985) discovered thatprison inmates with views of naturehad fewer health-related stress symp-

toms, such as digestive complaintsand headaches, than prisoners withviews of buildings or prison walls.Ulrich (1984) completed the best-known and most thorough study link-ing views of nature to/with hospitalrecovery:

The patients were assigned essentiallyrandomly to rooms that were identicalexcept for window view: one member of each pair overlooked a small stand ofdeciduous trees; the other had a view of a brown brick wall. Patients with thenatural window view had shorter postop-erative hospital stays, had fewer negativecomments in nurses’ notes (“patient isupset,” “needs much encouragement”),and tended to have lower scores forminor post-surgical complications suchas persistent headache or nausea requir-ing medication. Moreover, the wall-viewpatients required many more injec-t[ion]s of potent painkillers, whereas the tree-view patients more frequentlyreceived weak oral analgesics such as acetaminophen.8

In 1990, Ulrich and Outi Lunde conducted research on the recovery of open-heart surgery patients inSweden. Their findings suggest thatpatients with pictures of an open viewwith water had less postoperative anxiety than control groups or groupsexposed to a picture with abstractgeometric forms or an enclosed forestscene. While the evidence is still circumstantial, these studies show the possibility that a greater connec-tion between interior spaces and the natural environment couldimprove health.

Biophilic Design Attributes

Although RMI’s work on biophilia is just beginning, a set of designattributes associated with these environments is becoming evident.

10


Prominent Policy Expert Sue Woolsey Joins RMI Board

A nationally recognized policy expert and science advocate, Suzanne Woolsey, Ph.D., recentlyjoined RMI’s Board of Directors.

With an impressive public service record, Mrs. Woolsey has been active at the intersection of gov-ernment, the private sector, and the science community for more than three decades. She began

her professional career as a policy analyst in the office of Elliott Richardson, then Secretary ofHealth, Education, and Welfare. In 1977 she became the associate director of the Office of Management and Budget, overseeing 52 percent of the federal budget. In 1980 she joined

the editorial board of the Washington Post, writing editorials and op-ed pieces on domestic policy issues. At the end of that year she joined Coopers and Lybrand as a consulting partner, managing strategic work with universities and research institutes.

In 1989 Mrs.Woolsey joined The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine to direct their work inbehavioral and social sciences and education. After three years she became the Academies’ first chief operating officer, a position she held until May 2000. She then served as the chief communications officer of The National Academies, spearheading a major initiative to improve engagement between the scientific community and the public.

She currently serves on a range of diverse boards, including the boards of the German Marshall Fund of the UnitedStates, Van Kampen Mutual Funds, Colorado College, Neurogen Corporation, Intelligent Medical Devices LLC, and the Institute for Defense Analyses. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She holds a BA with honorsfrom Stanford in history and psychology, and MA and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard in clinical and social psychology.

RMI in the news


These biophilic design attributesinclude:

• the use of dynamic and diffuse daylight,

• the ability to have frequent, spontaneous and repeated contact with nature throughout and between buildings,

• the use of local, natural materials,

• a connection between interior and exterior surfaces,

• natural ventilation,

• a direct physical connection to nature from interior spaces, and

• direct visual access to nature from interior spaces.

Interestingly, some of these amenitiesprovide building occupants with access to natural systems even thoughthey don’t have direct contact withthem, visually or physically.

Along with a greater connectionbetween the interior and surroundingnatural environment, some “success-ful” projects we’ve examined so farboast attributes similar to those thatwould have enhanced our ancestors’chances for survival: access to water,complexity and order, enticement,peril, and the duality of prospect and refuge.

The ultimate goal of RMI’s newresearch initiative is to outline bio-philic design attributes and put theminto a clear, sensible, organized formatso developers, designers, planners,and architects can learn about theimportance of a connection to the natural environment in all their build-ing projects. In the near future, this could help more people enjoy the everyday places where they liveand work—as much as they enjoyFallingwater.

Corey Griffin is a former RMI Konheim Fellow.He is currently working on a master’s degreein architecture at the University of California at Berkeley.

1 As quoted in Hildebrand, The Wright Space, p. 15.2 Edward O. Wilson,

“Biophilia and the Conservation Ethic,” p. 31.3 Roger Ulrich, “Biophilia, Biophobia, and

Natural Landscapes,” p. 75.4 Judith H. Heerwagen and Gordon H. Orians, “Humans Habitats and Aesthetics,” The Biophilia Hypothesis, Island Press,Washington DC, pp. 142–146.

5 Gerald Wilhelm, Conservation Design Forum.6 Grant Hildebrand, The Origins of Architectural

Pleasure, p. 10.7 Lisa Heschong, “Daylighting in Schools,” p. 2.8 Roger Ulrich, “Biophilia, Biophobia, and

Natural Landscapes,” pp. 106-107.

11


The Way Station is a nonprofit mental health facility in Frederick, Maryland. Extensive daylighting and nontoxic materials and finishes ensure a healthy indoor environment for both patients and workers.Photo courtesy Harriet Wise and ENSAR Group

By Cameron M. Burns In Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novelAlice’s Adventures in Wonderland,the author chose a hat-maker as a

main character in the story. The hat-maker was a memorable chap—some-what demented, talking utter non-sense, and forever having tea. Manyhistorians speculate the reason for hisimpressively odd behavior was mercu-ry poisoning. Mercury destroys thenervous system, and the symptomsinclude tremors (“hatters’ shakes”),personality changes, irritability, anddifficulty in speaking, seeing, hearing,and walking—leading oftentimes todeath. During the mid-nineteenth

century, hat-makers used hot mercurynitrate solution to remove animal fur (a process called secretage) during the manufacture of felt hats.

While many cities and states havebanned mercury for various uses, itcan still be found in many productsand, until about a decade ago or so,mercury was a common component of many health care devices—yet it’slethal stuff. A typical mercury ther-mometer, for example, contains aboutone gram of mercury. During 2000the EPA estimated that 16.8 tons ofmercury made their way each year


12

Mad as a HatterG R E E N I N G U P B O S T O N ’ S H E A LT H C A R E S YS T E M S A N D FAC I L I T I E S

“The irony of people getting sick in

health care facilities or in nearby or

distant communities because of how we

build our buildings and use and dispose

of materials demands that we change

our practices.”

Dr. Ted SchettlerScience Director, Science and Environmental Health Network

NatCap Enters the Curriculum at the University of ColoradoFans of RMI’s book Natural Capitalism have long hoped that its concepts would be picked up by educational institutions. The book has appeared on many college course syllabi since it was published in 1999, and its influence continues to grow.

Last summer former RMIte David Payne and Tom Dean, associate professor of management at the Leeds School ofBusiness at the University of Colorado, teamed up with RMI researcher/consultant Chris Page to develop course

“modules” for teaching Natural Capitalism at the university level, targeting both undergraduate business majors and MBA students interested in sustainability. And last fall, the modules were incorporated into three of Professor Dean’sclasses—one for MBA students, two for undergraduates.

The modules are self-contained, modifiable teaching tools, complete with PowerPoint presentations, lecture notes, exer-cises, and readings from RMI and other sources. The development of the modules was funded by a grant from the Kettering Foundation.

Having piloted the modules in Professor Dean’s classes on sustainable entreprenuership and green business, the authorswill soon make them available to other educators interested in natural capitalism.

The subject matter includes the four principles of natural capitalism: advanced resource productivity, biomimetic produc-tion (“make it like nature”), a “solutions economy” business model, and reinvesting in natural capital. Emphasis is placedupon concepts and challenges of particular interest to business school students.

This spring, Dave, a Ph.D. candidate at the school, began teaching natural capitalism as a full-blown topic in its own rightas part of a senior undergraduate seminar he has established.

For more on Tom and Dave and their work, see http://leeds.colorado.edu/faculty/deantjand http://leeds.colorado.edu/phd/payned.

RMI in the news

N

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AP I T A L I S

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AP I T A L I S

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into municipal solid waste from mer-cury thermometers alone. The dentalsector alone uses about thirty-threetons per year of mercury and is theleading source of mercury in our effluent water, according to theAssociation of Metropolitan SewerageAgencies. Mercury can also be found in non-medical items that are common in hospitals, from cleaningproducts and fluorescent and high-intensity lamps to non-electronic thermostats, switches, and pressuregauges.

“Over the last eight years mercury hasbeen a major target of non-govern-mental agencies, the EPA throughtheir Hospitals for a Healthy Environ-ment program, and hundreds of for-ward-thinking hospitals,” said BillRavanesi of Health Care Without

Harm (HCWH), a Washington DC-based nonprofit organization thatworks on “greening up” health carefacilities. “The mantra now within the health care sector is the ‘virtualelimination’ of mercury. Leadinghealth care facilities are now workingto eliminate not only mercury but the generation and use of many toxic materials, including dioxins and other persistent bioaccumulative toxic chemicals, pesticides, phtha-lates, certain cleaning chemicals, solvents, and other things that canpose risks to workers, patients, the public, and the environment.”

If the stuff Bill mentions sounds scary, it should.

Dioxins are some of the most toxicchemicals known. The unintentionalby-product of certain industrialprocesses involving chlorine, dioxinsare released when polyvinyl chloride(PVC) plastic (used in many medicalproducts) is manufactured or inciner-ated. Like many heavy metals, dioxinsbioaccumulate in our food supply, and exposure to even tiny amountscan lead to birth defects, learning disabilities, infertility, immune system suppression, and hyperactivityin children.

Phthalates are also highly toxic;they’re added to plastics to softenthem up (think of the clear flexibleintravenous bags—IV bags—used in hospitals). Phthalates are prone to leaching out of PVC and other plastics. Laboratory animal studiesthat are believed relevant for predict-ing risks in humans show that di-2-ethylhexyl-phthalate (DEHP, the phthalate in some IV bags) can

interfere with normal developmentand function of the male reproductivetract at relatively low doses.

So why are dioxins and phthalates socommon, especially when alternativesexist? And for that matter, why wouldwe keep dangerous cleaning agents in health care facilities? And whywould we ever build a hospital withtoxic furnishings or materials? Or onethat pollutes dramatically? Are we asmad as hatters?

The answers to these questions haveas much to do with societal change as with anything, but the good newsis that there are solutions. Many ofthe dangerous materials and devicesfound in health care systems and facilities can be replaced with benign,safe, cost-competitive alternatives—it’s just a matter of making it happen.

Rocky Mountain Institute’s work ongreen buildings, a mainstay of ourresearch and practice for over a dozenyears, is now taking a new direction:the health care industry. Recently,RMI joined forces with Health CareWithout Harm, to green up healthcare facilities in the Boston area.

Bad Buildings, Sick People

In recent decades, many studies haveconfirmed that buildings can be majorcontributors to human illness. Building-related activities are responsible for35–45 percent of carbon dioxidereleases and significant stratosphericozone depletion (through the use ofrefrigerants and other ozone-depletingmaterials). Through buildings we useover 75 percent of PVC, about 40 per-cent of raw stone, gravel, sand and


13

Mad as a Hatter

Health care facilities generate more than two million tons of regulated waste each year, and the fourth biggest source of airborne mercury emissions

is medical waste incineration, according to the EPA.

Historically, about 85 percent of medicalintravenous bags (IV bags) were manu-factured from PVC, which contains the phthalate di-2-ethylhexyl (DEHP).Recently, the two largest manufacturersof these bags committed to phasing itout of their product.


steel, and 25 percent of virgin wood.Buildings use about 40 percent of our total energy, 67 percent of ourelectricity, and 16 percent of ourwater, while building constructionand demolition generate about 25 percent of municipal solid wastes.

Buildings operated specifically forhealth-related activities can be just as

destructive. Health care facilities generate more than two million tonsof regulated waste each year, and thefourth biggest source of airborne mercury emissions is medical wasteincineration, according to the EPA.Also, health care facilities use a surprising number of highly toxicchemicals as pesticides, cleaners, anddisinfectants.

“These volatile organic compounds(VOCs) contribute to poor overallindoor air quality and are associated

with a host of health problems,”states HCWH’s website. “In fact, the EPA estimates that indoor air pollution is one of the top five envi-ronmental risks to public health,potentially causing eye, nose, andthroat irritation, asthma, headaches,loss of coordination, nausea, cancer,and liver, kidney, and central nervoussystem damage.”

Added to all these issues is the simplefact that, on average, people in theUnited States spend 90 percent of

14

Mad as a Hatter

Bad Buildings, Sick People (continued)

Soft Paths Filmmaker Buck Robinson passesThe man behind the 1981 film Lovins on the Soft Path: An Energy Futurewith a Future and a close friend of RMI, Nelson “Buck” Robinson, died recently at his New Hampshire home after a courageous fight with Lou Gehrig’sDisease (ALS). He was 64.

Buck was smart, witty, and warm-hearted, and he cared deeply about environ-mental and sustainability issues before the term sustainability was commonplace.

A graduate of Williams College, the University of Michigan Law School, andHarvard Business School, Buck founded several community-oriented and earth-friendly businesses, including the Essex Ecology Center in Rockport, Mass.,the Cambridge Alternative Power Company in Cambridge, Mass. (whichsold and installed alternative energy products), and Capco Energy Supply in Burlington, Mass., a wholesale distributor of energy-conscious heating equipment. In 1993, Buck and his wife Caroline also founded an organic farm (Berry HillFarm) in Stratham, N.H., which produces a variety of berries. One of his favorite photographs appears here and shows Buck perched atop a sun-drenched compost pile on the farm, sitting zazen, and sporting a beneficent smile.

In 1981, Buck volunteered to produce Lovins on the Soft Path. An ambitious effort that Buck took a substantial personalfinancial risk to make, the film was immediately applauded for its lucid explanation of energy economics and alternatives.It also reaped multiple awards, including the blue ribbon at the American Film Festival, “Best of Festival” at the NationalAssociation for Environmental Education Film Festival, “Best Science & Technology Film” at the San Francisco Internat-ional Film Festival, and “Best Energy Film” at the Audubon International Environmental Film Festival. The film remainsavailable for rent or purchase from Bullfrog Films (www.bullfrogfilms.com), with royalties paid to benefit RMI.

Buck lived what he preached and was famous for his enthusiasm for fuel-efficient automobiles. “As an expression of hisbeliefs, Buck drove the hybrid Prius upon its release in 2000, carrying the license plate ‘48+ MPG’,” reported theChicago Tribune’s obituary. “The car stimulated countless conversations and Buck’s enthusiasm sold many hybrid cars for Toyota. The family now drives the new 2004 Prius, and it carries the license plate ‘55+ MPG’.”

Shortly before his death, Buck proudly told RMI of the Jordan Institute’s intention to give the first Nelson B. Robinsonmemorial award for leadership in renewable energy to Amory Lovins. Amory was touched by this extraordinary gesture,and quickly called Buck and Caroline to accept the award, which will be formally granted in a ceremony later this year.For a lifetime of dedicated service and to a committed friend and colleague, we can only say thanks, Buck. We shall miss you.

RMI in the news

their time indoors. For workers andsick people, particularly those withdepressed immune systems or otherchronic illnesses, the consequences of exposure to building health hazardsare particularly unwelcome.

“The irony of people getting sick inhealth care facilities or in nearby ordistant communities because of howwe build our buildings and use anddispose of materials demands that we change our practices,” said Dr.Ted Schettler, science director of the Science and Environmental HealthNetwork and a physician at BostonMedical Center.

“Available alternatives make it possibleto substantially reduce risks and toprovide healthier and more healingenvironments.”

The Plan: Green Up Beantown Hospitals

Boston’s health care system is one of the world’s most prominent. Thenetwork of clinics, hospitals, andresearch facilities in the area is thethird largest recipient of NationalInstitutes of Health funding for bothmedical research and construction. At present, roughly $300 millionworth of health-care-related construc-tion is scheduled to take place in the next few years. It’s a great oppor-tunity to steer this wave of construc-tion in a safe direction.

In summer 2003, RMI and HCWHsigned an agreement to work togetherin the Boston area to reduce toxicityin health care facilities and influencegreen building design. With initialfunding from the Merck Family Fundand the Barr Foundation, RMI andHCWH established a plan for greeningup Boston’s health care facilities.

The RMI-HCWH plan is arguably mod-est, but the challenge in greening uphospitals is the same as introducingsustainability ideas anyplace—babysteps must come first. Specifically,

the first step will be a fact-finding mis-sion led by HCWH, in which seniorleaders in the Boston health care community will help outline themajor issues in health care facilitiesand barriers to change.

In the second phase of the project,RMI will develop an InnovationWorkshop in integrated design. It’llhelp participants create unique solu-tions that are cost effective, improvebuilding performance, and promotehuman and environmental health.

HCWH will lead much of the thirdphase, in which participants will beaided by RMI and HCWH in imple-menting change within their facilitiesand systems, and disseminating the recommendations of the effort to the health care sector.

Both RMI and HCWH anticipate theproject will generate policy directivesand influence design in Boston-areahealth care facilities and, we hope,nationally.

Undoubtedly, much of the project will center on education. “Buildingsupport among key constituencies for sustainable design is paramount to our success, especially in accelerat-ing the transition to healthier buildingmaterials,” said Gary Cohen, HCWH’s co-executive director.

Mad as a Hatter

C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 3 4

The Plan: Reduce toxicity in health care facilities and influence green building design

Phase 1: Fact-finding mission led by HCWH, in which senior leaders in the Boston health care community

will help outline the major issues in health care facilities and barriers to change

Phase 2: Develop an Innovation Workshop in integrated design

Phase 3: Implement change in facilities and disseminate recommendations


15


Marty Pickett,ExecutiveDirector

RMI publica-tions—includingthis newsletter—are filled with the

excellent work of our Research &Consulting staff, but I want to take amoment and acknowledge the work ofsome terrific volunteers. These youngpeople sought out RMI and are so pas-sionate about being here that they arecontributing their time.

At present, we have three volunteers:Ramola Yardi, Anna Jaffee, and TomakinArchambault.

Ramola is from the subtropics of Brisbane,Australia. She has a master’s degree inpolicy studies and recently worked for

the Brisbane City Council in strategicpolicy and economic development.

While there, she read Natural Capitalismand was inspired by the practical solu-tions it described. Then she was giventhe task of finding ways to integrate thecouncil’s Economic Development andSocial Policy divisions. After moreresearch, she came across MichaelKinsley’s sustainable economic develop-ment work, which “really got the link-ages” in an innovative and practical way.

A few phone calls, a handful of emails,and one long plane ride later, and Ramolanow shares an office with Kinsley, whereshe does research for members of RMI’sCommercial & Industrial Services Team.She will be here for six months to a year,soaking up knowledge, living off her sav-ings, and enjoying her time in Colorado.

Tomakin Archambault grew up in Estes Park, Colorado, and earned amechanical engineering degree at the University of Denver. After beingintroduced to RMI through a borrowednewsletter, he realized that the Institutewas filled with “many interesting peopleworking on many interesting projects.”After college he did an engineeringinternship with the National ParkService, then decided volunteering atRMI would be his next career move. He is currently doing research for theGreen Development Services team and is helping team leader Alexis Karolides,AIA, with a United Nations report on the global impacts of housing.

16

Life at RMI

The Folks Who Make RMI Tick

Cam Burns,Editor

A lot of RMISolutions readersare undoubtedlyanti-war, but thatdoesn’t mean any

of us should be anti-military. After all,the U.S. military achieved some of themost important victories of the 20th century, and helped create some of the most important global institutionsand cooperative programs in history.

America has changed a great deal sincethe days of the Marshall Plan, and ourmilitary is changing along with it. Iencourage you to read Lynda Pfau’s arti-cle “Sustainability and the U.S. Army:Fort Bragg’s Remarkable Efforts” (p. 20)When that article was coming together,

Fort Bragg’s KrisTina Wilson emailed mea selection of images. They showed sol-diers attending sustainability-related meet-ings, soldiers at area schools on EarthDay, and soldiers doing recycling. Best ofall, the images showed how proud thesoldiers are of their efforts. If the mili-tary—with its traditionally rigid cultureand strict chains of command—can fightfor a better planet, we all can.

This brings me to another fight: the war on greenhouse gas emissions. In December, Reuters reported that dam-ages caused by natural disasters rose 9 percent in 2003—to $60 billion.

Indeed, the heat wave that struckEurope last summer caused an estimated$13 billion worth of damage. Althoughmost of the losses were uninsured crops,Gerhard Berz, head of Munich Re’s

Geo Risks research department, notedthat “extremely hot summers couldbecome more or less [the norm] inEurope by the middle of the century.”

When disasters become commonplaceand insurance rates go up, doing business becomes expensive. A year ago,RMI created a tool to help trim green-house gas emissions and, ultimately, helpprevent “natural” disasters—the NewBusiness Climate: A Guide to LowerCarbon Emissions and Better BusinessPerformance. The book looks beyondthe political machinations of the KyotoProtocol to analyze the enduring importance of businesses strategies as theworld goes on a low-carb[on] diet—which it is doing. Check it out atwww.rmi.org/store/p12details2421.phpand join us in the good fight.

Editor’s Notes

The Good Fight

C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 2 3

“I felt I had fallen prey to a sort of cultural isolation, and RMI seemed the perfect first antidote. There is very little talk here about ideasthat cannot be realized.”

Anna Jaffe


Joanie Henderson,mild-manneredmember of RMI’sresearch and con-sulting practice,doubles as a localhero who respondsto emergency calls

at any time. Like many RMI employeesover the years, she carries on a proud tradition: she’s a volunteer firefighter andEmergency Medical Technician with theBasalt and Rural Fire Protection District.

At RMI, Joanie works with all three ofRMI’s research and consulting teams,Managing Director Kyle Datta, and CEOAmory Lovins. She provides valuablebackground information and updatescurrent innovations in specific fields, sectors, or firms.

“I collect copious data and evaluate them,condensing them into a smaller quantityof meaningful and relevant informationfor the project at hand,” she said.

“I know where to look for data. Thattakes a breadth of knowledge not only of what’s relevant to a particular project,but of what’s meaningful in pursuingRMI’s mission as well. It is a constantlearning process.”

Lately, Joanie has been working on amajor RMI project aimed at creating aroadmap for ending the nation’s depend-ence on petroleum. She’s researched the use of early illumination fuels (whaleoil, town gas, kerosene) to illustrate how quickly fuel sources in the pasthave successfully shifted; how to stretchthe use and life of paving asphalts, sub-stitutes for it, and methods for extendingits life; and potential aircraft efficiencyimprovements.

She’s also working with Green Devel-opment Services researcher Jenifer Seal

and other non-RMI researchers to createa Smart Growth Indicator for use inbrownfield redevelopment.

Joanie started work at RMI in June 2000,right after graduation from Sonoma State University. She was hired then asresearch assistant to the Research &Consulting Team. After a few months,she was made research assistant to RMICofounder Hunter Lovins, a position she held for two years.

When Hunter Lovins left RMI in June2002, Joanie began working exclusivelywith the Institute’s Commercial &Industrial Services Team. In addition todoing research, she joined the CIS Team in presenting Innovation Labs—workshops that explore how natural capitalism can reduce a facility’s wasteand enhance overall resource efficiencyand profitability.

Joanie became a firefighter right aftershe arrived in Snowmass. RMI is some-what isolated, and she wanted to con-nect with a larger network of peopleserving the community. Soon she had ared beeper squawking at all hours of the day and night.

At 492 square miles, the Basalt FireDistrict is one of the largest in theUnited States. Eight paid staffers andfifty-seven volunteers cover the moun-tainous district from four fire stationsthat house seventeen firefighting andrescue vehicles. The department fightsstructure and wildland fires, but alsoresponds to traffic accidents, householdaccidents, workplace accidents, swift-water and ice-related emergencies, hazardous materials emergencies, and all manner of medical emergencies.Confined space rescues—perhaps a con-struction worker who has fallen into atight space—and high-angle rescues—

often car accidents where vehicles havegone off the side of a mountain road—are not unusual. Medical calls and trauma calls are about equally common,Joanie estimates. Chest pain is the most common reason for medical calls,and automobile accidents are by far thebiggest source of trauma calls.

Animal rescues, too, are part of thedepartment’s agenda. But it’s not usuallyas easy as coaxing a housecat out of atree. Once, Joanie said, she and a crewof volunteers had to rescue a huge draft horse that had fallen into an irriga-tion ditch flowing brim-full with freez-ing water.

Joanie said responding to emergencies issometimes an eye-opening experience.

“We see car wrecks that make you ques-tion the sanity of the driver,” she said.

“It makes you want to ask, ‘How the helldid you do this?’” She also marvels at “the different ways people can setthings on fire. There are some prettywild ones.”

“It is truly a privilege to be part of anorganization composed of volunteerswho give up so much of their time totrain for whatever emergency mightcome up and then to walk away fromtheir jobs at a moment’s notice to helpsomeone in need,” she said. “I am con-tinuously overwhelmed at the level ofcompassion the volunteers display formembers of the community they mayhave never met.”

—Jeremy Heiman

17

Joanie Henderson,RMI Research & Consulting

“I collect copious data and evaluate them, condensing them into a smaller quantity of meaningful

and relevant information for the project at hand.

I know where to look for data. That takes a breadth of knowledge

not only of what’s relevant to a particular project, but of what’s meaningful in

pursuing RMI’s mission as well. It is a constant learning process.”

Staff Spotlight


In WesternColorado’s RoaringFork Valley, thehome of RMI’sheadquarters,there’s a local agency called CORE. The letters standfor CommunityOffice forResourceEfficiency, butthe word “office”doesn’t refer toCORE’s rentedoffice in Aspen.CORE’s staff oftenworks at home or at one of manyproject sites. The agency’s officeis more a state

of mind, a virtual space in which resourceefficiency ideas are hatched and planned.

CORE, which has roots in RMI’s tradi-tion of innovation, has been the drivingforce behind tremendous gains in the useof wind energy in western Colorado. The organization has also completedmany successful energy efficiency proj-ects in the valley. CORE’s success affirmsthat one of the best ways to reducegreenhouse gas emissions is through proj-ects organized at the community level.

The CORE virtual office is occupied by three full-time employees: DirectorRandy Udall, Project Coordinator Joani Matranga, and Outreach Special-ist Val Douglass. Udall has led COREfrom the start, spearheading the push tobring renewable power to utilities state-wide, to the local electric cooperativethat serves RMI, and to municipal utili-ties in Aspen and Glenwood Springs.

He has also produced a good bit of intel-lectual capital in the form of oil and gas research that’s available on CORE’swebsite.

Matranga, an engineer, conducts analy-ses to check if a project will work and investigates new technologies. She checked out the specifications of the Capstone MicroTurbine® that now generates both power and heat for thenew Aspen Recreation Center building.

“I think I’m a bridge between technicaland non-technical people,” she said. Her job also includes developing andsupporting new public policy with Cityof Aspen and Pitkin County staff.

Douglass created and maintains CORE’swebsite (www.aspencore.org), and develops publicity. She has created energy programs for local schools and is promoting installation of solar energyfor homes and businesses.

CORE’s most successful program to dateis the Renewable Energy MitigationProgram (REMP). Kicked off in 2000,REMP funds local energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in the 40-mile-long mountain valley dottedwith small towns and rural homes andranches. The concept was promoted to elected officials by CORE staff andAspen building official Stephen Kanipe.

The REMP ordinance was added to thebuilding code of the City of Aspen and Pitkin County. The code already hadprogressive energy language, which RMIhelped tune-up in 1982. REMP nowrequires those who choose to installsuch energy-devouring features as out-door hot tubs, heated pools, and heateddriveways either to install renewableenergy systems onsite or to pay a mitiga-tion fee to compensate.

REMP impact fees for excessive energyuse proved an excellent way to fundCORE’s energy efficiency and renewableenergy projects.

“All of a sudden, we had an independentsource of funding to help push this cleanenergy work along,” said Matranga, who joined CORE seven years ago.

“We were surprised. We thought we’draise $100,000, maybe $200,000 a year.It raised $800,000 in the first year!”REMP has netted about $2 million todate for many different projects.

REMP paid for solar hot water systemson a new affordable housing project and for the design of daylighting featuresin the new Aspen High School building.It pays for incentives to help local businesses retrofit with energy-efficientlighting, and for zero-interest loans to help residents and businesses convert to renewable energy. REMP has support-ed the installation of local microhydrosystems. And REMP funds providerebates to citizens who purchase efficientappliances.

The program also funds solar incentives.CORE pays the owners of home photo-voltaic (solar electric) systems twenty-five cents per kilowatt-hour of electricitygenerated, and provides $1,000 rebatesto homeowners who install solar hotwater systems. This has been extraordi-narily successful, Udall said—CORE’s geographic area is leading Colorado insolar installations.

18

What Are You Doing?

Getting to the CORE of Local Energy IssuesPromoting CORE Values

Randy

Joani

Val

“The biggest barrier is people. Basically, this is about substituting ingenuity for ignorance. Sometimes people are actively ignorant,and sometimes they’re just clueless.Sometimes they are hostile. Sometimes, to change the lights, you have to change attitudes first.”

Randy UdallDirector, CORE


The Core of CORE:How it StartedA local agency to champion energy effi-ciency, Udall said, was originally the ideaof RMI researcher Alice Hubbard. Shetook her idea to Bob Child, then a coun-ty commissioner in Pitkin County, whereRMI’s headquarters are located. AspenCity Councilman Terry Paulsen was asupporter from the start, as was PitkinCounty Commissioner Mick Ireland. BillStirling, then mayor of Aspen, providedindispensable help and was “the politicalwizard who figured out how to get thefunding together,” Udall said.

Ads went out for a director. Udallapplied and was hired, and COREopened in August 1994. Prior to that,Udall had been writing articles on theenvironment, many published in promi-nent magazines. One of his efforts was a Sierra magazine profile of RMI CEOAmory Lovins. In the early 1990s, Udalledited RMI Solutions, and producedfreelance articles for it. He also wrote aprimer on green building that was RMI’s first green building publication.

The original CORE partners were Aspen,Snowmass Village, and Pitkin County.Early on, local utilities provided funding,but with trepidation.

“There was some skepticism that we’d be able to do anything useful,” Udall said.But the supporters of the idea had a plan.

“We knew we wanted to do some [light-ing] retrofits and some education andsome work on solar power and otherrenewables,” Udall said. “As we wentalong, we found more opportunities.”Wanting to tackle the issues that providethe best leverage, Udall immediatelyinvolved CORE in making renewableenergy available.

“Buying green energy is the most signifi-cant environmental choice a business ora family can make,” Udall said. Greenenergy purchases have a greater impactthan recycling, for example. Each bigutility wind turbine keeps about six mil-lion pounds of carbon dioxide out of theatmosphere each year.

CORE worked with an environmentallaw firm based in Boulder to push for astatewide green pricing program. Greenpricing allows consumers to pay a premi-um for electricity generated by wind-farms and other renewable sources,thereby giving the utility additionalimpetus to develop its green power gen-eration resources, along with additionalcapital to do so. Xcel Energy, the majorelectric utility in Colorado and the localutilities’ supplier of power, soon beganoffering green pricing rates on windpower to its customers. (Unfortunately ithasn’t yet followed the Austin municipalutility’s model of selling windpower at afixed price—without the fuel-adjustmentclause, because there’s no fuel. Whengas prices spiked, Austin’s green powercustomers found themselves paying less

per kilowatt-hour than their fossil-fuel-dependent neighbors.)

Due partly to CORE’s work, the City ofAspen’s electric utility now buys a biggerpercentage of wind-generated electricitythan any other municipal utility in thecountry and Holy Cross, the local elec-tric coop, is now one of the largest pur-chasers per capita of wind energy amongutility companies in the United States.Owing to exceptional hydroelectricresources, Aspen’s power is now 65 per-cent renewable, Udall said.

CORE’s successes are numerous, butsometimes things don’t go as planned.

“When we started CORE, we thought ofeverything we did as experiments,” Udallsaid. Stumbling blocks can be lack of time,lack of money, competing egos, institu-tional barriers, or just plain ignorance.

“The biggest barrier is people,” Udallobserved. “Basically, this is about substi-tuting ingenuity for ignorance. Some-times people are actively ignorant, and sometimes they’re just clueless.Sometimes they are hostile. Sometimes,to change the lights, you have to change attitudes first.”

In retrospect, the attitude-changing haspaid off. Over the next twenty years,CORE’s projects will have prevented the release of nearly 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide.

CORE was a genuine original when itsdoors opened in 1994, but groups witha similar mission are now active in otherColorado mountain towns and in com-munities across the country.

“People want renewable energy.”Matranga said. “The surveys say it allthe time. You just need to build politicalwill and provide choices.”

—Jeremy Heiman

19

What Are You Doing?


By Lynda S. Pfau

A little more than two years after its inception,Sustainable Fort Bragg

continues to gain momentum.

“Sustainable Fort Bragg has proven sustainability principles can be successfully incorporated into a mili-tary installation mission of ensuringcombat readiness of the Army’s pre-mier Power Projection Platform whileensuring regional communities havesustainable and productive futures as well,” said Dr. Christine Hull, Fort Bragg’s long term sustainabilityplanner. “This is Sustainable FortBragg’s legacy to the region and to the lives of the soldiers and their families who call Fort Bragg home.”

Fort Bragg is one of the U.S. military’smost important bases. Home of theArmy’s Airborne and Special Opera-tions Forces, the installation’s missionis to maintain the XVIII Airborne

Corps, a strategic crisis response force manned and trained to deployrapidly by air, sea, and land anywherein the world at a moment’s notice.The installation’s motto is “18-hourswheels-up”—that is, soldiers must bein the air, away from their families,and prepared to fight in a maximumtime of 18 hours.

Fort Bragg is also big. The 160,770-acre installation includes a vast infra-structure of roads, buildings, parks,and training areas and boasts a day-time population of over 100,000 peo-ple—indeed, Fort Bragg is a city untoitself. The successful operation of FortBragg requires clean air and water,millions of kilowatt-hours of electricity,and spacious, undamaged trainingareas to train troops effectively.

In the late 1990s it became apparentthat Fort Bragg’s training areas maynot be able to train troops to standardin the future. In fact, Fort Bragg faceda training-area shortfall of nearly

76,000 acres, as well as adecreasing likelihood of obtainingundeveloped land adjacent to existingtraining areas.

But upgrades and expansions at military installations aren’t as straight-forward as they were in past decades.Today, the communities that surroundmilitary bases are as interested inwhat goes on there as are command-ers in Washington. In short, environ-mental and resource issues have the ability to hamper many activities(most notably training), so they are of the utmost importance to everyoneat Fort Bragg.

In 1999, the installation broke withthe traditional reactionary posture interms of encroachment issues, regula-tory constraints, and funding and land shortfalls, and crafted a proactivevision for what Fort Bragg needed to look like in twenty-five years: the Sustainable Fort Bragg initiative.

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Other Voices

Sustainability and the U.S. Army:Fort Bragg’s Remarkable Efforts

• Reduce amount of water taken from Little River by 70 percent by 2025, from current withdrawals of 8.5 milliongallons/day.

• All water discharged from Fort Bragg will meet or exceed North Carolina state high quality water (HQW) standardby 2025.

• Meet minimum Platinum standard for all constructionby 2020 program, and renovate 25 percent of all existingstructures to at least a Bronze standard by 2020 (using the Sustainable Project Rating Tool – SPiRiT).

• Landfill waste to be aggressively reduced toward zero by 2025.

• Develop an integrated environmental education program for Fort Bragg, its surrounding communities, and interested parties.

• Develop and implement an effective regional commuting program by 2015.

• Reduce the use of both gasoline and diesel in the non-tactical fleet by 70 percent by 2015 and 99 percent by 2025.

• Reduce energy use in accordance with Executive Order 13123.

• Work toward 100 percent Environmentally Preferred Purchasing by 2025 for all purchases, including govern-ment purchase card, contract, and military requisition.

• Implement a scientifically based conservation programfor natural and cultural resources compatible with militaryreadiness and training.

• Adopt compatible land use laws/regulations with local communities by 2005.

Fort Bragg Sustainability Goals


Based on a sustainability frameworkdeveloped by a group called TheNatural Step, Sustainable Fort Braggfocuses on a handful of long-term bold and ambitious (“big, hairy, auda-cious”) goals (see sidebar: “Fort BraggSustainability Goals”) that rely onpartnering between agencies both onand off the installation, eliminatingduplication of effort, and movingtoward a shared vision. Each goal has a team leader, each of whom hasthe ability to affect directly the instal-lation’s efforts toward the ten goals.

“Achievement of Fort Bragg’s long-range (twenty-five-year) goals betterenables Fort Bragg to support theArmy’s mission today without compro-mising the ability to accomplish themission in the future,” said Paul Wirt,chief of Fort Bragg’s EnvironmentalCompliance Branch. “With an esti-mated input of nearly $4 billion intothe local economy, procurement ofenvironmentally preferred productsand services will assist in bringingnew industries as well as advancedtechnology and services to the region, providing a higher quality of life forboth the soldier and his or her familyliving on the installation, as well asfor the surrounding communities.”

Success So Far

Many sustainability “successes” havealready been achieved. A strategicresource plan that details areas whereintegrated planning will merge withexisting Army and Fort Bragg projectsand programs has been adopted. The military’s Sustainable ProjectRating Tool (SPiRiT) standards—a rating tool similar to the U.S. Green

Building Council’s LEED system—hasbeen incorporated into requests forproposals (RFPs) for construction projects (Fort Bragg has one of theDepartment of Defense’s largest mili-tary construction programs). Sustain-ability has also been added to existingenvironmental education and trainingprograms. And, a new shuttle bus system has been implemented on the installation, providing troops—especially mobilized units—with a wayto get around the cantonment area.

With the large amount of construction,demolition, and renovation takingplace at Fort Bragg, a tremendousamount of solid waste is generated.

“Green” thinking generated new usesfor hundreds of tons of material thatotherwise would have been buried in the landfill, and an astounding 56 percent of the solid waste producedon Fort Bragg was recycled in FY02.

For example, over 132,000 tons ofconcrete from demolition projects was ground up and found new life inroadbeds, trail bases, and range refurbishing projects. Approximately140,000 tons of excavated earth was also diverted to range erosionprojects. And trees removed becauseof construction were converted intomore than 4,800 tons of mulch.

Future Sustainable Fort Bragg projectswill likely include a compressed natu-ral gas (vehicles and refueling appli-ances) demonstration project, and a mulching program to divert trees and limbs from the landfill—amongother things.

Fort Bragg successfully leveraged fund-ing for several other projects directlyrelated to these strategic goals in thelast two years. The Installation DesignGuide—the guiding document for allArmy construction—was updated toincorporate and reflect SPiRiT’s sus-tainable design standards for construc-tion, renovation, and demolition. An innovative stormwater managementproject is scheduled for design andconstruction, and a project to evaluateand monitor sedimentation in water-sheds located in the training areas isplanned. A feasibility study was alsocompleted for reclaiming the morethan two billion gallons of treatedwastewater that is discharged annual-ly so it can be used for irrigation.Several grant projects were accom-plished in conjunction with local uni-versities—one included identifyingand categorizing local environmentallypreferred products and materials,while another investigated local recy-cling efforts and regional recyclingmarkets.

Permanent water conservation meas-ures, based on the measures enactedduring the severe drought of 2002,have reduced water consumption by

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“Sustainable Fort Bragg has proven sustainability principles can be successfully incorporated into a military installation….”

Dr. Christine HullLong Term Sustainability Planner, Fort Bragg

Other Voices

Recycled foxholecover.

Photos courtesy Fort bragg

30 percent. Conservation measuresapply to all users and customers ofwater treated by the Fort Bragg WaterTreatment Plant, including housing,units, directorates, contractors, golfcourses, and the nearby Pope AirForce Base. Watering schedules arebased on the odd/even system andare limited to no more than forty-fiveminutes either in the morning orearly evening.

Wide Recognition

Federal, national, and state agencieshave recognized both Sustainable Fort Bragg and the outcomes of theprogram’s objectives, confirming the validity of the initiative.

Sustainable Fort Bragg won in thegovernment/nonprofit category in the first annual North CarolinaSustainable Business Awards for itsleadership in efficient use of natural

resources. The awards were createdto recognize North Carolina business-es, government agencies, and non-profit organizations that are leaders inboth conserving natural resources andproviding long-term economic growth.

Sustainable Fort Bragg has alsoreceived broad support within theinstallation and regionally, and hascaptured the attention of Pentagonleaders as well. More than ten Armyinstallations have used SustainableFort Bragg as the blueprint for devel-oping and and implementing theirown sustainable installation programs.An additional four installations are “inthe chute” and ready to initiate sus-tainability programs.

Perhaps the greatest measure of suc-cess is that Sustainable Fort Bragghas spawned a new regional effort,“Sustainable Sandhills.” Cofounded bythe North Carolina Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources(DENR) and Fort Bragg, the Sustain-able Sandhills Initiative involves community leaders from the six coun-ties surrounding the installation coming together to plan a sustain-able region. Using principles fromSustainable Fort Bragg, the Sandhillsgroup identified regional environ-

mental challenges as well as strategiesto tackle them head-on. Several well-attended informational seminars andtraining workshops demonstratedwidespread interest in a regional sus-tainability plan. Community ResourceTeams have started writing plans simi-lar to that developed by Fort Bragg tomeet regional goals.

“This is probably the real measure of a sustainability effort—the fact thatour work on the base has gainedrecognition, acceptance, support, andis now being replicated elsewhere,”said Wirt.

The leadership at the installation ispleased by Sustainable Fort Bragg’sexceptional results so far. With morethan half of Fort Bragg’s soldiers cur-rently deployed, it would have beeneasy to place sustainability planning on the shelf, but the opposite hasoccurred. Sustainable Fort Bragg isnow integrated across the installation’sbusiness centers and has been ele-vated by commanders to one of theinstallation’s key processes and strate-gic goals.

“It has been an incredible two years,”said Col. Gregory G. Bean, director ofthe Fort Bragg Public Works Center.

“Developing goals, recruiting stakehold-ers for goal teams, sustainability train-ing, and conferences—the amount ofwork accomplished is just incredible.”

About the AuthorLynda S. Pfau is environmental resourcecoordinator at Fort Bragg. For moreinformation, see www.bragg.army.mil/sustainability, or contact Dr. ChristineHull, long-term sustainability planner, at 910-396-3341, ext 351.

With more than half of Fort Bragg’s soldiers deployed, it would have been easy to place sustainability planning on the shelf, but the opposite has occurred.

Other Voices


22

Recycling concrete at Fort Bragg. Over 132,000 tons of concrete from demolition projects was ground up

and found new life in roadbeds, trail bases, and range refurbishing projects.

Fort Bragg lighting retrofit.


Elaine LeBuhnalways has to bebusy. She worksbest under stress,and she says she’suncomfortablestarting a daywithout having

some work already planned.

Fortunately for RMI, a good bit of thework she does is very beneficial to the Institute. Elaine, who lives in nearby Snowmass Village, joined RMI’sBoard of Directors in October 2002.

Last year, before she was elected to theBoard, Elaine and Development DirectorDale Levy teamed up to brainstorm waysto make RMI better known and supportedin its own back yard. Knowing it was theInstitute’s twentieth anniversary, Elainecame up with the idea of having ananniversary picnic for friends of RMI andpotential donors from throughout the val-ley. Then she pitched in as an organizerand helped make the picnic an extremelysuccessful and memorable event.

Her contributions as a Board member,Elaine said, are most likely to be in thearea of development—thus her member-ship of the Board’s DevelopmentCommittee. She is also a member of the Nominating Committee

and cofounder of the National Solutions Council, a group dedicated to broadening RMI’s base of support both locally and nationwide.

“I think that the growth of the NationalSolutions Council is an innovative wayto share the message of RMI with theworld,” Elaine said. “I think through the Solutions Council, I can have a lot of impact.”

Elaine said her immediate goals for RMI include increasing membership ofthe National Solutions Council and con-tinuing to raise awareness of RMI locally.

Elaine was director of development for the Aspen Institute in 1995, when she married Robert LeBuhn. Her lifechanged. She left her job and, with her husband, focused on philanthropy and guiding nonprofit organizations. She feels strongly that this work is her duty.

“I don’t like to waste time, and I’vealways felt a need to give to society,”she said. Both she and her husband sit on the boards of various nonprofit organizations.

Elaine is a member of the Patrons’Council of Carnegie Hall and the boardsof Rainforest Alliance, the NationalPublic Radio Foundation, and theMaestro’s Circle of the Aspen MusicFestival and School. Rob is on the

boards of the Aspen Music Festival andSchool and All Kinds of Minds, an organ-ization dedicated to recognizing the dif-ferences in how children learn. He’s alsochair of the Geraldine R. DodgeFoundation and recently joined the Board of RMI’s for-profit spin-off Hypercar, Inc.

“Rob and I practice philanthropy exten-sively because we believe that we havean obligation to give to society,” Elainesaid, “because we’ve been so fortunate,and future generations should have the benefit of what we enjoy today.”

Elaine has five children and six grand-children, perhaps a source of her con-cern for future generations. In the free time that she does allow herself, she enjoys hiking, bicycling, skiing, andsailing. She and her husband have sailedin the Caribbean and among the Greekislands, and they love visiting such relatively unspoiled places under sail.

“I guess it’s the freedom, when you’resailing,” she said. “The wind just takesyou where it wants to.”

—Jeremy Heiman

Anna Jaffe came to RMI from Princeton,N.J., after deferring college.

Anna is working with intern Jeff Bannonon a project to retrieve and revive casestudies and examples from NaturalCapitalism that were cut from the bookin late editing because it was too long.

Anna notes that she “tries to maintainfaith in the goodness of all people, andRMI is an organization that operatesunder that assumption.”

Anna’s here through February, and thinksshe’ll do physics and architecture onceshe gets to MIT.

As you can see, these are dedicatedyoung people who are helping make a

difference through their volunteer effortsat RMI. We are grateful to have this wonderful support. Of course, we haveother volunteers from time to time on general RMI projects, from stuffingenvelopes to moving furniture, and all ofRMI’s donors and supporters are, in manyways, volunteers too. We are thankful for all of these unique contributions.

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Elaine LeBuhn

The Folks Who Make RMI TickC O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 1 6

Board Spotlight

“Rob and I practice philanthropy extensively because we believe that we have an obligation to give to society...

and future generations should have the benefitof what we enjoy today.”


24

Donor Spotlight

One of the nice things about growing upin a big family is you get to see, hear, discuss—and, regularly debate—differentideas and myriad philosophies. Indeed,it’s this kind of dynamic, ever-challengingupbringing that many psychologistsbelieve produces open-minded, fast-thinking citizens.

Denver’s Caulkins family is proof of thistheory. A family of five grown children,they represent a broad political and socialcross-section, from conservative militaryand business people to filmmakers and artisans. In many ways, this varietymakes the Caulkinses representative of Colorado itself—a big state with abroad range of individuals. But despite all their differences, one of the thingsthey have in common is that they allwholeheartedly support RMI’s work.

The five grown Caulkinses are the children of Eleanor and George P.Caulkins, Jr., the latter being one of the six original founders of the Vail ski resort.

George “lived in Aspen in the early1960s,” recalled daughter Mary. “Whenhe and his pals drove between Denver

and Aspen they noticed an area alongGore Creek east of Highway 6 that consistently held a lot of snow. Theystopped one day and hiked up what isnow Vail. At the top they discovered thevast open terrain of what is called the ‘back bowls.’ Dad’s role was to helpraise the money for the development.They made a promotional movie and hedrove it around the country begging hisrelatives and friends to invest. He had no luck for a long time. Then finally, he sold one lot and he went back toeveryone and said, ‘They’re selling likehotcakes’…and then they did.”

That story is immortalized in a bookcalled The Inventors of Vail by DickHauserman and on dozens of websites.Less known is what some of the foundersdid afterwards. One thing George, Jr. did was marry Eleanor Newman. Theyhad five children (George III, John,David, Mary, and Max), each of whomis an individual in every way:

• Eldest son George III (39) is a Marine who flew Cobra helicopters in thePersian Gulf War. He now works inventure capital, and he and wifeChristina Radichel have two boys:Will, 3, and Henry, 1. George likes golf and squash.

• Next son John (37) lives with wife Bara and son Jonathan, 5, in Prague(Czech Republic). John owns a bar in Prague called Café Duende and is producing a festival on “film aboutmusic and music about film.” Johnfounded, edited, and published The Prague Pill, an English-languagebimonthly newspaper, and is involvedin venture capital.

• David (35) lives in Vail where he has a studio for fine furniture and wood-working. He studies furniture-makingat both the Center for Furniture Crafts-manship in Maine and at AndersonRanch in Colorado. He’s also an avidangler, skier, climber, cook, and gar-dener, and he plays golf and hockey.

• Daughter Mary (34) lives with husbandKarl Kister. “I am trying to be a tile-maker,” she admits. “But I am spend-ing a lot of my time working on my instrument pilot rating.” Karl is the president of the Museum ofContemporary Art in Denver, so thecouple spends a lot of time around the museum. They enjoy movies, gardening, and traveling.

• Max (31) is married to Ramey Griffin and the couple shares a house withAbu, Max’s chocolate Labrador. Maxworks at a sports equipment companycalled Harrow Sports. He also enjoysgolf. He coaches the Team Coloradolacrosse team and is an advocate forthe Girls and Boys Clubs.

The Caulkinses: One Family, Many Ideas

Boulder Supporter Keeps Pushing NatCapJack Twombly of Boulder, Colo. has been an RMI supporter for a long time, and his enthusiasm for RMI’s 1999 book Natural Capitalism has helped get the book noticed in the progressive Front Range city.

“Boulder Bookstore solicits brief recommendations from any customer on a book found meritorious,” Jack recently wrote in a letter to RMI. “If accepted for posting at a storefront display, it earns one a significant discount on his or her next purchase.” So on 7 February 2001 Jack “crammed as much of[his] boundless enthusiasm for Natural Capitalism as [he] could into about 100 words” and submittedthe recommendation to the store. The recommendation was accepted, and Jack got his discount.

“Though I won’t flatter myself thinking the endorsement had that much to do with it, the fact is that from 7 February 2001 to date, Boulder Bookstore has sold 409 copies of Natural Capitalism,” Jack wrote. “The recommenda-tion is still displayed and the man at the computer told me they continue to sell about ten copies a month.”

RMI in the news

The Caulkins kids all grew up skiing andhiking in Vail and sailing in PenobscotBay in Maine in the summertime.

“There are a million good stories aboutgrowing up with four siblings,” saidMary. “It was a never-ending circuswhile it lasted. We were a gang of goofs.We try to be a little more civilized now.There is almost nothing that we all agreeon, so the idea of shared ‘family values’is interesting in itself. Maybe that strongsense of individuality is our most definingcharacteristic as a family. People whomeet us all often scratch their heads andwonder how it happened.”

As several family members mentioned to RMI Solutions, there is a bit of a left-wing/right-wing split runningthrough the family. “This split could alsobe described as the arts versus sports fans split, although skiing is popular witheveryone,” noted Mary.

There are, however, a few things thatunite the Caulkinses.

These include frugality (“in the form ofold clothes, cars, and finish your food—not necessarily a positivevalue,” as Mary puts it),a sense of right andwrong, and

a strong commitment to the community. The family members are also united intheir support of RMI.

“Our interests vary dramatically, as do the reasons for our support for RMI,”noted George III. “My interest in RMI ispractical only, as a businessman. I likethat RMI looks for solutions to problemsthat enhance and improve productivity—that those solutions protect and improveour environment is a bonus. Protectingthe environment is like eliminatingpoverty; everyone is for it (irrespective of how some quarters would like to paint the business community). The only question is, ‘At what cost?’ RMI’s solu-tions can make that cost zero, or, hope-fully, a benefit.”

All the Caulkinses would probably agreethat RMI’s diverse projects and diverseapproaches to changing the world are part of its broad appeal to a family of individuals.

“RMI manages to cover so much groundbecause it understands the connectionsand relationships between different issues such as energy-poverty-security,”said Mary. “The ideas always

seem so elegant and perceptive. From the processes of charrettes and the solutions in green building designs to the public availability of all this information, RMI is unique and servesthe common good in an invigorating, challenging way.”

“I particularly like that RMI can see thatprogress will best be made by not antago-nizing entrenched constituencies, but bycooperative opportunism,” added GeorgeIII. “Sustainability can be profitable, and RMI can provide the tools. Further,as RMI has shown, there is nothinginherently contrary to environmentalismin capitalism.”

RMI relies heavily on an extended familyto accomplish its mission—from subcon-tractors to consultants, from supporters to friends. We’re just glad the Caulkinsesare one branch of our large, strong, andcolorful family tree.

As John said in an email from Prague, “I am very optimistic about the

journey ahead, and I see RMI’srole as leading the leaders.”

—Cameron M. Burns

Donor Spotlight

“RMI is unique and serves the common good

in an invigorating, challenging way.”

Mary Caulkins

(From left) Mary, Max,

Dad (George Jr.), George III,

Mom (Eleanor), and David.

(Background) John in Prague.


25

RMI Supporters

Dale Levy,DevelopmentDirector

The death of mysister and her hus-band in a motor-cycle-car accident

last October has caused me to thinkmuch more seriously about a will—andensuring that it is legal and up-to-date.My sister and brother-in-law had a will.Unfortunately their will, leaving every-thing in a trust for their eighteen-year-old son and seventeen-year-old daughterand other beneficiaries, was declaredinvalid because it had not been signedby two witnesses. We learned they hadnot consulted an attorney in completingtheir will.

My wife and I have a will that was written with the help of an attorney. But it was done in 1992, and in Kansas.Circumstances have changed and wenow live in Colorado. State laws differ,we know we need to update our will.We have vowed that before we take a vacation in mid-March we will re-doit—again with the help of an attorney.This is important because of provisionswe have made for our children—andnow need to make for our grandchil-dren—and because of bequests we’vemade to charitable organizations.

I would urge you to complete a will—with the help of an attorney. And if youwant to consider making a bequest forone or more nonprofit organizations—such as RMI—you might find helpful abrochure entitled “What You’ve AlwaysWanted to Know About Wills.” We’d be glad to send you a copy.

A number of different options exist formaking a contribution in your will. In each case, your attorney can help youwith the wording.

Ways to leave a bequest to RMI include:1) designating a specified percentage ofyour estate to the Institute; 2) naming aspecific, fixed amount of money for yourbequest; 3) leaving specific property tothe Institute, such as real estate, stocks,or perhaps a collection of books; 4) including a residual bequest. In thisinstance, after all your specific bequestshave been fulfilled and all heirs havebeen provided for, any remainingamount is left to RMI. Sample wordingmight read: “I hereby leave (a percent-age, a specific amount, etc.) to RockyMountain Institute, a Colorado nonprofitcorporation, whose purpose is to fosterthe efficient and restorative use ofresources to make the world secure,just, prosperous, and life-sustaining.”

If you would like to receive a copy of the brochure “What You’ve AlwaysWanted to Know About Wills,” or if you have questions about how to include RMI in your will, please contact me at 970-927-7217 or email me at [email protected]. Our address is 1739 Snowmass CreekRoad, Snowmass, CO, 81654-9115. Thank you!

It’s never too early to plan ahead

“I give to RMI because it is an investment in the power of ideas;ideas that are critical to a better future.”

Reuben S. MungerBoston, MA

NationalSolutions

CouncilCo-Chair Kathy Finley

Co-Chair Elaine LeBuhn

Diane AndersonRita and Irwin Blitt

Kathryn FleckNeill Hirst and Greg Hughes

Gerald HosierHolly HuntBruce Katz

Alex KaufmanDavid Muckenhirn and

Karen SetterfieldMelinda and Norman Payson

June and Paul Schorr, IIILynda and Douglas Weiser

The National Solutions Council seeksto initiate relationships with individuals on a national and international level

to represent the interests of RMI in his or her geographic region,

to broaden the base of financial sup-port for RMI, and to sponsor specific

RMI projects from time to time.

For more information about the NSC,contact Ginni Galicinao at

[email protected] or 970-927-7201.

“The leaders of RMI understand that we live in a universe ofabundance—not scarcity—and that by offering enlight-ened guidance to a system offree enterprise, as opposed to undermining those who are free to dream and create,humankind will rapidly evolveinto a cleaner, renewable, more equitable society, free from hunger, disease, and pollution.”

Lynda and Douglas Weiser


26

Our sincere apprecia-tion is offered to these friends who have contributed to RMIbetween 1 September2003 and 31 December2003. Numbers in parentheses indicatemultiple donations.Please let us know if your name has beenomitted or misspelled so it can be corrected in the next issue.

BENEFACTORS$10,000+Nancy & Grant AbertRachel & Adam Albright (2)Allen-Heath Memorial FoundationPat & Ray AndersonArgosy Foundation, John AbeleARIA Foundation, Adam AlbrightMary I. Caulkins & Karl Kister,

Caulkins Family FoundationThe Concordia FoundationE. Kyle DattaThe Geraldine R. Dodge FoundationThe Joyce FoundationJ.M. Kaplan Fund, Inc.,

Richard D. KaplanPatricia & William H. KlehMatthew A. Klein,

Kwyjibo Charitable FoundationAdam Lewis & Christie InterlanteLeslie & Mac A. McQuown,

John Andrew McQuown PropertyMerck Family FundThe Gordon E. & Betty I.

Moore FoundationMunger Family Fund

of the Boston FoundationThe Cissy Patterson

Foundation, Adam AlbrightDeborah ReichSmith Richardson Foundation,

Inc., E.W. Stetson, IIISalisbury Community

Foundation, Inc.,Fred and Alice Stanback

Stonyfield FarmSun Hill FoundationTom & Karry Wieringa, Barnabas

Foundation Stewards FundThe Winslow Foundation

PATRONS $1,000 – $9,999Curtis & Maryvonne AbbottJohn AllbarAnonymous (8)AT&T Champions of the Environ-

ment Program, recommended by Michele Blazek & the AT&TEnergy Team

Edward L. Bakewell, III,Edward L. Bakewell, Jr.Charitable Lead Trust

Carol & William BealeAnnie W. & Mac Stewart BellJanine BenyusRita & Irwin BlittSheila & Francois G. BrutschNancy & Robert H. Campbell,

Campbell FoundationStephen CampbellMarion E. Cass & Stephen J. DoigCaulkins Family Foundation,

George P. Caulkins, III, John N.Caulkins, Eleanor N. Caulkins

David I. Caulkins,Caulkins Family Foundation

John N. Caulkins,Caulkins Family Foundation

Betsy & James J. Chaffin, Jr.Yvon ChouinardAnn & Doug M. Christensen,

Christensen Family FoundationAnne K. ClareCarole & Peter ClumThe Colorado Trust Directed

Contributions Fund, Jean MerrickThe Conservation & Research

FoundationMary & Myron CurzanDaniel Family Foundation, Inc.Rosamond A. DeanThe Geraldine R. Dodge

Foundation, Robert LeBuhn

Earth Share Michael Edesess & Dyan ZaslowskyJune & David L. Ewing,

in honor of Habitat’sEnvironmental Initiative

Rhonda & James FackertFanwood FoundationMarshall FieldKathy FinleyAngela & Jeremy FosterJohn B. Gilpin (3)Jonathan & Dana Gottsegen,

Gottsegen Family FoundationThe Jerry Greenfield & Elizabeth K.

Skarie Foundation, Inc.Margie & John HaleyMarcia & John R. HarterHershey Foods CorporationJohn Hirschi Fund of Wichita Falls

Area Community FoundationGerald HosierAmelia HumphriesHolly HuntCharles N. Jaffee &

Marvina Lepianka (3)Sam & Sarah JonesRobert E. JonesMoira & Ward T. Kane,

The Kane Family Foundation, Inc.Inga & Nicholas J. KarolidesBruce R. Katz,

Katz Family FoundationCaroline & James C. Kautz,

Kautz Family FoundationNancy Kitzmiller TaylorBud & Colleen Konheim,

in memory of Eric KonheimCarola B. LeaElaine & Robert LeBuhnToby D. LewisAmory LovinsGlenn Lyons & Nancy GerdtElizabeth Anne McCleary &

Michael M. FagenJ. Michael McGeanEllen MelaverLee Scott MellyNancy Milliken &

Sergei Smirnoff, Jr.

Barbara Mitchell & Robert BoyarMoney/Arenz Foundation, Inc.David Muckenhirn &

Karen SetterfieldGary Mullard,

Northern Stone Supply Co.Steven Mushkin,

Latitude Research/Latd, Inc.NewCars.com (4)Scott D. NewmanJulie & Don NormanThe Carter & Joan B. Norris

Charitable TrustAbby & George D. O’NeillOverbrook FoundationPacifiCorp, Ralph CavanaghPAJWELL FoundationMelinda & Norman PaysonThe Philanthropic Collaborative,

Richard G. Rockefeller & Nancy C. Anderson

Marty Pickett & Edgell PylesBob & Betty PorterKaren & Kent H. Pressman (2)R.E.M./Athens, LLCDiana & Jonathan F.P. Rose,

Lostand FoundationJune & Paul Schorr, IIIAdele & John Simmons,

Norwottock Charitable TrustWm. E. Slaughter Foundation, Inc.Robin Smith & Eric A. McCallumSrinija SrinivasanDonald StrachanJoyce & Greg E. StudenSunheart, for healing the planetPaulett & Ganson P.TaggartJeff Tannenbaum & Nisa GellerTara Fund of the Tides Foundation,Kathleen Barry & Robert BurnettElizabeth & Michael J.TheleDouglas & Lynda J. WeiserEffie E. WesterveltStephen F. Wilder,The Fosdick FundDavid Douglas Wilson &

Melody WilderSuzanne & R. James WoolseyBarbara & Gilbert Wynn

RMI Supporters

27RMISolutionsS p r i n g 2 0 0 4

SPONSORS $100 – $999ABR, Inc.Joan Abrahamson &

Jonathan AronsonPeter & Lynn AccortiRobert & Meg AckermanB.J. & Michael AdamsKate L. AdlerJudith Albright, Watkin Eco-VillageDaniel AlpertDevra AltmanAnita & Keith A. AndersonLorraine P. AndersonStuart H. AndersonProf. Clinton J. AndrewsPeter AndreyukAnonymous (14)Judith & Alan AppelbaumDonald W. Aptekar & Harriet MoyerLloyd ArnoldJennifer AtleeJill S. & Walter P. AuburnDaniel A. BachCatherine E. Badgley &

Gerald R. SmithDaniel B. BaerAnn-Marie Bailey &

Mark R. HarrisonJay Baldwin,

Wind River Capital PartnersJohn W. & Dianna Lopez BarnettRobert C. Barrett &

Linda E. AtkinsonJoanne & Richard H. BarsantiChristopher A. & Laurie A. BatesMary Louise & Joseph C. BatesE. R. Baugh & Betty JettFranz BaumannSuzanne M. Bazin &

D. Curtis WilliamsPamela BeardsleyA. Jonathan Becker & Lynn IsraelRuth Cornfeld BeckerJeanie & Francis L. Bengtson,

Living Awareness FoundationEd BergSue & Charles BergenJeff Bernstein & Jean Stevens

Carol Bertucci Spindler & Henry Spindler

E. Milton & Paula Lawton Bevington

Sandra & Archie L. BicklingMary E. & Keith E. BlackmoreDaniel M. BlanksteinWilliam & Sandra BlissJabe Blumenthal & Julie EdsforthJim, Regina, & Becky BockJoan & Kevin Bockman,

in memory of Steve WilkesMargaret B. BodtkeJohn L. BoehneJames A. Boorstein,

Box 3 ProductionsAllen & Jane Boorstein,

Boorstein Family FundDavid W. BostromChristine Boulding (2)Doris & M.W. BouwenschPaula BowkerDorothy & Richard C. BradleyRenata & Gary J. BrandJoshua BrattJudy & Robert BredewegMarkell BrooksMarilyn & Allan F. BrownFaith & Ed BrownJonathan W. & Gertrude O. BulkleyPatti M. & Jules D. Burgevin,

J & P ConsultingJulie & Peter ButlerKirk & Cathy Buttermore (3)Gordon H. Campbell,

in honor of Major Gordon H.Campbell, Jr. USAF

Deborah A. CarapezzaRick & Lorrie Carlson,

in memory of Patricia Coker and Ron Wilkinson

Joan & Rob CarneBarbara P. & Bruce N. CarneyJohn Patrick Carroll (3)Duncan & Jan Castle,

The Castle GroupeRobin & Dan W. CatlinMaxwell & Ramey Caulkins,

Caulkins Family FoundationBruce M. Chetty

Albert ChristensenCity Architecture, Inc.Atlee F. ClappJohn B. Cobb, Jr. (2)Virginia M. CollierJanet & William CorduaDr. Ewen CoxworthArthur & Barbara M. CrockerCathy & Tom F. CrumMarion P. Culhane (2),

Conscious Living LLCLisa & Daniel CulhaneJohn N. CunninghamLois-ellin Datta (4)Luan M. & Donald D. DavisWilliam A. Decker, Sr.Ruth & Dennis DemmelLibby Dietrich & David BoorkmanJean & John A. DistlerEric Lin Doub, Ecofutures Building,

Inc., in honor of William C. DoubMrs. Charles B. EdisonElyse Elliott &

Jeremy Bernstein, Esq.Margaret N. & Charles D. EvansExelon Corporation’s Matching

Gifts for Education ProgramLyla FadaliRichard FagerstromTom FalveyJoelyn & Hugo FioratoJane & John E. FisherEllen Kingman FisherThomas W. FitzhughKaren FloriniPenney Floyd & Chuck LakinW. Kent Ford, IIIKari Foster & John Fraser,

Associates III, Inc.Robert Fox, Cook & Fox ArchitectsKenneth R. FoxGloria & Robert F. Fox, Jr.Karen Freedman & Roger Weisberg

Philanthropic FundKirk FreemanWilliam R. FreudenburgJudith C. & Louis A. FriedmanFred Fritschel & Carol R. LangnerAlison C. Fuller

Merrill K. FurlowGardner Family FoundationKaren & Kendall A. Gerdes (2),

Environmental MedicineAssociates

Marian & August Gerecke, Jr.Ray V.D. GerhartT. James GlauthierHelmut GiebenTheresa & Ben GleasonEdwin C. Glickman,

Glickman Family FoundationCheryl & Steve GoldenbergRichard C. Goodwin,

The Goodwin FoundationMr. & Mrs. Richard H. Goodwin, Sr. (2)Gretchen GorogThomas O. & Linda Cleek GrayDale L. GrayDaniel GreenbergJoseph W. & Nancy E. Flint GreeneSadja Greenwood (2)Peter & Joanne GriesingerMarie A. Grosshuesch & John MeadRichard L. GrossmanNancy & Dean A. GroverSarah GrovesMargaret B. GrugerMichelle Gustin-Jones &

LeRoy A. JonesKay C. & Robert T. HainesSally Haines & Tom LevyJeff Hanna, Meridian ArtsKatharine & Goodwin W. Harding,

in memory of Philip and Anne WeldBarbara R. Hardy (2)John A. Harris, IV, Changing

Horizons Charitable TrustSusan & Robert L. HelmDavid Henry & Elaine PlyWava Banes & Reese H. Henry (2)Joe HenryEmily & Numa C. Hero, IIIArt HobsonJames HollandMargaret & Charles A. HollowellCarolyn & John Holton

28

RMI Supporters



Lynda L. Holup & David Revell,Small Business ManagmentServices

Phoebe Love HolzingerEllyn & David J. HoughtonDonna E. HouseDonald R. HouzeJonathan Howard, in memory of

Peg, Saul, and Joan BuxbaumAlice Q. HowardDeborah & Fisher HoweRobin & Michael HoyHP Employee Cash Matching ProgramKen Hubbard & Tori DauphinotRaymond L. HubbardWilliam A. Hughes,

in memory of John DenverAnthony HumbleMargaret R. & William D. HummonSandra & David W. HunterLogan L. HurstSandy & Charles IsraelDana Lee JacksonDale Jarvis, in honor of Gary and

Carmen JarvisLinda JeschkeRoger L. Johnson,Technology Group

of La JollaCarolyn & Peter T. JohnsonMarsha Haner Johnson &

Dennis JohnsonDiane & Kurt JohnstonMarjorie & Conrad Johnston,

in honor of Mary ElizabethEmerson

Florence & R. Michael JonesRuth KapesRichard Kaplan, Syndicated

Equities CorpKathleen E. & John D. KauffmanBetty Kehler & Bob Pizey,

Plum Ridge FarmLeslie A. Kelley,

in memory of David TiceSybil KellyLisa S. & Charles F. Kettering, IIIKeyBank, Sean Coffey,

John J. Blake & AssociatesEdward Lewis King, Jr.Richard & Marianne Kipper

Lori KleinEllen & Bill Klenn, Magyar, Inc.Michael B. Kong & Anastasia A.

Twilley, in memory of Eric Konheim

Patricia & Douglas A. KramerPenelope Kreinberg,

Kreinberg FoundationSusan KrivinNancy & Randolph O. LaatschCarol & Thomas M. LammCeleste Landry & Eric CornellStephen Lapointe (2)George Lawrence &

Barbara Jean SchicklerWilliam B. LazarCharles W. LemkeJames P. Lenfestey,

Lenfestey Family FoundationAnn Lennartz “B”Nell F. LePla (2)Michael Leuck,

Granite Rock CompanyCheri & Dave LevensonJan & Melissa Olds Levitan (2),

in memory of Eric KonheimBetsy, Steve, Jake & Emmy Levitas,

in honor of the 55th weddinganniversary of Helen and Jimmy Mills

Linda & Dale F. LevyJohn P. LindermanLeslie Phillips Livingston &

David Dawes Miller,in memory of H. Gregg Miller

Darcey & Steven LoberPeter A. LooramMonty & Paula LoudFrances & Robert F. LudwigRobert F. Lussky, Jr. &

Melissa J. WaferJoseph D. Maheady,

National Association of RealtorsMyron A. MannJan E. & Robert A. MarkerSiri & Bob MarshallMichael A. MayhewSusan B. & Robert J. McCartyPatricia B. McClearnBruce F. (Clint) McClintic

Michael McCue, in honor of Chris Quartetti

Julie and David McCullochMarilyn D. McNabbCraig A. Melby (4)Berkeley T. Merchant &

Marie L. MorganJosephine MerckGail & Andrew L. MeyerTheodore & Gail MichalsCandice Miller & Kevin L. MarkeyBenjamin C. Moore,

Moore II ArchitectsBetty & Kenneth N.C.B. MooreMarjory M. Musgrave &

Frank S. PetersRichard Neel &

Constance Hoguet NeelThe New York Times Company

Foundation Matching GiftProgram

Stephen W. & Robin L. NewbergBonnie & Joel NeymarkGeorgiana & Kenneth Nielsen (2)John NorrisAdam NunesNancy & Clifford O’NeillRobert Odland & Charlotte KellyJohn W. OsgoodKaren L. Ososki & Karl J. OttensteinProf. & Mrs. Richard L. OttingerRobert F. Paashaus (2)Alice G. & Mark F. PalmerTony & Theresa Moore Panziera,

Metavante Corp.Louise & William PapeJoel PapoEdwin B. ParkerVirginia M. Parker (2)Amy Sager & Kent D. PattonJulie & Tom PaxtonDavid S. Payne,

Payne Family FoundationPeak Experiences Int’l, Inc.Margaret & David H. PenoyerClaire S. & Eugene M. PerricelliHensley & James D. PetersonDiana R. & Gary G. Phelps (2)Susan S-H Phillips

Martin Edelston, Boardroom, Inc.Steven PlotnickDr. & Mrs. Robert H. Potts, Jr.John Pound (2)John P. PowersDiana Prechter & Kent ColeRebecca R. PritchardBradley QueenHelen & Dan J. Quinn, Riskfocus, Inc.J. Brian & Allie QuinnRichard Ranti & Laura AhlbeckMarilyn Rasmusen,

Dora Suppes TrustMary B. RatcliffGertrude & Daryl ReaganHope & John ReeseFrances M. RehwaldLinda & Rick ReillyAndrea J. & Kelly ReimanDavid ReisterDavid M. RichSharon Kay RickettsLisa M. Rideout & Michael J. FoleyThomas F. RiesingLucy & Brian RosboroughMarc Rosenbaum, EnergysmithsW. Scott RothVirginia T. RothschildHope & Paul R. Rudnick,

Rudnick Family FoundationGary D. SabulaHope J. SassMarnie C. Schaetti & Mick MulloyDavid A. SchallerRichard & Marilyn SchatzbergShelley & Greg H. SchlenderCathleen & Peter SchwartzElisabeth C. & Gary M. SchwarzmanBetty Schwimmer & John Rubel,

in memory of Dr. DavidSchwimmer

Kathleen & Jon T. ScottSherman Selden,

Pittsford Lumber & WoodshopPeter Senge & Diane Leonard-SengeElinor P. & John W. SeveringhausThomas L. SeymourMarcus B. Sheffer,

Energy Opportunities, Inc.

29

RMI Supporters


Michael D. & Susan D. ShepardHal Shepherd, in honor of

Ben ShepherdBen ShepherdJoe Sherman,

Nat Sherman InternationalSteve Shull, e-Roof, Inc.Jack N. SibleyJoanne L. Siegel & Walter F.ThiemAnne Marie Siu Yuan &

Peter BacchettiSandra Slater,

Sandra Slater Environments,in memory of Joseph Slater

Janet SmallEileen Roberta SmithMark Petschek SmithMitchell Smith & Marion Carter,

SolarsmithLouise & Florian R. SmoczynskiElsie F. & Henry SorgenfreiKaren & Donald StearnsVicki & Donald G. StevensonJim Stokoe & Linda McLeanGodo Stoyke & Shantu Mano,

Livia Stoyke CharitableFoundation

Nancy & Daniel L. StreiffertWilliam D. & Angelica SturmLalitha & Garret F. SwartAnn K. & Roger H. SweetTenet Healthcare FoundationH. Virginia ThompsonMary A. & Harold W.ThompsonJim & Sally ToffeyBeth B. & W. Henry Tucker,

in memory of Dr. Robert ZweigDarla M.TupperJanneke & John C.Twombly,

John C.Twombly Living TrustAnna Ruthe TysonMichael F. UscholdCheryl L. ValloneJ. Jeffrey Van EeSally & John H. van SchaickHenry K. VandermarkHeather & Gary L. VaughnBetty,Tom, & Justin K. WagnerTim Wake

Daniel Waldman (2), Forester Communications, Inc.

Harry L. Ward, in memory of Phillip Semmer

Louise O. WarnerDr. Barbara H. WarrenThomas WarrenPat & Robert WaterstonDavid L. Webb (2)Daniel H. WebbFred E. WeedLaurence WeinbergLeslie WeiseMatthew Welles &

Deborah Adams-WellesRobert Welsh & Karen RoseMargaret & William E. WesterbeckSmoky & Jim Wetherbe,

in memory of Phil SemmerGerald R. WhitcombTimothy White, in memory of

Alex WhiteDr. Edward White, Jr.David K. WhitneyBeth Whitney-Teeple, in honor of

Burnette ScheffieldBarbara L. WidmerPietro Widmer & Renee Van HalmJudson V. Wilder, Jr.Billie Ann & Sam K. WilliamsEdith J. WilsonHerbert R. WiserJanice & Peter WizinowichDorothy & John WolfeDonald J. WoodJane Woodward,

Mineral Acquisition Partners,Inc., on behalf of Mark Albert,Erika Dade, Robert and TinaDameron, John Elway, Gary Gigot,William Hammond, Wende Hutton,David Levinthal, Philip Maritz,and Jennifer McFarlane

Ken D. Woolfe & Roberta J. KlezmerMatt Worswick, Synergy DesignRalph J. Wrons &

Susan Reinhart-WronsElizabeth & John G.YinglingConradine G. ZarndtDebra & Peter J. Zauner

ASSOCIATES $1 – $99William T. AchorAnthony J. AlagnaFannie P. AlexanderJohn L. AllenMarty Ames & Steve Hach,

Ute City Properties, Inc.Audrey B. Anderson, in honor or

Lorraine AndersonDorothy H. AndersonAnonymous (16)Jonathan R. ArcherAssociates III, Inc.Joyce & Wayne L. AttwoodLori Austin, in honor of Holly

and PeterTeresa & Bob BagshawAlice W. Ballard &

Joshua MitteldorfEllen H. BardPaul BartchTeresa & Don K. BarthEdna C. Bartlett &

Katherine B. GordonStacy Basham-Wagner &

Robert O. WagnerRex L. Bavousett & Jan A. MooreKarl & Barbara BeckerJean Harrington & Allan BeekBernadette Bell & Kenneth WachterLaura Benedict & John MorrisRobert J. BermanBarbara & Geoffrey BerresfordLisa BiancoRobert A. BlackA. Skye Blaine & Owen B. BoomSusan Blanc & David E. BakerEsther F. & Francis L. BlighBob & Sandy BlissHarriet BlissRegis BlissTy BlissStuart S. Blood & Li ShenJerome J. Bober, SES EngineeringStephen J. BonowskiBarbara Brahm (4)Glenna & P.J. BrattonKevin Brenneman

Scott BrennemanWilli & John BrocklehurstSheila Q. & Brian J. BrownMary C. & Bernie T. BrownRobert A. BrownJaleah BrynnDan BuerkleAshley & Jonathan BullIrene & Clark W. Bullard, III,

Clark Bullard AssociatesJulia & Jack Burgen, in honor of

Barbara Hibbard’s 80th birthdayJoe BurgessStephen BurnsJudith A. & William E. BurwellWilliam D. Busick (4)James F. ButlerNancy & Harry F. ByrdBeverly A. CampbellThomas CannarellaAlison Carlson, Curious EnterprisesTimothy CarriganCurtis CarsonSam CassadyPamela D. & Ronald B. CastleRachel Wei ChaoAnnie ChappellMegan CharlopJ.A. & Cecelia S. ChewningJanet ChuDavid N. ChurchVictoria S. & John F. ClancyRay G. & Christina N.L. ClarkKathryn J. CleggMary H. Cochran & Ronald PogueBill C. Coleman,

www.Stiltwalker.comWilliam L. CollinsWinifred S. & Jack M. ColwillJames R. ConnerR. Dennis Corrigan, EcoISPAmanda Hart CravottaCrew Network, on behalf of

A. Gail SturmMarcia & Mac CrosbieJames R. Custer

30

RMI Supporters


R. Gordon Dailey, Jr.Brian & Carol DaleHarlan Daman, Allergy & Asthma

Professional CorpMike Dapelo (2)Cecile R. & Lawrence A. DavinoMarjorie H. DavisElizabeth V. & W. Mark Day,

in memory of Andrew HaydenValentine

Asa de RoodeCarol, Edward, & Kelsie DeFranciaBernadean A. & William T. DelongGary DemosSheila DennisPenny S. & Ross N. DePaolaMarilyn & Robert A. Derrickson, Jr.Guylaine DesmaraisAlison C. & A. Gardner Dee DeWitt,IIIAlice DiamondDierdre Diccicco-CraftJoseph DiDioFred DillonDavid S. & Elizabeth Dodson Gray,

Bolton Inst. for a SustainableFuture, in honor of Amory Lovins

Jocelyn A DohmAnn E. EcholsJohn D. Edwards, University of

Colorado at Boulder (EMARC)George EhrhardtCarol & Chris EisenbeisMaggie & Tom ElliotMarion & Merritt ElmoreBill & Carol EmersonEntercom Denver, given through

Greenfund Network's PrintCartridge Recycling Program

Mark G. EricsonPeggy Ann & David R. ErskineJoann & Stephen EstabrookKim & Marshall EvansJohn Ewer & Kathleen E. WhitlockLinda B. FabeJ.A. FagerstromRobert Fairchild, Eastern KY

Appropiate Tech, Inc.Dorothy K. & John T. FankhauserGregory Farmer

Jeffrey S. Feldman & Kristin M.Alexander, Eagle’s ViewEnterprises

J.Theodore Fink, Greenplan, Inc.Julian & Tatiana FischerAileen & Karl FitzkeDottie E. FoxRebecca A. & Robert A. FriedMark Friedman (4)Kirk L. FryAnnette & Frank X. GallagherCarla S. GerrardJ. David & F. Susan GiffenMary E. & Mark F. GiorgettiGlenwood Springs Middle SchoolJack W.L. GoeringSelwyn GossettMarji GreenhutBernard GreeningTamara GreenlawWesley A. GroesbeckJeff S. & Sarah Hammer HaberlChristine & Curtis HamiltonVera & John M. HammJeffrey HammarlundMarie K. HammondTimothy HanePhilip Harris, Heatherslaw Gardens,

in honor of Colin McDermottMr. Kelly L. HarrisElizabeth B. Hart & Chris CoullingDiane H. & John B. HassettMark Hauck (2)Kathy K. & Kurt R. HeilmannColleen & Thomas Heinemann (2)Herman & Roslyn HeiseEdward H. Helm & Dora H. Chu,

in memory of Edward L. HelmCarol G. & Tony E.C. HendersonJane Underwood HenryTown of Herndon, VirginiaBarbara J. HibbardRobyn & Andrew HidasGloria G. & Bennie L. HildebrandDebra K. Hindman

Thomas E. Hitchins,Thomas E. Hitchins & Associates

Loren HockemeyerRichard Hoenich (4)Katharyn & Roland HokMary J. & Michael M. HolmMr. William E. HolmanJoanne E. Horton, in memory of

Sarah GibsonMolly Y. & Louis C. Houck,

Rollin’ RecordingKatherine L. HoustonMark J. HubersJanis & George HugginsRobert E. & Tricia L. HumphreysThera Joyce & Bruce D. HunnEvan HuntChristine HunterMichael P. HydroJ.P. Morgan Chase Foundation

Matching Gift ProgramCarl Joseph JanicekDixie & Maan JawadMason JensenMelinda & Scott JiustoSandra & Peter Johnson,

SK Johnson Design, Inc.Vikki L. JohnsonHarry C. JohnsonJudith N. JonesFrances & Eric L. JorgensenCheryl & Mark A. JosephLorraine A. Jurman &

Rudolf P. ChalupaDebora & Keith KabackFrederick W. KannerAlan L. KaplanJoseph J. KearnsJohn W. KehoeTheodore R. KeiserLinda & John G. KeleherDenis G. Kelemen & Joanne FoulkElizabeth & William W. KelloggJoseph A. Kestner, Jr., in memory of

Mary Jo KestnerSatguru Kaur KhalsaLorna J. & Thomas R. KilianNelly Y. & Craig S. Klein

Tonya & Dale KleuskensDebora & Neil KolweyRuth Komanoff Underwood,

The Ruth Komanoff UnderwoodProperty Trust, in honor of Amory Lovins

Elizabeth & David P. KoosRichard L. KortzebornFrances F. KuyperSarah LachanceVictoria M. & Vernon M. LaddCarolyn LangeMark LarsonJonnie V. & William S. LazarusErika Leaf & Christopher P. MeekerJeanne & Jerry LebsackJane G. Leddy & Robert W. AndrewsTimothy E. Leddy & Linda KaseyEleanor M. & Jerry F. LeeperTimothy E. LehaneAndrew Lemann,

Lemann Design & ConstructionTed LevinWalter LienhardLifestream Water Systems,

Michael KunkelBarbara & Irwin LindenRobert F. & Gladys LinkPhilip LondonWendy B. LorenMrs. Franchia G. LorenIngrid A. LouiselleRae Olin LuskinWard LutzNicholas MackWilliam & Mary MakofskeHedy & Robert E. MarcotteSusan L MartinMarcia & Stephen P. MartinsonDorothy & Robert G. MasseyGeorge Mattson,

George Mattson ArchitectHenry & Willa MauroDon MayerRichard S. McAnany, IISarah S. McCoyDavid McCoyHelen & Randall P. McIntyre

31

RMI Supporters


Charles P. McQuaidSylvia & Sam MessinMargarita W. & Donald J. MetzgerConnie & Philip MicklinMicrosoft Matching GiftsPeter M. Miller &

Anne M. SchonfieldSteven Miller (2)Philip Miller & Melvin NorthClare F. Moorhead,

Conservation ConceptsV. Joe MoriceByard W. Mosher, IVEllen E. MoyerMitchell MullerNelson Breech Nave,

The Kalamazoo GroupEdward J. Nelson, Jr.Alan Ness,Ten Directions DesignJacqueline A. NeurauterDaniel Nichols (2)Genevieve & Morris J. NicholsonMichael Nidel (3)Jonathan K. NiermannJeanne M. & Richard H. NolteGeorge & Win NormanJohn W. & Connie Lyle O’BrienWilliam S. O’Donnell, Jr.William E. O’NeillBarbara & Kevin O’ReillyLyle Oberg, Living Design LLCM. Sean OganAnne O'Leary BrinkNed OliverColleen OrsburnDouglas Porter OwenArthur PayneMary Alyce PearsonIna L. & Mason M. PhelpsKay Clarke & John H. PhilipRhonda Phillips, in memory of

Kenneth PhillipsErnest F. Pieper, Pharm DKathy Pillsbury & Cindy A. MarshallMarci & Lance S. PittlemanJohn Platt & Lisa Heilbron

Bruce PlenkF. Adele PlouffeRudolph & Florence PopolizioSimone R. & William B. PotterPremenaGeoffrey PritchardCarolyn K. & Robert K. PurvisGeorge QuayeGary & Barbara Ratner, in honor of

Jenny Constable’s birthdayGregg M. RaymondJohn R. ReedKenneth Regelson,

Five Star ConsultantsGayle & Thomas C. ReichertWolfgang ReitzNeil RestDouglas C. & Jean M. RhinehartThomas E. Ribe &

Monique P. SchoustraJohn RibolziLucille E. RiceAnn RichardRachel E. RichardsJanine RickardLinda & Alan RimerRichard Riseling,

Apple Pond Farming CenterPeter B. & Carrie Macklin RitzLeonard RoarkRobena D. Robinett, in memory of

Blair RobinettMichael RodemeyerPaula A. & James K. RogersRalph RojasDavid RossMark Rousseau & Leslie WellsEllen M. Rubinstein &

Joshua BaudhuinBarbara & Eli RubinsteinMonica L. Russell (2)H. John RussellVoluntary Gas Tax of the Saint

Louis Community Foundation by Cecil Scheib

Michelle SandovalBarry SatlowJohn A. SatterwhiteLorrie & Stephen Savage

Marshall E. Saxe,Saxe Construction

Teresa M. SchaderKerwin L. SchaeferJudith K. & Mark S. SchafferSarah Scott, in honor of

Barbara ReedGrace L. & Cyril J. ScrippsRobert Sculthorpe,

Arxx Building ProductsJohn W. SearsJerome L. ShainJoan P. & Edward M. ShepardSusan B. SheridanBill ShirleyBernece K. & Marvin L. SimonCarol J. & Ted G. SkowronekJames M. SmallDavid L. & Alyce L. SmithDebra L. SmithWilliam W. & Rosita Vidaurre

Smith, III, Liberty Carvings, Inc.Nicholas SofiosPeter Somssich &

Kathleen A. Pohlman-SomssichLinda SorrentoLeslie L. & Patrick J. StansberryDorothy & Clarence StearnsColette & Richard Stemm,

in honor of Dr. Mark StemmDeborah K. & David P. StephensonKathy & Martin SternVictoria Stevens &

Alan R. DrengsonMarc SteyerDale StilleErnest StiltnerJanet & David StoutRobert E. SvobodaRichard R. & Lisa W. SymonsMrs. Miriam Lee TargJames & Beverly TaylorSusan W. & Eric F.ThacherAlice K. & Theodore J.ThibodeauBeverly R. & Edward M.Thomas

Beth & Richard Thompson-TuckerMary E. & David C. Ulmer, Jr.Vail Mountain SchoolElin & Stuart Taylor ValentineMarie Valleroy & Alan LocklearWillem H. van den Berg &

Nancy ParksMelissa Van Ee, Au Sable InstituteJune R. VelasquezDemetra V. & James W. VersockiAmy VickersJanice K. WallRoger Walsh & Frances VaughanChris WaltonRev. Frederick S. WalzSophia W. WangKate S. Warner, Under the SunDavid WassermanNicholas C. WeberKathy & Wever Dobson WeedWendy & Richard WeeksJames S. Weinberg &

Mary Beth CysewskiSusan M. WeismanMartin WeissBarry W. & Becky S. Wertz,

Wertz & Company, P.C.Rick Weyerhaeuser,

Lyme Timber CoO.J. & Barbara G. Whittemore (2)Geoffrey Wickes & Janette LoomisHans WidmerJohn K. WilliamsFrances & Randall B. WilliamsCletus WilliamsonRobin D. WillitsLara WilsonRoy W. WoodCarol WoolfeKatherine & Russell WortleyGraham WrightDavid B. WristenRichard YacoLynne Yeannakis,

Decision Management AssociatesQing ZhuHolly A. Zimmerman &

Peter DeCrescenzo

32

RMI Supporters

IN KIND CONTRIBUTIONSJohn BeattyKathy & Bjorn Borgen (2)Martha H. Davis (2)Gerald HosierAlex KaufmanCarola B. LeaChris QuartettiDan Wolf

ALTERNATIVE GIFTSEllen H. Bard

to Allison Bard, James & Elaine Bard, and Nina Maile

Jeanie & Francis L. Bengtson,Living Awareness Foundation to Joyce & Joe Murphy

Jeff Bernstein & Jean Stevens to Fred Usher, Russ Peterson,and Nelson Nave

Jaleah Brynn to Lyle Nighswonger

Christine Boulding to Russell & Bonnie Boulding,Mark & Pat Boulding, Philip &Pam Boulding, William & LizBoulding, Sherry & Bill Nelson,and Elise Boulding

Doris & M.W. Bouwensch to Mr. M.W. Bouwensch, Mt.Holyoke College, and Mrs. C.L.Marsh, Jr.

Janet Chu to Cathy GeistVirginia M. Collier

to Steve Collier & family and Jim Collier & family

Marjorie H. Davis to Eric YostRosamond A. Dean

to Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan DeanFred Fritschel & Carol R. Langner

to Heidi Fritschel & John SitherNancy & Dean A. Grover

to Robert StevensonBenita Helseth

to Grady and Brian HelsethChristine Hunter to Patrick HunterMarjorie & Conrad Johnston

to Mary Elizabeth EmersonRuth Kapes to Eric & Lucil BuellCarolyn Lange to Marianne HannaCheri & Dave Levenson

to Josh LevensonBetsy, Steve, Jake & Emmy Levitas

to Helen & Jimmy MillsWendy B. Loren to Benjamin LorenMarilyn D. McNabb

to Mary Harding, Marian Todd,Kandra Hahn, Elaine Fuller,and Tu Packard

Josephine Merck to Jane Milliken and Kim Gaffert

Nelson Breech Nave,The Kalamazoo Group to the Arcus Foundation

Georgiana and Kenneth Nielsen to Dan & Marcia Brunner, DanJohnson, Chad & Kerri Krause,Jamie Brunner & James Bryant,Jim & Cathy Hooper, Andy &Stephanie Hooper, Jason & Jenny Schoenwald, and Jess &Sarah Brannon

Ned Oliver to Thomas ReinhartMarilyn Rasmusen,

Dora Suppes Trust to Helen & Eric Rasmusen

Lang Reynolds to Lindsay & Stephen Reynolds

Hope & Paul Rudnick to Jack Stievelman and Richard Zisook

Jane Sharp-MacRae to John & Sara Sharp, LindaSharp, Leah & Tom Makdisi,Jane & Duncan MacRae, John &Nancy Dole Runkle, Maggie &Toby Considine, Joe Hackney,Nell & Albert Mayberry, John &JoAnne Huntington, Dave & BeckyPrice & family, and Amy MacRae& Gary Brown

Louise & Florian R. Smoczynski to Frank and ChristopherSmoczynski

Beth & Richard Thompson-Tucker to Dave & Doris Thompson

Jim & Sally Toffey to Edgell Pyles & Marty Pickett

Darla M.Tupper to Chuck Jaffee & Marvina Lepianka

Anna Ruthe Tyson to Chuck Jaffee & MarvinaLepianka

Janice K. Wall to Margie LarnerRoger Walsh & Frances Vaughan

to Tom Beech, Rob Lehman,Bruce & Darby Fetzer,and Janis & David Clafin

Gerald R. Whitcomb to Dorothy and Rhoda Whitcomb

Geoffrey Wickes & Janette Loomis to Denny &Laurie Quirk

WINDSTAR LAND CONSERVANCYDONORSGrace & Bryan T. Bailey (5)Philip A. Boucher, in memory of

John DenverDiane T. & Joe A. Brownlee,

in memory of John DenverDeborah A. Carapezza,

in memory of John DenverKathleen Corcoran (2)Vicki Cotnoir,

in memory of John DenverFrances & Thomas Fike (2),

in celebration of the life andwork of John Denver

Vicki E. Knudson,in memory of John Denver

Linda L. Locati (2), in honor and memory of John Denver, and incelebration of his birthday

Joy C. Mayfield (2), in continuing support of John Denver’s vision

Penny McDaniel,Windstar Colorado Connection

Kerry J. & Ricki R. Newman (2),in memory of John Denver

Elizabeth K. Richards (2),in memory of John Denver

Patricia A. & Ronni R. Ridenour,in memory of John Denver

Sherrill Ann SchoepeMartha Virginia SchoepeJoAnn Simms, in memory of

John DenverRenee Justice Standley (2),

in memory of John Denver and in honor of Jeremy DuQ. Adams on his 70th birthday

Cynthia & Lawrence Woytowicz,in loving memory of John Denver

Shuyee & Roger L. Zuehlke,in memory of John Denver


33

We also want to thank those individuals who have contributed to RMI through Earth Share, the combinedfederal campaign, and other workplace charitable programs. If you would like to have RMI as a charitableoption in your workplace campaign, please contact our Development Department (970-927-3851 or [email protected]).

RMI Supporters

“RMI is at the forefront of putting forward thoughtful new solutions to major everyday problems. They tackle importantmicro issues ranging from data centers to refugee camps atthe same time they lead the national debate on energy policywith tremendous insights into our electricity infrastructureand our hydrocarbon dependence.”

Reuben S. MungerBoston, MA


Our Partner: Health Care Without Harm

Health Care Without Harm(www.noharm.org) is a consortiumof health-related organizations thatwork on specific issues. In fact, theorganization calls itself a campaign. At present, HCWH boasts over 400non-profit groups in fifty countries,ranging from medical professionals’groups to environmental groups,research institutions to health caresystems and hospitals.

HCWH was formed in 1996 to tacklethe issue of dioxin pollution (a 1994EPA report identified medical wasteincineration as the single largestsource of dioxin air pollution). Sincethen it has expanded its mission to all aspects of health care and it aims,as its mission states, to “transform

the health care industry worldwide,without compromising patient safetyor care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment.”

Today, HCWH’s targets include mercury, PVC, pesticides and clean-ers, building materials and, of course,medical waste. While the list of placesyou can find mercury might be rapidlyshrinking—thanks in large part toHCWH’s work so far—some of theother dangerous items in HCWH’s hitlist are extraordinarily common.

HCWH isn’t interested only in the list of nasty stuff found in health carefacilities; rather, HCWH wants to getout in front of the health care industryentirely and influence building design,materials choices, and purchasingdecisions. Arguably, that’s what RMIbrings to the table; the Institute hasbeen influencing the “front end” of green building design since 1992.

The long-term goal of RMI and HealthCare Without Harm is to improve theway hospitals are designed, built, andoperated in order to promote betterhealing for patients, better productivi-ty for hospital staff, better energy and resource efficiency, better publicand environmental health (includingdisease and toxicity prevention), and better community interface.

Lewis Carroll might not have realizedhat-makers of the mid-nineteenth century were deranged as a result ofmercury poisoning, but today organi-zations like RMI and HCWH are veryaware that mercury and pesticidesand VOCs and other dangerous mate-rials are commonplace in the healthcare industry. And to do nothingabout it, we reckon you’d have to bemad as a hatter.

34

Mad as a HatterC O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 1 5

RMIte Joins Dana Meadows Leadership Fellow Program

Donella (Dana) Meadows was a brilliant educator, writer, and founder of the SustainabilityInstitute. After Dana passed away in the spring of 2001, her friends and colleagues created a

fellowship for environmental professionals in her memory.

In June 2003, the first group of Dana Meadows Leadership Fellows gathered in Hartland, Vermont, for the first of four training retreats over a two-year period. Chris Page, of RMI’s Research &

Consulting group, was selected as one of the first fellows.

“During the course of the first two retreats, we stacked wood; participated in a systems thinking simulation exercise called the Beer Game, where we produced and sold beer and ‘crashed’ the

distribution system; learned to map complex situations using a technique called ‘causal loop diagrams’; ate large amountsof whipped cream provided by the cows at Cobb Hill CoHousing, where the Sustainability Institute is located; werecoached, guided and challenged by the staff at the Sustainability Institute to absorb and apply new skill sets; and assistedeach other in developing focused individual projects to continue in between sessions,” Chris said.

The Fellowship is intended to give young leaders a solid grounding in skills and techniques around systems thinking andorganizational learning, to help them become better practitioners in their respective fields. Dana herself was an expert in both areas, able to grasp complex systems and to explain them to people in simple, practical, clear terms.

“Having the luxury of spending four days twice a year with these remarkable people increases my energy and clarity forthe work we do at RMI,” Chris said.

RMI in the news


RMI logo organic cotton T-shirts,

EcoSpun® (recycled P.E.T.) fleece vests,

hooded fullzip sweatshirts,

and recycled-fiber tote bags are onsale now!

To find out more about RMI stuff, please

email us at [email protected]

or call 970-927-3851

or visit www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid70.php

35

RMI Merchandise

RMISolutionsRMI Solutions is published three times a yearand distributed to more than 10,000 readers (by mail and online) in the United States andthroughout the world. © 2005 Rocky MountainInstitute. All rights reserved.

Letters to the EditorWe want to hear your comments. Please address all correspondence to:

Cameron M. Burns, EditorRocky Mountain Institute1739 Snowmass Creek RoadSnowmass, CO 81654-9199tel: (970) 927-3851fax: (970) [email protected]

For reprint permission, please [email protected]. As a leader in promotingresource efficiency, RMI supports innovative recycled paper manufacturers. This publicationis printed on New Leaf EcoOffset (100% post-consumer waste, process chlorine-free) usingvegetable-based ink. Contact New Leaf Paperfor more information, (888) 989-5323. No new trees were used in the production ofthis newsletter, and we offer paperless electronicdelivery via our website or on request.

About the InstituteRMI is an entrepreneurial nonprofit organizationthat fosters the efficient and restorative use ofnatural, human and other capital to make theworld secure, just, prosperous, and life-sustaining.We do this by inspiring business, civil society, and government to design integrative solutionsthat create true wealth.

Our staff show corporations, communities, individuals, and governments how to createmore wealth and employment, protect andenhance natural and human capital, increaseprofit and competitive advantage, and enjoymany other benefits—largely by doing whatthey do more efficiently.

Our work is independent, nonadversarial, and transideological, with a strong emphasis onmarket-based solutions.

Founded in 1982, Rocky Mountain Institute is a §501(c)(3)/509(a)(1) public charity. It has astaff of approximately 50. The Institute focuses itswork in several main areas—business practices,climate, community economic development,energy, real-estate development, security, trans-portation, and water—and carries on internationaloutreach and technical-exchange programs.

RMI volunteers Anna Jaffe and Tomakin Archambault, and intern Morley McBride, reflect on another inspiring day of work at RMI. (Sorry, cardboard cutouts not available.)

RMISolutionsRMISolutionsn e w s l e t t e r

Rocky Mountain Institute/volume xx #1/Spring 2004Rocky Mountain Institute/volume xx #1/Spring 2004

RMISolutionsRMISolutions

NON-PROFIT ORG

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

PERMIT #143

GRAND JCT, CO

Rocky Mountain Institute1739 Snowmass Creek RoadSnowmass, CO 81654-9199

C H A N G E S E R V I C E R E Q U E S T E D

In Every IssueLife at RMI 16The Folks Who Make RMI Tick

Editor’s Notes 16The Good Fight

Staff Spotlight 17Joanie Henderson, RMI Research & Consulting

What Are You Doing? 18Community Office for Resource Efficiency (CORE)

Other Voices 20Sustainability and the U.S. Army: Fort Bragg’s Remarkable Efforts

Board Spotlight 23Elaine LeBuhn

Donor Spotlight 24The Caulkinses

RMI Supporters 26

Features

1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10XEThe Nonviolent Overthrow

of Bad Engineering

4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Helping CommunitiesFind the Benefits of Efficiency

7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An Introduction to Biophiliaand the Built Environment

12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mad as a HatterRMI Partners with Health Care

Without Harm

NON-PROFIT ORG

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

PERMIT #143

GRAND JCT, CO

Rocky Mountain Institute1739 Snowmass Creek RoadSnowmass, CO 81654-9199

C H A N G E S E R V I C E R E Q U E S T E D

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