RMI Outlet
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Lessons from a Landmark Aggregated Energy Deal
This week, a world-class university, the largest Level 1 trauma center in New England, and a parking facility in the center of Boston’s Financial District came together to announce a landmark aggregated renewable energy deal to purchase 60 megawatts of solar from a North Carolina solar farm owned by Dominion, a Virginia-based energy company. The deal highlights the importance of aggregation as a means to provide access to large-scale renewable energy projects for unique groups of buyers—not Fortune 500 corporations, but smaller businesses and nonprofits like universities and hospitals.
Getting to Net-Zero Carbon in Multifamily Homes
Consumers wanting to undertake a deep energy retrofit of a home currently face a challenging process that involves multiple complex steps, as shown in the…
When It Comes to Buildings and Climate Change, Colorado Matters
Buildings have an enormous impact on earth’s climate. Businesses, developers, and citizens in Colorado are stepping up to alleviate this impact with superefficient buildings (which are 50 percent higher-performing than code-compliant buildings) and increasingly, net-zero carbon buildings. Here are a few examples that show how the state is leading the charge in redefining the built environment and why—as we drive toward a clean, prosperous, and secure low-carbon energy future—Colorado Matters.
Paris Climate Agreement: The Need for Speed
This week, a number of European countries will submit paperwork to the United Nations formally binding them to the Paris Agreement, raising the tally of committed countries above 55 percent of global emissions and triggering the agreement’s entry into force 30 days later. For those who thought the champagne corks popped last December in Paris, here’s a brief guide about why this week’s events constitute a historic milestone and what comes next.
Accelerator Teams Are Defining a New Era of Utility Relationships
In April 2016, RMI hosted the third annual eLab Accelerator. (Applications are now being accepted for eLab Accelerator 2017.) Described as a boot camp for electricity innovation, the four-day intensive work session brought together 13 teams from across North America—from North Carolina to Ottawa and California to New York—working on new business models, energy innovation districts, and novel ways to value distributed energy resources.