Reinventing Fire

Author: Amory Lovins
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing (October 15, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1603583718
ISBN-13: 978-1603583718

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How U.S. businesses can lead the nation from oil and coal to efficiency and renewables by 2050, and profit in the process

Oil and coal have built our civilization, created our wealth, and enriched the lives of billions. Yet their rising costs to our security, economy, health, and environment now outweigh their benefits. Moreover, that long-awaited energy tipping point—where alternatives work better than oil and coal and compete purely on cost—is no longer decades in the future. It is here and now. And it is the fulcrum of economic transformation.

A global clean energy race has emerged with astounding speed. The ability to operate without fossil fuels will define winners and losers in business—and among nations.

Now, in Reinventing Fire, Amory Lovins and Rocky Mountain Institute offer a new vision to revitalize business models, end-run Washington gridlock, and win the clean energy race—not forced by public policy but led by business for enduring profit. Grounded in 30 years’ practical experience, this ground-breaking, peer-reviewed analysis integrates market-based solutions across transportation, buildings, industry, and electricity. It maps pathways and competitive strategies for a 158%-bigger 2050 U.S. economy that needs no oil, no coal, no nuclear energy, one-third less natural gas, and no new inventions. This transition would cost $5 trillion less than business-as-usual—without counting fossil fuels’ huge hidden costs. It requires no new federal taxes, subsidies, mandates, or laws. The policy innovations needed to unlock and speed it need no Act of Congress.

Whether you care most about profits and jobs, national security, health, or environmental stewardship, Reinventing Fire charts a pragmatic course that makes sense and makes money. With clarity and mastery, Lovins and RMI reveal the astounding opportunities for enterprise to create the new energy era.

Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate

Authors: Rocky Mountain Institute, Alex Wilson, Jenifer L. Uncapher, Lisa McManigal, L. Hunter Lovins, Maureen Cureton, William D. Browning

Publisher: Rocky Mtn Institute & CREST

ISBN: 0471188786

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“Green Development is good for business. Tenants, owners, purchasers, and brokers are all becoming more sophisticated and are realizing the financial and social benefits of green product.” –Gerald Hines, Chairman of Hines.

Environmentally responsible real estate development makes dollars and sense. Green Development describes an exciting new field in which environmental considerations are viewed as opportunities to create fundamentally better buildings and communities–more comfortable, more efficient, more appealing, and ultimately more profitable.

If you’re a developer, architect, planner, contractor, lender, or city official, this book speaks your language. Every stage of the development process is examined in detail: market research, site planning, design, approvals, financing, construction, marketing, and occupancy. Also included are lists of project statistics and contacts, books and other information sources, and development strategies.

Based on 80 case studies drawn from Rocky Mountain Institute’s extensive worldwide research and consulting work, Green Development distills proven procedures and practical lessons that work in the real world.

Homemade Money : How to Save Energy and Dollars in Your Home

Author(s): H. Richard Heede, Richard Heede, Owen Bailey, Rocky Mountain instit

Publisher: Rocky Mountain Institute

Paperback, 258 pages

ISBN: 188317807X

ISBN-13: 978-1883178079

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Publication date: July 1996

How-To Editor’s Recommended Book, 03/01/97:
The preeminent energy think tank in the United States, The Rocky Mountain Institute, estimates that $50 billion could be saved in the U.S. each year using current materials and technology. Homemade Money is your guidebook to claiming your share of the savings! In great detail, going so far as to give brand names, this book shows you how to save energy on heating, cooling, appliances, and household systems. It also gives construction and remodeling techniques to maximize energy savings. The book is organized to help readers sort through the huge number of choices and suggestions and set priorities without being intimidated. Virtually anyone can implement enough of these strategies to save energy and money almost immediately.

Customer Comments

A reader from Virginia , 01/23/98, rating=8:
A highly cost-effective investment and reasonably practical. The advice in this book spans the gamut– everything from First, go after holes a cat could crawl through. to triple-paned windows that take decades to pay for themselves. Whether you’re looking to save a few quick bucks, or you approach conservation from an aesthetic, save-the-planet viewpoint, there is plenty here to keep you busy. Some of the advice is controversial (vapor barriers in attics) and some is bogus (wrapping your hot water heater, which is probably well insulated already), but the treatment of the subject appears thorough and reasonably practical.

The Publisher, RMI:
Be more environmentally responsible, live better, and save money: this book will show you how. A how-to guide for householders, it features hundreds of tips on weatherization, insulation, heating and cooling systems, windows, hot-water heating, appliances, and lighting, plus advice on incorporating solar and other efficient design elements into new construction. Homemade Money maps out the microcosm of your home, office, or plant with clarity, precision, and a keen sense of first-things-first.–Maurice Strong, Secretary-General of the 1992 UN Earth Summit.

Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution

Author(s): Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins

Publisher: Back Bay Books; 1st edition (October 12, 2000)

ISBN: 0316353000

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From Amazon.com: In Natural Capitalism, three top strategists show how leading-edge companies are practicing “a new type of industrialism” that is more efficient and profitable while saving the environment and creating jobs. Paul Hawken and Amory and Hunter Lovins write that in the next century, cars will get 200 miles per gallon without compromising safety and power, manufacturers will relentlessly recycle their products, and the world’s standard of living will jump without further damaging natural resources. “Is this the vision of a utopia? In fact, the changes described here could come about in the decades to come as the result of economic and technological trends already in place,” the authors write. They call their approach natural capitalism because it’s based on the principle that business can be good for the environment. For instance, Interface of Atlanta doubled revenues and employment and tripled profits by creating an environmentally friendly system of recycling floor coverings for businesses. The authors also describe how the next generation of cars is closer than we might think. Manufacturers are already perfecting vehicles that are ultralight, aerodynamic, and fueled by hybrid gas-electric systems. If natural capitalism continues to blossom, so much money and resources will be saved that societies will be able to focus on issues such as housing, contend Hawken, author of a book and PBS series called Growing a Business, and the Lovinses, who cofounded and directed the Rocky Mountain Institute, an environmental think tank. The book is a fascinating and provocative read for public-policy makers, as well as environmentalists and capitalists alike. –Dan Ring

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Author(s): H. Richard Heede, Richard Heede, Owen Bailey, Rocky Mountain instit

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