Energy Efficiency  -  November 25, 2020

RMI receives capital from Bezos Fund for building efficiency campaigning

Rocky Mountain Institute recently announced that it was awarded $8 million from the Bezos Earth Fund to advocate for and support the adoption of policies that accelerate the transition to carbon-free buildings in the U.S. 

RMI estimates that more than 35% of U.S. carbon emissions come from the country’s buildings. The institute asserted that the country must rapidly transition 70 million existing buildings to operate without fossil fuels while ensuring new buildings are all-electric and built with low-carbon materials.

These funds will allow RMI to pursue its goal for the U.S. building sector to cut emissions by 50% by 2030. RMI plans to work with a coalition of government, NGO and private sector partners in key states to adopt climate-aligned policies and encourage the renovation and retrofitting of existing buildings.

“As we enter the decisive decade for climate action, it’s impossible for individual states or the nation as a whole to achieve the necessary emissions reductions without a plan to aggressively transition buildings from fossil fuels to clean electricity,” Marketing Manager Kiley Kroh and Managing Director James Mandel said in a joint statement. “Homes and buildings will need to be all-electric, efficient, and grid-interactive, which will lead to cleaner air and more comfortable spaces. This is essential for the climate and the economy: a growing body of research shows that electrification is the lowest-cost path to decarbonizing the building sector and limiting warming to 1.5°C, as the latest climate science prescribes.”

RMI’s campaign focuses on a few key issues, including advocating for policies like all-electric new construction, the phasing-out of gas appliances and the winding down of gas infrastructure. 

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