Ben Shepherd of the Rocky Mountain Institute on Green Development

Energy issues spark furious debate in the halls of Congress and the boardrooms of major corporations, particularly since the energy shortages in California (the world's 8th largest economy) have brought the problem to worldwide attention. Amidst the name-calling and saber rattling, an organization in Snowmass, Colorado—the Rocky Mountain Institute—has been quietly using CD-ROMs to provide practical approaches for architects, developers, and real-estate firms who want to design energy efficient buildings. The Green Developments CD-ROM showcases more than 100 examples of intelligent design, focusing on a whole-system approach that ultimately results in substantial savings. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the cross-platform CD-ROM opens with a multimedia slideshow, narrated by Robert Redford, leading into the individual case studies, each of which includes a summary and financial analysis.

Ben Shepherd, a Research Consultant at RMI, heads the effort to complete the second edition of the Green Developments CD-ROM, scheduled for release in early 2002. The new version expands the number of case studies to over 200, updates many of the examples from the original CD-ROM, and emphasizes the energy savings available when designers look at a building as a complete system, rather than a collection of separate components.

Feedback from the original CD-ROM guided decisions on content design. "In evaluating the CD-ROM for this next release," Ben said, "we have found that the actual case studies are the most popular portion. Folks run through the background of green development once and then use the case studies for marketing the ideas to their boss or corporation or organization."

Using a Macromedia Director interface for Mac and Windows playback with QuickTime video clips interspersed throughout, the CD-ROM packs a tremendous amount of detailed information into a concise space. "There is really a lot of information on the disc," Ben said. "One of the great benefits of putting this kind of information on a CD-ROM is having the great amount of space as far as the data goes—you can spend days just going through the original CD."

Aimed more at those involved in building design and real-estate development rather than the general public, the second edition of Green Developments will keep the financial aspects of building projects in the forefront. As Ben explains it, "We're really putting a huge emphasis on the cost information—the costs in terms of how a green development actually takes off and happens. That's always been our focus. What are the lessons learned? Those are the kinds of things that stick in people's minds more than "there were 2,000 kilowatts saved here because of this design feature." We really try to market the CD-ROM towards the real estate and financial communities. If you're even going to talk to them about a project, you need to have the terminology down and also provide details like the average square footage and the cost per square foot."

Sometimes the benefits of green development go beyond efficiency and cost savings. For example, because of budget issues a building design produced for Wal-Mart was completed with one half of the building using natural lighting and the other half using conventional light fixtures, with an unanticipated effect. "Anything they put in the day lit portion," Ben said, "sold like hotcakes. Because Wal-Mart has real-time PC scanning for stocking and buying, they know where things are sold as soon as they move out of the store. At first they thought it was a fluke. They played around with putting different products in that part of the store. Anything they put in the day lit portion sold up to 20 to 30% faster than items in the other part of the store."

This human affinity for natural light extends to learning, as well. "An architectural firm out of CA," Ben said, "did a study and found that learning rates for children can be as much as 20 to 30% higher in well day lit schools. We're getting away from the idea that having windows is going to distract the kids from the teacher in the classroom environment. We're human, we have intuitive connections to the outdoors, and when we can't see the outdoors, it generally makes us grumpy and inattentive."

The interest in green development bridges the political divisions sometimes seen between environmentalists and business people. The practicality, energy savings, reduction in pollution, and other benefits have many different factions of society exploring the potential of intelligent design. "The really good thing about the California energy crisis," Ben said, "is that it has gotten these issues onto the radar of the everyday person. People realize that if you can save $3,000 a year for energy use in your home or your business, that's money that can be spent elsewhere. On your kids. Or, marketing and development of your company. It can be a huge savings for everyone involved."

For details on the latest release of the Green Developments CD-ROM, visit the Rocky Mountain Institute Web site at http://www.rmi.org.

Republished by permission of Disc Makers.

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