Sustainability Center

Peter H. Rumsey

Sustainable Business Visionary

Background
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley; Engineer and Energy Analyst for Sol*Arc Architects, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories, XENERGY Energy Consultants, International Institute for Energy Conservation, and PG&E; Principal, Rumsey Engineers, Oakland, California

Awards

  • CCAIA Allied Professions Honor Award (2005)
  • AIA San Francisco, Excellence in Energy and Sustainability Award (2005)
  • ASHRAE Regional Technology Award (2003)
  • Association of Energy Engineers, Energy Engineer of the Year Award (2002)
  • ASHRAE National Technology Award (2002)
  • Senior Fellow, Rocky Mountain Institute

Recommended Reading

  • Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins (2000)
  • Winning the Oil Endgame by Amory Lovins (2004)
  • The Philosophy of Sustainable Design by Jason F. McLennan (2004)
  • Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature by Janine M. Benyus (2002)
  • The Existential Pleasures of Engineering by Samuel C. Florman (1996)

Q&A

What started you on the path toward sustainability?

I've always been interested in energy efficiency and sustainability, as far as I can remember. I was in high school and college during the oil crisis in the 70s, and it made a big impression on me. After I got my engineering degree, I worked in Africa, and then in Thailand doing energy policy work with the Thai government. I had an excellent opportunity to continue working in the energy policy area, but I decided to start my own company instead. I wanted to be more hands-on, and learn more about how to make buildings better by actually designing and building them. Now my work is about that as well as sending a message back upstream to policy makers about how sustainable buildings are possible and affordable.

Who inspired you, or nurtured your talent?

Probably my two biggest influences are Professor Lee Eng Lok and Amory Lovins.

What gives you hope in your industry?

First, my personal experience in designing buildings that use 50 to 60 percent less energy without adding to construction costs. Second, environmental success stories such as the cleanup of the Hudson River and of Tokyo. And third, the generally positive attitude about sustainability and environmentalism that I encounter in young people today.

What worries you most in this area?

What concerns me most is that the engineering and building professions won?t evolve and adapt quickly enough to rapidly changing environmental and economic conditions. There is a huge number of inefficient and illogical trade practices in the building industry that we have to change. Part of the reason I started Rumsey Engineers is to be a catalyst for positive change in the industry.

What advice do you give to young people who want to make a difference in the world?

I'd say don't believe anyone who tells you that an efficiency measure you want to implement can?t be done. Engineers, owners, contractors, and architects frequently follow ?rule of thumb? design: they just want to build it like the last project in a frequently mistaken desire to cut costs. We all need to look for ways to cut construction costs these days, but innovation in building performance and energy efficiency is as just as important, and it fosters longer-term thinking about investing in the future.

What is the role of technology in sustainable design?

Technology is an important tool, but not the only solution to our problems. I believe that technology has to adapt to our priorities, and that it's our priorities that have to change. We can develop almost any technology we want if we know we have to apply it to the right problems, which, for me, all center around the question of how to conserve and better use resources to adapt and survive sustainably.