Rocky Mountain Institute

Who We Are

Rocky Mountain Institute is an independent, entrepreneurial, nonprofit think-and-do tank. Cofounded in 1982 by Amory Lovins, who remains its active thought leader, chairman, and chief scientist, the Colorado-based organization now has approximately 90 full-time staff, an annual budget of nearly $15 million and a global reach.

RMI’s efforts take three main forms: transforming design, busting barriers and spreading innovation. RMI emphasizes strategic influence—changing the mindset of the people who make the rules—and “institutional acupuncture” to get blocked business logic flowing.

What We Do

RMI’s central approach first uses philanthropy-funded innovation to create new solutions to gnarly old problems. Our integrated team of researcher/practitioners then tests and refines that via targeted consulting engagements that support our mission.

RMI’s strategic focus is Reinventing Fire: mapping and driving the business-led transition from fossil fuels to efficiency and renewable energy. Key initiatives will focus on the transportation, building, industrial and electricity sectors. RMI’s innovative design techniques optimize whole-systems, an approach which allows industries to capture benefits that would be left behind under a compartmentalized approach, a discipline we call “tunneling through the cost barrier.”

How We Do It

We work chiefly in the United States but with global context and reach, spanning over 60 countries. RMI’s interdisciplinary research and practice have earned a worldwide reputation for integrity, quality, originality, daring, scholarship, clarity and effectiveness.

Learn more about RMI's strategic roadmap to drive our goal of moving the United States beyond the fossil-fuel economy.