Inside the Book Resource Revolution

This briefing describes the concepts presented in the book 'Resource Revolution' by Stefan Heck and Matt Rogers, which argues that companies can spark a new industrial revolution by dramatically improving resource productivity through five specific strategic approaches.

• The book 'Resource Revolution' identifies five primary approaches that companies such as Tesla Motors, Zipcar, Opower, SolarCity, and Nest Labs use to capitalize on the resource revolution: substitution, optimization, virtualization, circularity, and waste elimination.
• Substitution involves replacing materials with those that are higher-performing, less expensive, less risky, or less scarce. For instance, using carbon fiber in automotive manufacturing instead of steel can reduce investment by 80 percent while creating cars that are cleaner, safer, and more efficient.
• Optimization focuses on increasing the productivity of natural resources—including water, minerals, forests, and energy—through changes in design, technology, and processes. Examples include UPS reducing fuel consumption by avoiding left turns and OPower using cloud-based software and behavioral science to help consumers lower annual energy consumption by two to four percent.
• Virtualization involves automating processes or moving them from the physical world to a digital or service-based model. Examples include Nest Labs transforming the traditional thermostat into a digital platform for security and energy services, and the use of telecommuting to replace physical travel with digital connectivity.
• Circularity and waste elimination aim to create closed-loop systems where waste is designed out of the process. Tesla implements circularity by recycling battery packs to recapture lithium and cobalt, while DuPont converts post-consumer waste and industrial scrap into higher-value products. Additionally, 3-D printing is noted for reducing waste by using material only where needed, and the company Interface reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 82 percent over 11 years, with 25 percent of its profit derived from waste elimination.

APA

RMI (2014). Inside the Book Resource Revolution. https://rmi.org/resources/inside-book-resource-revolution/

Chicago

RMI. Inside the Book Resource Revolution. 2014. https://rmi.org/resources/inside-book-resource-revolution/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Inside the Book Resource Revolution |date=3 June 2014 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/inside-book-resource-revolution/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2014inside, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Inside the Book Resource Revolution}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2014}, month = jun, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/inside-book-resource-revolution/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }