Imagine a University

Amory Lovins advocates for universities to move beyond reductionist thinking by employing 'integrative design' to optimize buildings and campus systems. He suggests that by engaging students in hands-on, transdisciplinary projects, universities can transition from high energy costs to 'negative costs' through extreme efficiency and onsite renewables. The text emphasizes that the goal for all waste—energy, materials, and water—should be zero, transforming campuses into regenerative microcosms of a sustainable economy.

• The University of North Carolina (UNC) system demonstrated significant energy cost reductions, saving $241 million over a decade, with $63 million saved in a single year across 17 campuses.
• Appalachian State University (ASU) increased its floor space by 39% over ten years while reducing total energy use per square foot by 30% and eliminating nearly one million gallons of annual fuel oil use.
• Significant energy savings are possible in high-intensity facilities; a CalTech lab retrofit saved over 70% of its energy, and fume hoods can save upwards of 80% of energy while improving safety.
• The author proposes a transition to 'negative costs' for university energy bills by combining extreme efficiency with onsite solar power and other renewables to make buildings self-powered.
• Replacing traditional dark asphalt with light-colored pavement can reduce surface temperatures by tens of degrees, lower air-conditioning loads for nearby buildings, and reduce night security lighting energy by up to 98% when paired with LED designs.
• The author argues that the U.S. economy is approximately 99.98% waste, as only 1% of material flow enters durable products and only a small fraction of those are recovered.
• To solve complex global problems, universities must move away from academic tribalism and reductionism toward 'consilience' and transdisciplinary learning, where students link disparate fields of study.

APA

Lovins, A. B. (2013). Imagine a University. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2013-12_ImagineAUniversity.pdf

Chicago

Lovins, Amory B. Imagine a University. RMI, 2013. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2013-12_ImagineAUniversity.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Lovins |first1=Amory B. |title=Imagine a University |publisher=RMI |date=17 July 2013 |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2013-12_ImagineAUniversity.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{lovins2013imagine, author = {Lovins, Amory B.}, title = {{Imagine a University}}, publisher = {RMI}, year = {2013}, month = jul, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2013-12_ImagineAUniversity.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }