HOW TO CALCULATE AND PRESENT DEEP RETROFIT VALUE

This executive summary introduces a guide by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) designed to help owner-occupants identify, quantify, and capture the business value of deep energy retrofits. It argues that deep retrofits—which can reduce building energy consumption by 50% or more—provide significant non-energy benefits that are often overlooked in traditional financial analysis, such as improved employee productivity, health, and property value.

• Deep energy retrofits are defined as those that achieve superior energy savings compared to conventional retrofits and are capable of reducing a building's energy consumption by 50 percent or more.
• Beyond energy cost savings, deep retrofits generate quantifiable business value across several areas, including improved employee health, productivity, and satisfaction; enhanced leadership reputation; access to subsidies; reduced non-energy operating costs; and increased property values through higher rents, sales prices, and tenant retention.
• RMI's Retrofit Value Model outlines a four-stage evaluation process for business leaders: Design & Execution Practices lead to Retrofit Outcomes, which influence Property/Enterprise Performance, ultimately resulting in Retrofit Value.
• The guide identifies nine discrete non-energy value elements that can be used to assess a retrofit project: Retrofit Development Costs, Non-Energy Property Operating Costs, Retrofit Risk Mitigation, Health Costs, Employee Costs, Promotions and Marketing Costs, Customer Access and Sales, Property-Derived Revenues, and Enterprise Risk Management/Mitigation.

APA

RMI (2014). HOW TO CALCULATE AND PRESENT DEEP RETROFIT VALUE. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2014-12_DRV-ExecutiveSummary.pdf

Chicago

RMI. HOW TO CALCULATE AND PRESENT DEEP RETROFIT VALUE. 2014. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2014-12_DRV-ExecutiveSummary.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=HOW TO CALCULATE AND PRESENT DEEP RETROFIT VALUE |date=January 2014 |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2014-12_DRV-ExecutiveSummary.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2014how, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{HOW TO CALCULATE AND PRESENT DEEP RETROFIT VALUE}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2014}, month = jan, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2014-12_DRV-ExecutiveSummary.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }