Amory and Judy Lovins’ Response to Jeffrey Ball’s article in The Wall Street Journal, “The Homely Costs of Energy Conservation”

The document is a response by Amory and Judy Lovins to a Wall Street Journal article regarding their home's energy efficiency. The authors argue that their original 1982–84 house achieved 90% electricity savings and 99% heating energy savings with a minimal cost premium of $6,000, which was recovered in ten months. They distinguish this from a later 2007–09 renovation that was more costly because it focused on 'bleeding-edge' technology and aesthetics rather than basic efficiency. The authors promote 'integrative design'—where high insulation levels eliminate the need for expensive heating systems—as a method to reduce energy use by over 80% at comparable or lower capital costs. They cite examples such as 'passive houses' in Europe and specific projects in Bangkok and California to demonstrate that these economics apply across different climates and scales.

• The original 1982–84 construction of the Lovins' home achieved approximately 90% savings in household electricity and 99% savings in space- and water-heating energy for an additional cost of $6,000, which was repaid through total energy savings within ten months.
• The authors argue that 'integrative design' can reduce energy use in all houses by over 80% at capital costs that are equal to or lower than standard construction, because the cost of superinsulation and better glazing is offset by the removal of expensive heating systems.
• The 2007–09 renovation of the house was expensive not due to efficiency goals, but because it incorporated handmade, 'bleeding-edge' technologies, upgraded aesthetics, and deferred maintenance to demonstrate technological advances and achieve a negative carbon footprint.
• The authors reject the claim that wide-scale adoption of superefficiency requires government mandates or subsidies, stating that the high returns on investment make such measures unnecessary.
• Integrative design principles have been successfully applied in various global contexts, including over 20,000 'passive houses' in Europe, a home in Bangkok that saved ~90% of air-conditioning energy at no extra cost, and the ACT2 experiment tract houses in California.
• The home's current energy strategy involves using a photovoltaic array and purchasing windpower at night to displace coal-fired electricity on the grid, rather than using batteries for nighttime storage.

APA

Lovins, A. B., & Lovins, J. H. (n.d.). Amory and Judy Lovins’ Response to Jeffrey Ball’s article in The Wall Street Journal, “The Homely Costs of Energy Conservation”. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2009-16_LovinsResponseToWSJ.pdf

Chicago

Lovins, Amory B., and Judy Hill Lovins. Amory and Judy Lovins’ Response to Jeffrey Ball’s article in The Wall Street Journal, “The Homely Costs of Energy Conservation”. RMI, n.d. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2009-16_LovinsResponseToWSJ.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Lovins |first1=Amory B. |last2=Lovins |first2=Judy Hill |title=Amory and Judy Lovins’ Response to Jeffrey Ball’s article in The Wall Street Journal, “The Homely Costs of Energy Conservation” |publisher=RMI |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2009-16_LovinsResponseToWSJ.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{lovinsndamory, author = {Lovins, Amory B. and Lovins, Judy Hill}, title = {{Amory and Judy Lovins’ Response to Jeffrey Ball’s article in The Wall Street Journal, “The Homely Costs of Energy Conservation”}}, publisher = {RMI}, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2009-16_LovinsResponseToWSJ.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }