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Built to Influence: Showcasing one of America’s Highest Performing Buildings

The Innovation Center is a beyond net-zero energy office and convening center designed and owned by Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI). To advance their mission, RMI designed the building to demonstrate that a comfortable and attractive net-zero buildings was possible even in the coldest climate zone in the US. This required a strategic marketing and communications effort that could inspire people to think differently about what a building can provide to its occupants and the environment—and ultimately put their money behind a new way of building. *This work was completed while an employee of Rocky Mountain Institute.

Goal
Target leading building professionals and designers, owners, real estate investors, and facility managers to increase industry exposure to the Innovation Center, and provide the tools and motivation necessary to increase the potential for replicability.

Scope
Strategic planning, campaign management, full-service implementation, and partnership management.

Outputs

 
 
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Video Tour

Video tour, in-building signage for self-guided tours, and scripts and training for guides.

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Microsite

Featuring live energy performance data and key building design features.

Direct Marketing

Email campaigns tailored to a growing database of building industry professionals.

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PR

Coordinated press releases and worked with national media to drive news coverage.

Editorial

Developed unique content that showcased the groundbreaking aspects of the project including blogs, guest editorials, and case studies.

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Events

Supported opening events and others to influence the design community such as the Getting to Zero National Forum.

The Innovation Center has had a measurable impact on demand for net-zero office buildings. This is evidenced through the high demand for the team that made the Innovation Center possible (ZGF architects, JE Dunn, and PAE Engineers among others) to work on other high-profile NZE projects. Here are some of the communications-specific outcomes that helped drive this exciting impact.

  • The Innovation Center was mentioned in 379 media outlets within the first six months and the building has won 12 awards.

  • Members of the team completed >40 presentations at key industry events reaching more than 15,000 industry professionals.

  • Tours were given to 70 groups, over 3000 individuals from 7 countries and leading professional groups such as American Institute and the United States Green Building Council, prominent real estate owners and developers, and other architects, engineers, and designers.

  • The video tour has 7,000 views.

  • The building was featured as a solution in the 2017 book “Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming” by Paul Hawken.

  • Full case studies were published by The International Living Futures Institute, Passive House Institute US, ASHRAE, and others.

  • A research paper on the team’s groundbreaking approach to delivering thermal comfort reached >3,000 industry professionals and similar strategies are being adopted in NZE buildings under construction. 

  • Writers from Architecture Magazine spent a week at the Center to evaluate how the building was actually performing at the end of year 1, resulting in a feature multi-media case study with a reach of >4M.