Lexicon

Abject
Accretion
Actant
Aeration
Aerobic
Algae-boosted
Animal
Anthropomorphism
Anti-Continuous Construction
Apocalypse
Aquaculture
Aquanaut
Ark
Artificial Intelligence
Autopoiesis
Assemblages
Asymmetry
Atrophy
Attraction
Autarchy
Automata
Automation
Autosymbiosis
Bambassador
Bathyscaphe
Bioconurbation
Biomedia
Bionics
Biosphere
Biotechnique
By-product
Capacity
Actant
Coisolation
Composting
Conservative Surgery
Consumer Envelope
Consumption
Continuous Construction
Conurbation
Correalism
Cultural_Memory
Cybernetics
Cybertecture
Cyborg
Dispositif
Diving Saucer
Dross
Earthship
Ecocatastrophe
Effluvium
Egosphere
End-use
Entanglement
Eutopia
Feedback
Foam
Folk
Gadget
Garbage House
Green Cyborg
Heuristic
Hoard
Holism
Homogenization of Desire
Hostile
Human Affect
Hybridized Folk
Hydroponic
Hyper-Materialism
Information Economy
Inner Space
Interama
Intra-Uterine
Maque
Megalopolis
Min-use
Mobility
Monorail
Multi-Hinge
Non-Design
Oceanaut
Oppositional Consciousness
Organic
Ouroboros
Panarchy
Parasite
Perceived Continuation
Permanence
Place
Prototype
Post-Animal
Reclamation
RI: Data Farms
RI: Garbage and Animals
RI:Shipbreaking
RI: Toxic Sublime
Sampling
Scale
Sensing Structure
Simulacrum
Simulation
Soft Energy
Spaceship Earth
Submersible
Superwindow
Symbiosis
Synthetic Environment
Technocratic
Technological Heredity
Technological Sublime
Telechirics
The Sublime
Thermal Panel
Actant
Thing-Power
Thinking Machines
Tool
Toxic Withdrawal
Turbulence
UV-Transparent Film
Vibrant Matter
Waste
Work

Soft Energy

Soft Energy (n.) Soft energy is alternative renewable energy source or energy efficiency replacing fossil and nuclear fuels, which is considered hard energy because it is not renewable or energy efficient. 1 It is a term coined by Amory Lovins, the founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute. This idea of soft energy fits very well with the current direction architecture is headed in. People are becoming conscious about the environment and are designing smarter skins and facades. Rocky Mountain Institute is a building designed with the idea of soft energy in mind. It was designed to promote the ideas of energy efficient design and smart use and allocation of resources. 2 The house designed for Amory and his wife is at an elevation of 7100’ and is exposed to temperature extremes from ­-47F to 90F. The exterior wall is thicker than a typical wall, 16” thick with 2 layers of 6” masonry sandwiching 4” insulation foam. This approach to the exterior wall’s design is taken because of the heat absorbing properties of masonry and the heat retaining properties of the insulation. Bricks on the exterior gathers heat from the solar radiation and the insulation retains the heat, providing the building with a constant level of heat even with no HVAC system in the building.3

1. Amory Lovins “Soft Every Path: Towards a Durable Peace” 1977. 11.
2. Aris Yi, Samuel Ramirez, Michael Bendewald, Alok Pradhan. “Lovins GreenHome 1.0.” August 2010. 1.
3. Amory Lovins, “Rocky Mountain Institute Visitor’s Guide”. 2007. 20.