Skip to main content Skip to secondary navigation

Extreme Energy Efficiency course is a cross-campus effort of the Precourt Institute for Energy.

Snow on the mountains in back of the Rocky Mountain Institute
Main content start

E^3: Extreme Energy Efficiency

A Unique and Rewarding Extreme Energy Efficiency Course
CEE 107R/207R • Offered Winter and Spring Quarters 2024 • 3-5 Units 

Winter Quarter 2024, In-Person


Wednesdays 1:30PM-4:20PM PT  

Also offered Spring Quarter, Same Times

2023 Course Flyer and Winter Course Syllabus

Check out the Stanford News article about the success of delivering our virtual 2020 course during the COVID-19 pandemic here!

This year's course will be held in person during winter quarter on Wednesdays from 1:30PM-4:20PM PT, and in spring quarter (April 3 - June 5, same times). There will also be no application this year, as we can accommodate all interested students! We are excited to have this experiential learning course with world-renowned Amory Lovins, from Rocky Mountain Institute and Dr. Joel Swisher, former RMI managing director and Stanford instructor. We hope you will join us! 

Who should take this course?


You want to get deep into energy efficiency / engineering design for the whole system

You want to be inspired by working with some of the greatest minds in energy efficiency

You are passionate about solving energy-related issues through energy efficiency

We recommend one of the following prerequisite courses (or an equivalent):

Undergraduates and Graduates of any major or background

Course Description

Tropical plants growing in the Rocky Mountains Institute


Be part of a unique course about extreme energy efficiency and integrative design! We wil meet for once a week throughout the winter quarter. The course will focus on efficiency techniques’ design, performance, choice, evolution, integration, barrier-busting, profitable business-led implementation, and implications for energy supply, competitive success, environment, development, security, etc. Examples will span very diverse sectors, applications, issues, and disciplines, covering different energy themes throughout the quarter: buildings, transportation, industry, and implementation and implications, including renewable energy synergy and integration.

Solid technical grounding and acquaintance with basic economics and business concepts will both be helpful. The course will be composed of keynote lectures, exercises, and interactive puzzlers synthesizing integrative design principles. Exercises will illuminate challenges RMI has faced and solutions it has created in real-world design. Students will explore clean-sheet solutions that meet end-use demands and optimize whole-system resource efficiency, often with expanding rather than diminishing returns to investments, i.e. making big savings cheaper than small ones. Students will work closely and interactively with instructors including Amory Lovins, cofounder and Chief Scientist of RMI, Dr. Joel Swisher and former RMI managing director and Stanford instructor.

Group photo outside Amory Lovins's home
E^3: Extreme Energy Efficiency Class of 2019, outside Amory Lovins's home