Green museum
Encyclopedia
A green museum is a museum
that incorporates concepts of sustainability
into its operations, programming, and facility. Many green museums, but not all, use their collections to produce exhibitions, events, classes, and other programming to educate the public about the natural environment
. Many, but not all, green museums reside in a building featuring sustainable architecture
and technology. Green museums interpret their own sustainable practices and green design to present a model of behavior.
Green museums strive to help people become more conscious of their world, its limitations, and how their actions affect it. The goal is to create positive change by encouraging people to make sustainable choices in their daily lives. They use their position as community-centered institutions to create a culture of sustainability.
’ Code of Ethics. There are many types of museums that specialize in various fields, including anthropology
, art
, history
, natural history
, science
, and can have living collections such as public aquariums, botanical gardens, nature center
s, and zoos, or no collections like planetarium
s, and children's museums.
Museums are stewards of natural heritage
and cultural heritage
by preserving objects of importance to mankind on the community and global level. Museums communicate and contribute to knowledge. They are mission-driven, serve the public, and usually have nonprofit legal status.
(1987): "Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs."
Sustainability reflects a complex system where components are closely linked and do not exist in isolation from one another. A sustainable system affects and is affected by the individual and collective behaviors of its members. Sustainability therefore recognizes the human impact on the environment, and aims to mitigate negative effects.
forms and holds humanity’s deepest values, attitudes, and actions. Sustainability asks people to adapt at a cultural level, changing their beliefs and behavior (Worts, 2006). Museums are in a unique role to establish and promote a culture of sustainability. "In their role as places of authority and keepers of culture, museums have unequaled power and responsibility to model and to teach the methods of preserving ourselves, our planet and our cultural resources" (45).
and the mass media
. Some scholars believe that a focus on sustainability is a way for museums to be relevant in the 21st century (Brophy & Wylie, 2006). However, most conventional museums are not engaged in sustainable practices.
The green museum movement began in science and children’s museums. Science museums found that environmental advocacy and education fit easily within their missions and programming. Children’s museums saw that using green design in their inside environments created a healthy playground for their young visitors. Once sustainability became a topic of discussion in museum circles, zoos and aquariums realized that their existing missions and programming of species conservation was in essence sustainable education. Recently, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums revised its accreditation standards to include a requirement of environmental advocacy.
With the green museum movement beginning in Children's Museums, The Children's Discovery Museum in Normal, IL, became the first LEED-certified Children's Museum on October 3, 2005, when it received a Silver certification. The Brooklyn Children's Museum
became the first LEED-certified green museum in New York City in 2008, using rapidly-renewable and recycled features such as bamboo and recycled rubber flooring. The museum also uses photovoltaics
to generate electricity. The Boston Children's Museum
is also a good example of a green museum leader, after receiving a LEED Gold certification in 2007, as well as the Pittsburgh Children's Museum, which received a LEED Silver certification in 2004.
Science museums and zoos were quick to follow Children's Museums in the green movement. One of the first science museums to adopt green initiatives was the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center
at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain in Burlington Vermont, which was the first LEED certified building in Vermont. The Natural History Museum of Utah is another museum which has taken charge in the green museum movement. They are applying for a LEED Gold certification, and are expected to save over $22,000 in energy costs. At their Rio Tinto Center, the museum will have such integrated design features as an educational energy trail to tell the whole story of energy, as well as a renewable energy system.
Zoos and Botanical Gardens have also beecome leaders in the Green Museum field. The Denver Zoo, Woodland Park Zoo, and Cincinnati Zoo all received Green Awards at the 2011 Association of Zoos and Aquariums
Conference. The Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens
was given a LEED silver certification for its new Welcome Center, which "is designed to evoke the geometry of the historic glass houses behind it." It has 11,000 square feet of lobby, ticketing, gift shop, and cafe space with a 34 ft high glass dome that is insulated to control glare and heat. Architects partially built the structure into the terrain, with 14th feet of usable space below ground. It was determined that by doing this, Phipps would save 40-50% of annual energy costs compared with an entirely above ground structure, and demonstrated that sustainable design could be created in ways that were still sympathetic to historic settings. Phipps will also be opening the Center for Sustainable Landscapes, which will house a center for education, research, and administration. It is scheduled to open in the spring of 2012, and is planned to exceed the LEED platinum certification, and achieve the Living Building Challenge
.
Art Museums are now also joining the movement. The Grand Rapids Art Museum
became the world's first LEED certified art museum complex in 2008 when it received LEED Gold certification, which such innovative features as a heat recovery ventilator, CO2 sensors, and on site grey water reuse.
Now all types of museums of all sizes are becoming green. In the last decade, over 20 American museums have constructed a new green building or have renovated an existing building with sustainable features. Many others have developed green operations or programming. Some scholars believe that environmental sustainability will become a professional expectation for all museums in the future (Wylie & Brophy, 2008).
One specific example of a "Green Museum" is The Toledo Zoo
in Toledo, Ohio. In 2007, the institution redefined its mission statement to focus on inspiring and informing the public about conservation. As part of their new mission, the Toledo Zoo committed to green construction, which was shown in the parking lot renovation project. The main parking lot was redesigned in order to increase parking capacity and aid traffic flow, and the project incorporated green elements such as rain gardens and reusing concrete. The renovation also included a residential-sized wind-turbine and three solar panels to power the ticket booths at the park's entrance. The wind-turbine and solar panels generate 3600 kilowatt hours per year, which can be redirected into the zoo's main power grid when the booths are not in use and reduce the zoo's carbon footprint by 5600 pounds annually.
Another project at the Toledo Zoo is the Solar Walk. The Solar Walk opened in November 2010 and includes over 1400 solar panels that produce 104,000 kilowatt hours per year, the same amount of energy used by ten typical homes in Ohio. The Toledo Zoo and the Solar Walk's design team wanted the project to be a visual reminder to all zoo visitors and traffic from nearby highway of the zoo's commitment to conservation. In order to accomplish the project, the Toledo Zoo turned to a local companies, and used funds from private contributions and an energy grant from ODOD to cover the $14,750,000 price. Also, The Toledo Zoo, in keeping with their mission statement, included informational panels on how the Solar Walk works and the amount of energy produced to date, so that visitors can be informed on the conservational value of the project. The Solar Walk will reduce the Zoo's carbon footprint by over 75 metric tons each year, which is equivalent to 15 medium-sized cars. The Toledo Zoo has further committed to incorporate green construction into its building plans through geothermal
wells, environmentally friendly insulation and other renewable energy
and green construction materials.
Before the reduce, reuse, recycle mantra became mainstream, a small number of museums had already begun promoting sustainable decision making thru exhibits. One museum in particular, the Boston Children's Museum, developed a concept known as "The Recycle Shop". In 1970, this exhibit promoted the benefits of using manufactured waste materials, and turning them into artistic creations. Students, teachers, and the general public were allowed to collect art materials not otherwise found in regular stores. The Recycle Shop closed its doors after several years in operation, due to the recycling program that was later introduced across the United States.
Throughout the last several years, exhibit designers have expanded their businesses by building eco-friendly exhibits. Using environmentally-safe materials such as low Volatile Organic Compound
(VOC) paints, formadelhyde-free wood products and fiberwood (composite wood) are the trademark tools for defining green exhibits. Some exhibit furniture products are also constructed to be shipped for flat packing. This helps to decrease shipping costs, reduce packing material, increase fuel efficiency which minimizes the overall carbon footprint of the exhibition.
How does a museum understand the criteria that is required, needed to build green exhibits? Organizations are working to develop a standard rating system, for the specific needs of green exhibitions. In 2007, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) created an aid to help museums assess the sustainability of their exhibits. OMSI, a scientific, educational, and cultural resource center looked to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, to create the OMSI Green Exhibit Certification.
The guide provides a checklist for organizations who follows eight elements regularly used in exhibit design. After evaluation, they are awarded 0-4 points:
There are other guides and checklists available online for museums that want to be active participants in the green community. The Madison Children's Museum
in Madison, WI developed a checklist for museum exhibit designers and fabricators to create exhibits that showcase best practices for a healthier environment. Exhibit SEED is a larger project funded by the National Science Foundation titled Sustainability: Promoting Sustainable Decision Making in Informal Education.
. Some museums choose to make sustainability a central part of their identity, writing their commitment to being green in their mission statements. Sustainability can be seen as relating to three aspects included in most museum missions: field of research, purpose of public service, and the mandate for education. Museums that model green behavior enhance their missions and support their communities.
Not all green museums feel sustainability directly aligns with their missions. For example, an art museum that resides in green building and does not interpret its sustainable practices can be considered a green museum.
centers that serve the public, museums are in a position to teach about sustainability to a large audience in meaningful ways. Through a combination of motivation and information, green museums try to initiate changes in behavior in people’s everyday lives. Green museums lead by example by explaining to visitors what sustainable activities they are doing and why through signage, programming, and websites. The goal is that visitors will learn about sustainable practices at the museum and then be able to implement them at home.
Many museums dedicated to sustainability and conservation education often utilize theorist like Richard Louv
and David Sobel
to find the most effective ways to motivate their audiences to conservation action. For instance, Disney's Animal Kingdom cites Richard Louv's
Nature Deficit Disorder
as one justification for their Kids' Discovery Clubs, which focuses on encouraging children to not only learn about animals but also find out what they can do to help wildlife. Another museum to cite Louv's Nature Deficit Disorder for their programming is the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. They spearheaded the national Take a Child Outside Week, which encourages children and adults to spend time together outdoors . Many museums also approach sustainability issues with Ecophobia in mind. Ecophobia is David Sobel's
theory that if you introduce abstract and difficult environmental issues to children at too early of an age, and with out the proper background knowledge, they will retreat from nature. An example of a museum attempting to overcome Ecophobia would be one that promotes a love of nature and presents options of actions guests can take to help the environment before presenting them with more controversial and abstract environmental and sustainability issues. The Brooklyn Children's Museums
respects the developmental stages of children by using their LEED
certified building to teach children and their families about environmental conservation through interactive, age appropriate exhibits and activities.
and civic engagement
. Sustainability is an opportunity for thoughtful, proactive museum work. "Museums can play a critical role in moving the communities they serve towards a more sustainable future. Aligning their missions and programs with sustainability principles... ...will recalibrate their own daily practices as well as awaken their community to the array of choices perhaps otherwise invisible to them" (183).
Museums, as a trusted part of the informal education system, are able to address the economic, cultural, and social dimensions of sustainability. They achieve this by engaging the public with interactive exhibits and by publicizing their own green efforts. The goal, stated or unstated, is to educate patrons about the effect they have on their environment, the ecological, economic, and cultural risks taken when they ignore their impact on the world, and introduce ways that they can reduce their carbon footprint. Thus, museums achieve civic engagement and social responsibility through teaching.
Some musuems, such as the Royal Saskatchewan Museum
in Saskatchewan, Canada, take a global approach to civic engagement. The Royal Saskatchewan Museum's green exhibit is titled The Human Factor and aims to show patrons the human ecological impact on the planet, what practices they can adopt to lessen this impact, and project what the future will be if humans do not take action. Visitors are helped to understand what Earth looked like before humans and gradual human impact over time through colorful depictions in the "Time Tunnel". The subsequent gallery, "Living Planet", explains how a global ecosystem functions and what human stresses are to the Earth's global ecosystem on a rotating globe. Specifically identified as a stress to the global ecosystem is the rising population. Curators placed clocks in the exhibit that count increases in population across the globe. Beneath the clocks are the forms of humans and in their shadow is the images of industrial productivity. The following gallery, Causes of Stress, identifies the source of ecological stresses as rampant cosumerism and explains what causes this extreme behavior. The solutions gallery depicts sustainable development and an electronic display of sustainability success stories. This is an effort to show patrons how their choices impact not only themselves and their parts of the world but other people and their environments. The last gallery, Looking Ahead, describes the projected future of the globe if humans adopt the prescribed changes. The desired effect is an emotional response to the human impact on the global ecosystem.
The Bronx Zoo
seeks to educate its patrons about water resources and the impact of restroom use on water resources through the EcoRestroom exhibit. At the same time, by installing this restroom with composting toilets the Zoo has reduced its carbon footprint. The restroom serves men and women with 12 toilets and six sinks for women and two toilets, four waterless urinals and four sinks for men. The sinks do not rely on electricity or battery power; rather, they recharge as water runs through them. The used water runs into a Grey Water garden that is unharmed by the bio-compatable soap available for use by patrons. The restroom doubles as exhibition space, informing visitors of water conservation. Along the pathway to the entrance of the restroom therre are water-droplet-shaped signs that give visitors tips for conserving and repurposing water at home. Signs continue over the sinks, providing visitors with facts about water use meant to inspire thought about their own use and what they can do to use less water. Signs on the inside of the stall doors inform visitors how composting toilets function and the impact they have on the environment. This installation not only shows patrons how they can make simple changes to conserve water but implements those changes in real time at the Zoo. In educating, the Zoo is also making a difference.
As stewards of the public trust, Museums bear a responsibility to maintain collections utilizing the most efficient methods available. Museums must do their part to ensure that there is a public to enjoy the collection and resources to exhibit the collection. One way museums can conserve resources is to incorporate energy saving practices into their daily operations, altering the facilities they already inhabit rather than building anew. Brophy and Wylie identify simple solutions such as installing motion sensors that turn the lights on when visitors enter the gallery and turn the lights off when they exit, such as those found at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. Those lightbulbs could even be replaced with long-lasting LED bulbs.Other museums that manipulate their facilities location include the Morgan Library
, as identified by Brophy and Wylie, whose storage is "carved out of Manhattan bedrock." The bedrock provides natural cool storage without using electricity to generate an air conditioned climate. Thus neither money nor electricity are spent to control the climate of the storage space, which stresses not only museum funds but increasingly scarce electricity too.
Museums further achieve social responsibility by implementing the sustainable practices that they advocate in building or altering facilities such that they are sustainable.This includes using LEED
building practices and sourcing materials locally. Purchasing building materials and employing local labor stimulates the economy in the vicinity of the museum. It also reduces the carbon footprint of construction; materials purchased from local suppliers do not need to be delivered on a tractor-trailer, on an airplane, or on a ship, all of which consume fuel, time and money. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, CO, has incorporated locally sourcing materials into its LEED-Gold design plan. The Museum highlights that its green roof, furniture fixtures and equipment have all been locally sourced. The museum also encourages the use of public transportation by offering discounts to visitor who use this as a means of accessing the museum. In building to the LEED Gold standard, the Museum of Contemporary Art has also made its operations more energy efficient. The facade is built to maximize climate control and limit the use of traditional forced air. Radiant flooring circulates heat around the perimiter of the building. These are two ways that MCA Denver conserves energy. The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego purchased paint, office furnishings, windows and doors from local vendors. By educating the community and putting advocacy into action, museums become socially responsible.
, there are many types of educational, recreational, and social skills that may be successfully taught outdoors. Outdoor museum spaces include pathways, trails, pavilions, picnic areas, fountains, courtyards, waste management areas, rooftops, and the greater surrounding environment. Whether a new facility or an existing one, green museums use these outdoor areas to implement sustainable practices. For instance, incorporating native plants, wetlands, bioswales, rain gardens, butterfly gardens, vegetable gardens, and green roofs are all ways museums can maximize the use of, and green their grounds. Additionally, the natural surrounding environment can be an integral part of the green museum (where the land is part of the museum). Incorporating these outdoor spaces provides a more flexible learning environment with greater educational opportunities. Outdoor spaces allow for hands-on projects that promote environmental awareness and are an ideal catalyst for community involvement.
Increasingly, green museums are incorporating sustainable thinking in their outdoor planning. For example, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum designed a rooftop that won the 2003 Chicago Green Roof Award. The living portion of the roof reduces the volume of storm water runoff and solar panels generate electricity used by the museum below. The Pittsburgh Botanic Garden is working on a reclamation project to heal its land that was once used for coal mining. The project allows the garden to tell a story of ecological change and the importance of restoration. In the summertime, Walker Art Museum uses its outdoor space, Open Field, for public programs and as a gathering place that brings together imagination, recreation, relaxation, and exploration. The Natural History Museum of Utah prides itself on being a model for environmental sustainability. The exterior of the facility was designed to respect and reflect the natural world by blending in with the surrounding environment.
The ability to quantify the performance of outdoor spaces is important to be a trusted example in the green museum community. There are multiple rating systems and interactive tools online and there is a growing consultancy field aimed at helping museums audit, develop baselines, and benchmark their performance. One strategy for museums going green is to become LEED
Certificated. In 2000, the US Green Building Council (USGBC) introduced the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system that ranks sustainability in buildings and operations. To date, LEED is focused mostly on structures and development, while landscape issues are minimally addressed. The Sustainable SITES Initiative (SITES) is a new benchmark and rating system that was created, as a joint venture by the American Society of Landscape Architects
, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
and the United States Botanic Garden
. Modeled after the LEED program, SITES is a work in progress to establish benchmarks and a rating system that addresses site selection, landscape design, construction, operations, maintenance and monitoring. Currently SITES is in the pilot project phase, and will be completed in June 2012. In November 2009, SITES released "Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks 2009" for the pilot projects which includes the rating system with five areas of focus; hydrology, soils, vegetation, materials, and human health and well-being. While LEED focuses on energy, the key to SITES is ecosystem services
.
Ecosystem services are benefits provided by natural ecosystems such as:
SITES shows that when assessing overall sustainability, the museum landscape is equally important to the building structure. However, like any operational decision, the appropriate sustainable design techniques must balance with the museum's mission. It helps to articulate what learning outcomes are involved and what the long-term plan is for the outdoor space.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
that incorporates concepts of sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
into its operations, programming, and facility. Many green museums, but not all, use their collections to produce exhibitions, events, classes, and other programming to educate the public about the natural environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
. Many, but not all, green museums reside in a building featuring sustainable architecture
Sustainable architecture
Sustainable architecture is a general term that describes environmentally conscious design techniques in the field of architecture. Sustainable architecture is framed by the larger discussion of sustainability and the pressing economic and political issues of our world...
and technology. Green museums interpret their own sustainable practices and green design to present a model of behavior.
Green museums strive to help people become more conscious of their world, its limitations, and how their actions affect it. The goal is to create positive change by encouraging people to make sustainable choices in their daily lives. They use their position as community-centered institutions to create a culture of sustainability.
Museum
Museums make a "unique contribution to the public by collecting, preserving, and interpreting the things of this world," according to the American Association of MuseumsAmerican Association of Museums
The American Association of Museums is a non-profit association that has brought museums together since its founding in 1906, helping develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and advocating on issues of concern to the museum community...
’ Code of Ethics. There are many types of museums that specialize in various fields, including anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, and can have living collections such as public aquariums, botanical gardens, nature center
Nature center
A nature center is an organization with a visitor center or interpretive center designed to educate people about nature and the environment. Usually located within a protected open space, nature centers often have trails through their property. Some are located within a state or city park, and...
s, and zoos, or no collections like planetarium
Planetarium
A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...
s, and children's museums.
Museums are stewards of natural heritage
Natural heritage
Natural heritage is the legacy of natural objects and intangible attributes encompassing the countryside and natural environment, including flora and fauna, scientifically known as biodiversity, and geology and landforms ....
and cultural heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
by preserving objects of importance to mankind on the community and global level. Museums communicate and contribute to knowledge. They are mission-driven, serve the public, and usually have nonprofit legal status.
Green
In the concept of green museums, the word green means environmentally thoughtful practice. The terms "green" and "sustainable" are buzzwords and often used interchangeably. However, according to Brophy and Wylie, "green" and "sustainable" have distinctly different definitions. "Green refers to products and behaviors that are environmentally benign, [...] while sustainable means practices that rely on renewable or reusable materials and processes that are green or environmentally benign." Another frequently cited definition for "sustainability" that is used in various contexts was developed by the United NationsUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
(1987): "Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs."
Sustainability reflects a complex system where components are closely linked and do not exist in isolation from one another. A sustainable system affects and is affected by the individual and collective behaviors of its members. Sustainability therefore recognizes the human impact on the environment, and aims to mitigate negative effects.
Culture of sustainability
Green museums promote a culture of sustainability. CultureCulture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
forms and holds humanity’s deepest values, attitudes, and actions. Sustainability asks people to adapt at a cultural level, changing their beliefs and behavior (Worts, 2006). Museums are in a unique role to establish and promote a culture of sustainability. "In their role as places of authority and keepers of culture, museums have unequaled power and responsibility to model and to teach the methods of preserving ourselves, our planet and our cultural resources" (45).
History
Green museums are a relatively new phenomena. Discussions within museums circles about environmental sustainability began in the 1990s and have continued to grow in momentum to the present day. Currently, green museums are receiving a lot of attention from academiaAcademia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
and the mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
. Some scholars believe that a focus on sustainability is a way for museums to be relevant in the 21st century (Brophy & Wylie, 2006). However, most conventional museums are not engaged in sustainable practices.
The green museum movement began in science and children’s museums. Science museums found that environmental advocacy and education fit easily within their missions and programming. Children’s museums saw that using green design in their inside environments created a healthy playground for their young visitors. Once sustainability became a topic of discussion in museum circles, zoos and aquariums realized that their existing missions and programming of species conservation was in essence sustainable education. Recently, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums revised its accreditation standards to include a requirement of environmental advocacy.
With the green museum movement beginning in Children's Museums, The Children's Discovery Museum in Normal, IL, became the first LEED-certified Children's Museum on October 3, 2005, when it received a Silver certification. The Brooklyn Children's Museum
Brooklyn Children's Museum
The Brooklyn Children's Museum is a general purpose museum in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York City, USA. Founded in 1899, it was the first museum in the United States and some believe, the world, to cater specifically to children and is unique in its location, predominantly a residential area...
became the first LEED-certified green museum in New York City in 2008, using rapidly-renewable and recycled features such as bamboo and recycled rubber flooring. The museum also uses photovoltaics
Photovoltaics
Photovoltaics is a method of generating electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity using semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaic power generation employs solar panels composed of a number of solar cells containing a photovoltaic material...
to generate electricity. The Boston Children's Museum
Boston Children's Museum
Boston Children's Museum is a children's museum in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the education of children. Located on Children's Wharf along the Fort Point Channel, Boston Children's Museum is the second oldest children's museum in the United States...
is also a good example of a green museum leader, after receiving a LEED Gold certification in 2007, as well as the Pittsburgh Children's Museum, which received a LEED Silver certification in 2004.
Science museums and zoos were quick to follow Children's Museums in the green movement. One of the first science museums to adopt green initiatives was the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center
ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center
ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center, formerly the Lake Champlain Basin Science Center, is located on the Burlington waterfront in northern Vermont. It is home to more than 70 species of fish, amphibians, invertebrates, and reptiles, major traveling exhibitions, and the multimedia Awesome Forces...
at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain in Burlington Vermont, which was the first LEED certified building in Vermont. The Natural History Museum of Utah is another museum which has taken charge in the green museum movement. They are applying for a LEED Gold certification, and are expected to save over $22,000 in energy costs. At their Rio Tinto Center, the museum will have such integrated design features as an educational energy trail to tell the whole story of energy, as well as a renewable energy system.
Zoos and Botanical Gardens have also beecome leaders in the Green Museum field. The Denver Zoo, Woodland Park Zoo, and Cincinnati Zoo all received Green Awards at the 2011 Association of Zoos and Aquariums
Association of Zoos and Aquariums
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums was founded in 1924 and is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and public aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science, and recreation.The AZA headquarters is located in Silver...
Conference. The Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens
Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is a complex of buildings and grounds set in Schenley Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States...
was given a LEED silver certification for its new Welcome Center, which "is designed to evoke the geometry of the historic glass houses behind it." It has 11,000 square feet of lobby, ticketing, gift shop, and cafe space with a 34 ft high glass dome that is insulated to control glare and heat. Architects partially built the structure into the terrain, with 14th feet of usable space below ground. It was determined that by doing this, Phipps would save 40-50% of annual energy costs compared with an entirely above ground structure, and demonstrated that sustainable design could be created in ways that were still sympathetic to historic settings. Phipps will also be opening the Center for Sustainable Landscapes, which will house a center for education, research, and administration. It is scheduled to open in the spring of 2012, and is planned to exceed the LEED platinum certification, and achieve the Living Building Challenge
Living Building Challenge
The Living Building Challenge is a philosophy, advocacy tool and certification program that promotes the most advanced measurement of sustainability in the built environment possible today. It can be applied to development at all scales, from buildings – both new construction and renovation, to...
.
Art Museums are now also joining the movement. The Grand Rapids Art Museum
Grand Rapids Art Museum
The Grand Rapids Art Museum is an art museum located in Grand Rapids, Michigan with collections ranging from Renaissance to Modern Art and special collections on 19th and 20th century European and American art, including such modern art works as Richard Diebenkorn’s 1963 Ingleside...
became the world's first LEED certified art museum complex in 2008 when it received LEED Gold certification, which such innovative features as a heat recovery ventilator, CO2 sensors, and on site grey water reuse.
Now all types of museums of all sizes are becoming green. In the last decade, over 20 American museums have constructed a new green building or have renovated an existing building with sustainable features. Many others have developed green operations or programming. Some scholars believe that environmental sustainability will become a professional expectation for all museums in the future (Wylie & Brophy, 2008).
One specific example of a "Green Museum" is The Toledo Zoo
Toledo Zoo
Toledo Zoo is a zoo located in Toledo, Ohio. The zoo began in 1900 as Toledo Zoological Gardens and operated by the City of Toledo's Parks Board. In 1982 ownership was transferred from the city to Toledo Zoological Society, a private non-profit organization, and professionalized the zoo's management...
in Toledo, Ohio. In 2007, the institution redefined its mission statement to focus on inspiring and informing the public about conservation. As part of their new mission, the Toledo Zoo committed to green construction, which was shown in the parking lot renovation project. The main parking lot was redesigned in order to increase parking capacity and aid traffic flow, and the project incorporated green elements such as rain gardens and reusing concrete. The renovation also included a residential-sized wind-turbine and three solar panels to power the ticket booths at the park's entrance. The wind-turbine and solar panels generate 3600 kilowatt hours per year, which can be redirected into the zoo's main power grid when the booths are not in use and reduce the zoo's carbon footprint by 5600 pounds annually.
Another project at the Toledo Zoo is the Solar Walk. The Solar Walk opened in November 2010 and includes over 1400 solar panels that produce 104,000 kilowatt hours per year, the same amount of energy used by ten typical homes in Ohio. The Toledo Zoo and the Solar Walk's design team wanted the project to be a visual reminder to all zoo visitors and traffic from nearby highway of the zoo's commitment to conservation. In order to accomplish the project, the Toledo Zoo turned to a local companies, and used funds from private contributions and an energy grant from ODOD to cover the $14,750,000 price. Also, The Toledo Zoo, in keeping with their mission statement, included informational panels on how the Solar Walk works and the amount of energy produced to date, so that visitors can be informed on the conservational value of the project. The Solar Walk will reduce the Zoo's carbon footprint by over 75 metric tons each year, which is equivalent to 15 medium-sized cars. The Toledo Zoo has further committed to incorporate green construction into its building plans through geothermal
Geothermal
Geothermal is related to energy and may refer to:* The geothermal gradient and associated heat flows from within the Earth- Renewable technology :...
wells, environmentally friendly insulation and other renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
and green construction materials.
Green Exhibits
Museums are taking a more active approach to the project development of their exhibits. Children's museums initiated the green museum movement, mainly out of health concerns for the young visitors. Using toxic materials and chemicals on structures intended for children became a high worry for both the museum staff and parents. "In its 2004 expansion project the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh used only adhesives, sealants, paints, carpets, and composite wood that are certified formaldehyde free with near-zero off-gassing."Before the reduce, reuse, recycle mantra became mainstream, a small number of museums had already begun promoting sustainable decision making thru exhibits. One museum in particular, the Boston Children's Museum, developed a concept known as "The Recycle Shop". In 1970, this exhibit promoted the benefits of using manufactured waste materials, and turning them into artistic creations. Students, teachers, and the general public were allowed to collect art materials not otherwise found in regular stores. The Recycle Shop closed its doors after several years in operation, due to the recycling program that was later introduced across the United States.
Throughout the last several years, exhibit designers have expanded their businesses by building eco-friendly exhibits. Using environmentally-safe materials such as low Volatile Organic Compound
Volatile organic compound
Volatile organic compounds are organic chemicals that have a high vapor pressure at ordinary, room-temperature conditions. Their high vapor pressure results from a low boiling point, which causes large numbers of molecules to evaporate or sublimate from the liquid or solid form of the compound and...
(VOC) paints, formadelhyde-free wood products and fiberwood (composite wood) are the trademark tools for defining green exhibits. Some exhibit furniture products are also constructed to be shipped for flat packing. This helps to decrease shipping costs, reduce packing material, increase fuel efficiency which minimizes the overall carbon footprint of the exhibition.
How does a museum understand the criteria that is required, needed to build green exhibits? Organizations are working to develop a standard rating system, for the specific needs of green exhibitions. In 2007, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) created an aid to help museums assess the sustainability of their exhibits. OMSI, a scientific, educational, and cultural resource center looked to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, to create the OMSI Green Exhibit Certification.
The guide provides a checklist for organizations who follows eight elements regularly used in exhibit design. After evaluation, they are awarded 0-4 points:
- Rapidly Renewable Materials
- Resource Reuse
- Recycled Content
- End-life Assessment
- Low-Emitting Materials
- Certified Wood
- Conservation
- Regional Materials
There are other guides and checklists available online for museums that want to be active participants in the green community. The Madison Children's Museum
Madison Children's Museum
- History :Madison Children’s Museum was founded in 1980 as the vision of a group of early childhood specialists. The founding board of directors and volunteers built traveling exhibits that were displayed at neighborhood centers, parks and playgrounds. They also operated a pilot museum in the...
in Madison, WI developed a checklist for museum exhibit designers and fabricators to create exhibits that showcase best practices for a healthier environment. Exhibit SEED is a larger project funded by the National Science Foundation titled Sustainability: Promoting Sustainable Decision Making in Informal Education.
Mission
Some scholars suggest that sustainability and green design are a natural extension of a museum's mission statementMission statement
A mission statement is a statement of the purpose of a company or organization. The mission statement should guide the actions of the organization, spell out its overall goal, provide a path, and guide decision-making...
. Some museums choose to make sustainability a central part of their identity, writing their commitment to being green in their mission statements. Sustainability can be seen as relating to three aspects included in most museum missions: field of research, purpose of public service, and the mandate for education. Museums that model green behavior enhance their missions and support their communities.
Not all green museums feel sustainability directly aligns with their missions. For example, an art museum that resides in green building and does not interpret its sustainable practices can be considered a green museum.
Education
As informal educationEducation
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
centers that serve the public, museums are in a position to teach about sustainability to a large audience in meaningful ways. Through a combination of motivation and information, green museums try to initiate changes in behavior in people’s everyday lives. Green museums lead by example by explaining to visitors what sustainable activities they are doing and why through signage, programming, and websites. The goal is that visitors will learn about sustainable practices at the museum and then be able to implement them at home.
Many museums dedicated to sustainability and conservation education often utilize theorist like Richard Louv
Richard Louv
Richard Louv is an American nonfiction author and journalist. He is best known for his seventh book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder , which investigates the relationship of children and the natural world in current and historical contexts...
and David Sobel
David Sobel
David Sobel is an education writer who has helped in developing the philosophy of place-based education. He has written extensively on the topic in books and numerous articles. He is currently a Core Faculty member and Director of Certificate Programs at Antioch University New England.-...
to find the most effective ways to motivate their audiences to conservation action. For instance, Disney's Animal Kingdom cites Richard Louv's
Richard Louv
Richard Louv is an American nonfiction author and journalist. He is best known for his seventh book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder , which investigates the relationship of children and the natural world in current and historical contexts...
Nature Deficit Disorder
Nature deficit disorder
Nature Deficit Disorder, a term coined by Richard Louv in his 2005 book Last Child in the Woods, refers to the alleged trend that children are spending less time outdoors, resulting in a wide range of behavioral problems...
as one justification for their Kids' Discovery Clubs, which focuses on encouraging children to not only learn about animals but also find out what they can do to help wildlife. Another museum to cite Louv's Nature Deficit Disorder for their programming is the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. They spearheaded the national Take a Child Outside Week, which encourages children and adults to spend time together outdoors . Many museums also approach sustainability issues with Ecophobia in mind. Ecophobia is David Sobel's
David Sobel
David Sobel is an education writer who has helped in developing the philosophy of place-based education. He has written extensively on the topic in books and numerous articles. He is currently a Core Faculty member and Director of Certificate Programs at Antioch University New England.-...
theory that if you introduce abstract and difficult environmental issues to children at too early of an age, and with out the proper background knowledge, they will retreat from nature. An example of a museum attempting to overcome Ecophobia would be one that promotes a love of nature and presents options of actions guests can take to help the environment before presenting them with more controversial and abstract environmental and sustainability issues. The Brooklyn Children's Museums
Brooklyn Children's Museum
The Brooklyn Children's Museum is a general purpose museum in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York City, USA. Founded in 1899, it was the first museum in the United States and some believe, the world, to cater specifically to children and is unique in its location, predominantly a residential area...
respects the developmental stages of children by using their LEED
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....
certified building to teach children and their families about environmental conservation through interactive, age appropriate exhibits and activities.
Social Responsibility
In recent years, calls for museums to become sustainable institutions have come from within the museum field as a way for museums to achieve social responsibilitySocial responsibility
Social responsibility is an ethical ideology or theory that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act to benefit society at large. Social responsibility is a duty every individual or organization has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the...
and civic engagement
Civic engagement
Civic engagement or civic participation has been defined as "Individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern."-Forms:...
. Sustainability is an opportunity for thoughtful, proactive museum work. "Museums can play a critical role in moving the communities they serve towards a more sustainable future. Aligning their missions and programs with sustainability principles... ...will recalibrate their own daily practices as well as awaken their community to the array of choices perhaps otherwise invisible to them" (183).
Museums, as a trusted part of the informal education system, are able to address the economic, cultural, and social dimensions of sustainability. They achieve this by engaging the public with interactive exhibits and by publicizing their own green efforts. The goal, stated or unstated, is to educate patrons about the effect they have on their environment, the ecological, economic, and cultural risks taken when they ignore their impact on the world, and introduce ways that they can reduce their carbon footprint. Thus, museums achieve civic engagement and social responsibility through teaching.
Some musuems, such as the Royal Saskatchewan Museum
Royal Saskatchewan Museum
The Royal Saskatchewan Museum was established in Regina as the Provincial Museum in 1906 to "secure and preserve natural history specimens and objects of historical and ethnological interest." It was the first museum in Saskatchewan, Canada, and the first provincial museum in the three Prairie...
in Saskatchewan, Canada, take a global approach to civic engagement. The Royal Saskatchewan Museum's green exhibit is titled The Human Factor and aims to show patrons the human ecological impact on the planet, what practices they can adopt to lessen this impact, and project what the future will be if humans do not take action. Visitors are helped to understand what Earth looked like before humans and gradual human impact over time through colorful depictions in the "Time Tunnel". The subsequent gallery, "Living Planet", explains how a global ecosystem functions and what human stresses are to the Earth's global ecosystem on a rotating globe. Specifically identified as a stress to the global ecosystem is the rising population. Curators placed clocks in the exhibit that count increases in population across the globe. Beneath the clocks are the forms of humans and in their shadow is the images of industrial productivity. The following gallery, Causes of Stress, identifies the source of ecological stresses as rampant cosumerism and explains what causes this extreme behavior. The solutions gallery depicts sustainable development and an electronic display of sustainability success stories. This is an effort to show patrons how their choices impact not only themselves and their parts of the world but other people and their environments. The last gallery, Looking Ahead, describes the projected future of the globe if humans adopt the prescribed changes. The desired effect is an emotional response to the human impact on the global ecosystem.
The Bronx Zoo
Bronx Zoo
The Bronx Zoo is located in the Bronx borough of New York City, within Bronx Park. It is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, comprising of park lands and naturalistic habitats, through which the Bronx River flows....
seeks to educate its patrons about water resources and the impact of restroom use on water resources through the EcoRestroom exhibit. At the same time, by installing this restroom with composting toilets the Zoo has reduced its carbon footprint. The restroom serves men and women with 12 toilets and six sinks for women and two toilets, four waterless urinals and four sinks for men. The sinks do not rely on electricity or battery power; rather, they recharge as water runs through them. The used water runs into a Grey Water garden that is unharmed by the bio-compatable soap available for use by patrons. The restroom doubles as exhibition space, informing visitors of water conservation. Along the pathway to the entrance of the restroom therre are water-droplet-shaped signs that give visitors tips for conserving and repurposing water at home. Signs continue over the sinks, providing visitors with facts about water use meant to inspire thought about their own use and what they can do to use less water. Signs on the inside of the stall doors inform visitors how composting toilets function and the impact they have on the environment. This installation not only shows patrons how they can make simple changes to conserve water but implements those changes in real time at the Zoo. In educating, the Zoo is also making a difference.
As stewards of the public trust, Museums bear a responsibility to maintain collections utilizing the most efficient methods available. Museums must do their part to ensure that there is a public to enjoy the collection and resources to exhibit the collection. One way museums can conserve resources is to incorporate energy saving practices into their daily operations, altering the facilities they already inhabit rather than building anew. Brophy and Wylie identify simple solutions such as installing motion sensors that turn the lights on when visitors enter the gallery and turn the lights off when they exit, such as those found at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. Those lightbulbs could even be replaced with long-lasting LED bulbs.Other museums that manipulate their facilities location include the Morgan Library
Morgan Library
The Morgan Library & Museum is a museum and research library in New York City, USA. It was founded to house the private library of J. P. Morgan in 1906, which included, besides the manuscripts and printed books, some of them in rare bindings, his collection of prints and drawings...
, as identified by Brophy and Wylie, whose storage is "carved out of Manhattan bedrock." The bedrock provides natural cool storage without using electricity to generate an air conditioned climate. Thus neither money nor electricity are spent to control the climate of the storage space, which stresses not only museum funds but increasingly scarce electricity too.
Museums further achieve social responsibility by implementing the sustainable practices that they advocate in building or altering facilities such that they are sustainable.This includes using LEED
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....
building practices and sourcing materials locally. Purchasing building materials and employing local labor stimulates the economy in the vicinity of the museum. It also reduces the carbon footprint of construction; materials purchased from local suppliers do not need to be delivered on a tractor-trailer, on an airplane, or on a ship, all of which consume fuel, time and money. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, CO, has incorporated locally sourcing materials into its LEED-Gold design plan. The Museum highlights that its green roof, furniture fixtures and equipment have all been locally sourced. The museum also encourages the use of public transportation by offering discounts to visitor who use this as a means of accessing the museum. In building to the LEED Gold standard, the Museum of Contemporary Art has also made its operations more energy efficient. The facade is built to maximize climate control and limit the use of traditional forced air. Radiant flooring circulates heat around the perimiter of the building. These are two ways that MCA Denver conserves energy. The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego purchased paint, office furnishings, windows and doors from local vendors. By educating the community and putting advocacy into action, museums become socially responsible.
Landscapes and Outdoor Spaces
One approach green museums are taking to improve sustainability is to consider their outdoor spaces and landscape design. Greening outdoor spaces provides multiple benefits beyond aesthetics and museums are increasingly using their outdoor spaces to further sustainable strategies and educational goals. According to the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (NCEF)National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (NCEF)
The National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities is an extensive U.S. source of school facility planning, design, funding, construction, operations, and maintenance information, with coverage spanning pre-kindergarten through higher education...
, there are many types of educational, recreational, and social skills that may be successfully taught outdoors. Outdoor museum spaces include pathways, trails, pavilions, picnic areas, fountains, courtyards, waste management areas, rooftops, and the greater surrounding environment. Whether a new facility or an existing one, green museums use these outdoor areas to implement sustainable practices. For instance, incorporating native plants, wetlands, bioswales, rain gardens, butterfly gardens, vegetable gardens, and green roofs are all ways museums can maximize the use of, and green their grounds. Additionally, the natural surrounding environment can be an integral part of the green museum (where the land is part of the museum). Incorporating these outdoor spaces provides a more flexible learning environment with greater educational opportunities. Outdoor spaces allow for hands-on projects that promote environmental awareness and are an ideal catalyst for community involvement.
Increasingly, green museums are incorporating sustainable thinking in their outdoor planning. For example, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum designed a rooftop that won the 2003 Chicago Green Roof Award. The living portion of the roof reduces the volume of storm water runoff and solar panels generate electricity used by the museum below. The Pittsburgh Botanic Garden is working on a reclamation project to heal its land that was once used for coal mining. The project allows the garden to tell a story of ecological change and the importance of restoration. In the summertime, Walker Art Museum uses its outdoor space, Open Field, for public programs and as a gathering place that brings together imagination, recreation, relaxation, and exploration. The Natural History Museum of Utah prides itself on being a model for environmental sustainability. The exterior of the facility was designed to respect and reflect the natural world by blending in with the surrounding environment.
The ability to quantify the performance of outdoor spaces is important to be a trusted example in the green museum community. There are multiple rating systems and interactive tools online and there is a growing consultancy field aimed at helping museums audit, develop baselines, and benchmark their performance. One strategy for museums going green is to become LEED
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....
Certificated. In 2000, the US Green Building Council (USGBC) introduced the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system that ranks sustainability in buildings and operations. To date, LEED is focused mostly on structures and development, while landscape issues are minimally addressed. The Sustainable SITES Initiative (SITES) is a new benchmark and rating system that was created, as a joint venture by the American Society of Landscape Architects
American Society of Landscape Architects
The American Society of Landscape Architects is the national professional association representing landscape architects, with more than 17,000 members in 48 chapters, representing all 50 states, U.S. territories, and 42 countries around the world, plus 68 student chapters...
, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
The center currently functions as an Organizational Research Unit of The University of Texas at Austin.The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is a public botanical garden on La Crosse Avenue near the Mopac Expressway, 10 miles SW of downtown Austin, Texas and just inside the edge of the...
and the United States Botanic Garden
United States Botanic Garden
The United States Botanic Garden is a botanic garden on the grounds of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., near Garfield Circle....
. Modeled after the LEED program, SITES is a work in progress to establish benchmarks and a rating system that addresses site selection, landscape design, construction, operations, maintenance and monitoring. Currently SITES is in the pilot project phase, and will be completed in June 2012. In November 2009, SITES released "Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks 2009" for the pilot projects which includes the rating system with five areas of focus; hydrology, soils, vegetation, materials, and human health and well-being. While LEED focuses on energy, the key to SITES is ecosystem services
Ecosystem services
Humankind benefits from a multitude of resources and processes that are supplied by natural ecosystems. Collectively, these benefits are known as ecosystem services and include products like clean drinking water and processes such as the decomposition of wastes...
.
Ecosystem services are benefits provided by natural ecosystems such as:
- Climate regulation
- Clean air, soil, water
- Water supply regulation
- Soil erosion / sediment control
- Habitat and pollination
- Decomposed waste integration
- Human health and well being
- Food and organic products
- Cultural, educational, and aesthetic value
- Flood impact mitigation, among others.
SITES shows that when assessing overall sustainability, the museum landscape is equally important to the building structure. However, like any operational decision, the appropriate sustainable design techniques must balance with the museum's mission. It helps to articulate what learning outcomes are involved and what the long-term plan is for the outdoor space.
Lighting in Museums
Lighting is an essential component for museums because museums use it to illuminate objects, offices, bathrooms, entrances, storage, and nearly every other space in a museum. As important as light is for a museum, some light can cause negative effects on objects such as paintings, textiles, leather, photographs, books and paper, or mounted specimens. Light damage is cumulative and irreversible, so museums must take special care to avoid unnecessary light damage. The spectrum of light is separated into three categories: ultraviolet light (UV), visible light, and infrared light (IR). Ultraviolet light is most damaging to objects, while infrared light produces heat which also causes damage. Museums generally use halogen or metal halide track lighting in galleries and fluorescent light in storage; however, these are not energy efficient options. Halogen lights waste energy by creating four times the amount of heat as a regular incandescent light and can become fire hazards. In a world where the use of more energy-efficient products is on the rise, museums have more opportunities than ever to cut down on the amount of electricity they use. The challenge to the lighting designer is to achieve a balance between creating interesting and desirable spaces, maintaining visual comfort and health of the visitor, while adhering to energy conservation goals.Lighting Options
Beyond halogen and incandescent light options, museums use LEDs, CFLs, fiber optics, hybrid solar lighting and natural light.- LEDs- LED stands for light emitting diodes which are illuminated by the movement of electrons in a semi-conductor material. LEDs consume one fifth of the energy of conventional bulbs (incandescent) and last one hundred times longer and while LEDs can be more expensive than incandescent, they use less energy and are more cost effective. LEDs produce no UV light, little heat and can be used to illuminate objects. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that rapid adoption of LED lighting over the next 20 years in the United States could save about $265 billion in energy costs.
- CFLs- Introduced in the 1980s, compact fluorescent light bulbs use gas that is stimulated with an electric current to produce light. CFLs use less energy than an incandescent and last six to ten times longer. CFLs contain mercury so disposing of them can be very complicated. Museums need to have special disposal methods when using CFLs.
- Fiber Optics- Fiber optic lights use plastic or glass fibers to distribute light. The heat source is removed from the end of the fiber and the longer the length of the fiber, the more loss of heat at the end. Glass fibers dissipate UV light, but plastic fibers need UV filtering.
- Hybrid Solar Lighting- Hybrid solar lighting combines solar power and fiber optics to channel sunlight into an enclosed space while directing infrared light into a concentrating thermo-photo-voltaic cell that converts to electricity. Sunlight is tracked by a parabolic disk and sensors maintain a constant level of illumination by supplementing sunlight with traditional electric light in special hybrid lighting fixtures. Hybrid solar lighting is more efficient than photo-voltaic cells.
- Natural Light- Numerous museums use natural light instead of artificial light to illuminate spaces. However, sunlight can be the most damaging form of light because of the UV emitted. Natural should be considered in spaces that do not contain light sensitive materials: lobbies, offices; or in museums that do not contain light sensitive objects. Museums can also use UV filters on windows to lessen the harmful effects of sunlight. One rationale for using natural light is predicated largely on economics; a greater reliance on daylight reduces energy consumption and costs. Recent studies provide further justification that natural light generally creates a more positive effect on spaces than electric light and improves human performance. With properly installed and maintained daylighting systems, natural light has proved to be beneficial for the health, productivity, and safety of building occupants.
- Brise soleilBrise soleilBrise soleil, sometimes brise-soleil , from French, "sun breaker"), in architecture refers to a variety of permanent sun-shading techniques, ranging from the simple patterned concrete walls popularized by Le Corbusier to the elaborate wing-like mechanism devised by Santiago Calatrava for the...
External links
- Green Museum Wiki — An online forum for green museums
- greenexhibits.org — The Madison Children's Museum offers a guide for green museum exhibits
- Green Museums Initiative — Created to inspire and offer practical ideas to green your museum. Sponsored by the California Association of Museums and the Green Museums Initiative
- PIC Green — PIC Green is an America Association of Museums's Professional Interest Committee, established to position museums as leaders in environmental stewardship and sustainability through education, advocacy, and service.
- Solais Lighting Selected for Smithsonian American Museum of Art
- Energy Efficient Lighting
- Museum Practice: Is Now the Time to Invest in LED lighting?
- Philips and the State Hermitage