What can museums do as buildings, social spaces, and cultural institutions to embody sustainable practice - environmentally, socially and economically?
This webinar is designed to provide a holistic overview of sustainability within museums and includes examples from the sector and transferable actions for improvement.
4. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts• Julie’s Bicycle is a leading global charity bridging the gap between environmental
sustainability and the arts and culture.
• Our vision is a creative community with sustainability at its heart and our mission is to
provide the inspiration, expertise and resources to make that happen.
• Who we are:
A team of 12 arts, science and environmental technology experts, associates and arts
organisations.
5. @juliesbicycle
#greenartsSustaining Creativity
• To mobilise an international movement for the environment
led by the creative industries that is urgent, optimistic and
inspirational
• and recognise the opportunities offered by the green
economy and new, sustainable business models.
7. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Environment
• 2015 was the hottest year on record
• 402 ppm atmospheric CO2 for December 2015
- The upper safety limit for atmospheric CO2 is 350 parts
per million (ppm)
• Annual sea level rise over the past 20 years has been roughly
twice the average speed of the preceding 80 years.
9. Politics
The core of COP21:
• A commitment to peak
greenhouse gas emissions
below 2 degrees
• Set emissions commensurate
with planet’s capacity to absorb
GHGs (2050-2100)
• Provide $100 billion in climate
finance per year by 2020 for
developing countries
• Progress reviewed every five
years.
10. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Economy
• Business challenges of rising commodity, energy and waste disposal
prices
• Challenges for museums (Museums Association public funding
survey). Despite 61% reporting an increase in visitor numbers year-
on-year
18% said part of their museum or its branches had closed to the
public in the past year or would do so in the coming year
8% of respondents introduced charging over the past year, and
12% said they would do so in the coming year
11% are considering selling items in their collections to raise
funds in the coming year
11. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Arts Council England – Museum Resilience fund
Linked to Goals 3 and 4 of the Arts Council’s mission: supporting a step
change for the museums sector by enabling museums to become more
sustainable and resilient businesses
Heritage Lottery Fund
With our investment environmental impacts will be reduced in the key areas of:
energy and water use, and visitor transport. If your project is site-based, you
will have taken opportunities to enhance the biodiversity (habitats and species)
of the site.
You will also be able to demonstrate a reduction in carbon emissions
generated by your site.
Economy - funding
14. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Attitudes in museums
Sustaining Creativity survey - Julie’s Bicycle and BOP
• 85% of museums think environmental sustainability is extremely or very relevant
• 67% think it has become more relevant to their organisations over the last two
years
• But, only 54% felt it would continue to become more relevant over the next two
years
• Financial benefits are the biggest driver for action
• 75% have already experienced financial benefits
• 25% of that being significant benefits
• 61% have reported reputational benefits
• Time and lack of funds are the major challenges
15. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
What is a resilient museum?
Arts Council England definition:
Resilience is the vision and capacity of
organisations to anticipate and adapt to
economic, environmental and social change by
seizing opportunities, identifying and mitigating
risks, and deploying resources effectively in order
to continue delivering quality work in line with
their mission.
One Planet Living Ten Principles
16. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Museums as cultural institutions
Museums are in a pivotal and critical position to engage on topics of
sustainability. They invite people to:
• Experience historical and scientific snapshots and sequences in time
• Connect with their heritage, communities and environment
• Think and see the world, and their relationship to it, in a different way –
stewardship and preservation
• Stop, question and challenge their views and understanding
• Imagine and articulate positive futures
• Be part of inclusive and participatory institutions
“It’s odd that the preservation of heritage is so separate to the conservation of nature.”
(Maurice Davies, formerly of Museums Association)
17. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Responding to the mandate to understand and mitigate environmental risks
as well as financial and management risk
• Long-termism > sustainability > business resilience
• Collaboration
• Funders and partners are increasingly looking at companies’ environmental
profiles
• Audience pressure: transparency, accountability, leadership, values
• Added value: money, morale, reputation
43% reported reputational benefits, 51% reported financial benefits, 67%
reported benefits to team morale
Good governance
18. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
• Integrated into vision and mission
• Led by Board and senior management: standing item
• Understand legislation
• Part of organisational culture
• Triple bottom line accounting
• Allocated resource (money and time)
• Underpinned by policy with objectives visited annually
• Policy and performance communicated publicly
What does it look like?
21. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
What is an environmentally sustainable
building?
1. Designed for the long-term, looking at upfront, maintenance & running
costs
2. Mix of solutions - people, materials & technology-based
3. Solutions which best fit building size, scale, location & purpose
4. Not just cutting energy costs - low energy & carbon, sustainable
materials, zero waste to landfill, saves water, protects nature etc.
5. Building performance can be easily tracked
6. Supports wellbeing of those using it: staff, artists, audiences etc.
7. Creates value - financial, reputational, cultural, social
22. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Key considerations
1. Environmental sustainability should be seen as a way to enhance building
user’s experience as opposed to a constraint
2. Data is power - monitor and analyse
3. Understand building environmental performance before you invest and
evaluate it after
4. Associated risks and costs of environmental technologies change over
time
5. Maintain all your systems for efficiency and durability
6. Your key ingredients are: knowledge; skills; time and enthusiastic people >
Technological and behavioural interventions will work only with an
engaged and trained workforce
23. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Case study: The Whitworth
£15 million refurbishment and extension
• Relocated collections to central basement store, using
mainly air-tightness, thermal mass, insulation & materials
to ensure environmental conditions, freeing up the Grand
Hall for events
• Passive approach for gallery heating & cooling
• New lighting controls & management of increased
daylight in gallery spaces
• Reusable displays, sustainably sourced materials & staff
training
• Biodiverse green roof & sensitive landscaping of the park
to protect & enhance biodiversity
• Staff & visitor engagement a key element
Winner 2015 Art Fund Museum of the Year
Shortlist 2015 RIBA Stirling Prize
Post project received:
• £50,000 from Jo Malone for planting
• £26,000 for LEDs
• £350,000 from Esmée Fairbairn
Foundation for Cultural Park Keeper
programme
24. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
• Sector-specific carbon
calculators for the
creative industries
• Bicycle Creative IG
Tools:
- 5 years
- 2000+ users
- 40 countries
- 4 licensees
• Available in English,
French, German,
Portuguese, Spanish,
Latvian, Bulgarian,
Polish
Creative IG Tools
25. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Spotlight on energy
Switch off campaigns
Lighting
• LEDs
• Tubes: T10 > T8 > T5
• PIR sensors, timers
Heating/ Insulation
• Thermostatic mixing valves
• Roof, wall and pipe insulation
• Double/secondary glazing,
draft exclusion
Plant
• Boiler replacement - below 60%
efficiency, definitely upgrade
• Upgrading/refreshing filters
• BMS - Refining building controls,
scheduling, extend dead-bands
• Getting plant serviced annually
• Good house keeping/ health check
26. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Case study: Everyman Liverpool
£27.1 million new build on existing site
• Dense design made best use of existing site footprint
• Sustainable materials e.g. 25,000 reclaimed bricks, low carbon
concrete replacement, recycled flooring, 100% sustainable timber,
low emission finishes
• Low energy & carbon - natural ventilation, heat recovery, new
parameters for auditoria temperatures, air source heat pumps,
combined heat & power plant, thermal mass, moveable
sunshades, LED lighting
• Using rainwater reduced mains water use 45%
• Recycled 99% demolition waste, 89% construction waste
• Range of nature conservation & biodiversity measures
Winner 2014 RIBA Stirling Prize &
2014 WAN Performing Spaces
Award
BREEAM ‘Excellent’
A creative hub enabling it to
realise its artistic, accessibility &
environmental vision
27. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Case study: Manchester Art Gallery
Manchester Art Gallery
• Completed an energy audit and lighting audit of building to fully understand its
energy consumption
• Converted all gallery spaces to LED lighting
• Following successful trials now switches off all humidifiers, chillers, air handling
units and boilers between 7pm and 6am.
• Gallery is also trialing wider dead bands for temperature (16-26ºC) and relative
humidity (30%-70%)
29. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Procuring clean energy
Your organisation can drive demand for clean renewable electricity
when choosing an electricity supplier by:
• Comparing the fuel mixes of different suppliers to see how much
of their electricity is generated by fossil fuels and renewables (you
can use the Creative IG Tools to do this) and either
• Switching to green ‘tariff’ electricity from a conventional electricity
company or
• Switching to a 100% renewable electricity provider e.g. Good
Energy
30. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Spotlight on waste
• Consider changing the placement or layout of the bins
• Improve the signage in your building
• Communicate what can be recycled and remind people to recycle
• Assign ‘waste champions’ for each area of the building who can focus on
what is or isn’t working and engage others
• Introduce clear bags for waste so it can be seen by all and can’t be ‘hidden’
• Liaise with your waste contractor and encourage them to offer new
solutions
• Liaise with your teams and departments: where do they see opportunities
for creating less waste?
• Establish connections with local charities or donation networks
31. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Spotlight on water
• Install a smart meter to monitor water use and better understand where
efficiency savings can be made
• Compare your consumption against JB benchmarks
• Fit leak detection equipment which will sense unusual “spikes” in use and shut
off the supply
• Inspect all your water system on a frequent basis to locate minor leaks. These
not only waste water but also damage equipment and the building
• Put water displacement devices such as a “hippo” or a homemade device using a
used plastic water bottle in the cisterns of old toilets to reduce the flush volume
or upgrade to new more efficient dual-flush cisterns if possible
• Catering operation - install a sub-meter and factor into your tenancy agreement
33. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Exhibitions – key considerations
• Design – materials and modularity
• Climate control – new standards, relaxing conditions based on
new research
• Loaning – where are things coming form (travel impacts); loan
period (which can make it difficult to use slower forms of
international transport e.g. shipping)
• Loaning – agreement about climate controls and conversation of
objects on loan
• Touring – will it tour? Where? How?
34. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Transport:
• Avoid air freight – switch to road where possible if fully loaded & investigate rail and sea
freight
• Look for shipping transport collaborations with other galleries/local organisations
• Improve load utilisation and logistics – full loads, intelligent route planning, no empty
journeys
Display:
• Design exhibitions to minimise use of temporary walls
• Design walls of standard dimensions to accord with the dimensions of timber and
plasterboard
• Reuse timber and plaster where possible
Buildings:
• Set thermostats to lower temperatures in workshops and storage areas
• Introduce zonal control and times
• Relax temperature and humidity controls
• Switch to LED lighting and light sensors
• Switch off exterior lighting during the day
Exhibitions: top tips
35. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
U-N-F-O-L-D Exhibition, Cape Farewell
• Cape Farewell's U-N-F-O-L-D exhibition has toured
extensively since 2010, and features the work of over
20 artists,.
• Touring a huge body of work about climate change
raises environmental issues of its own.
• Artist Sam Collins decided that the exhibition would
only ever tour by ship, this reduced emissions by up
to 25 times compared to air-freight.
• The crates were fitted with a GPS device that tracked
their travel miles, and this was translated into carbon
emissions.
• Both this carbon tracking information and the timber
crates were assembled as an artwork themselves, as
Collins' contribution to the exhibition.
36. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Resources, organisations and
networks
• The Happy Museum
• Sustainable Exhibitions for Museums
• Operation Green Museums
• Visual Arts and Galleries Association Museums
Association
• Greener Museums
• Sustainable Exhibitions for Museums Group
• Museum and Art Gallery Survival Strategies
38. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Case study: Victoria and Albert Museum
• Modified set-points
• Optimised free cooling
• Passive environmental control
Outcomes
• No humidification or refrigeration equipment required
• Environmental control achieved through ventilations and heating
systems
• Up to 30% energy saving possible compared to traditional close
controlled mechanical air con system
• Reduced running costs
• Reduced emissions
Source: Arup, Museums & art galleries survival strategies
39. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Case study: Baltic
• Travel – engaging with transport agents Flexible HVAC
controls – decided on a case-by-case basis
• Sustainable exhibition build
• A system of re-usable wall panels has been developed in house to increase
the re-cycling of materials
• Where possible, exhibition layout design is developed with an eye to
minimizing construction
• Steel work, sheet materials and timber are re-used
• Use of FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified wood
• Avoidance of harsh cleaning products and use of solvent free paints
• Timed switching
40. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Other impacts
1. Practical Guide: Business Travel, Commuting and Delivery Services
http://www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/practical-guide-business-travel-commuting-and-delivery-
services
2. Print and the Environment Factsheet
http://www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/print-and-the-environment-factsheet
3. Merchandise Factsheet
http://www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/merchandise-factsheet
4. Air and Sea Freight Factsheet
http://www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/air-and-sea-freight-factsheet
5. Food Factsheet
http://www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/food-factsheet
6. Productions and Exhibitions
http://www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/productions-and-exhibitions
41. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Museums as social spaces
How can organisations use sustainability as a driving force for positive social
change, promoting wellbeing, connectivity and happiness?
• Organisationally - workforce, volunteers, trustees
• Externally – audiences, community, local business
Think about activities which empower and inspire:
• Education and engagement – skills, training, developing interests,
confidence
• Participation, play, creating, destroying
• Collaboration, relationship/network building
Sustainable lifestyles lead to more resilient communities
42. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Case study: Santa Cruz Museum of Art &
History
• Increasingly museums are adopting
'participatory' or 'co-creative‘
models of development, which seek
to involve visitors, community and
interest groups
• Develop and strengthen audience
relationships
• New perspectives
• Sense of ownership
• Locally relevant programming
• Democratic governance
44. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
• A healthy diet high in fresh fruit and vegetables
• Exercise such as walking and cycling
• Strong inter-personal relationships and strong
communities
• Lifelong learning
• Meaningful work
• Safe and comfortable environments
• Regular social and cultural activities
• Contact with nature
Museums as healthy spaces
45. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Museums as healthy spaces
Green spaces
• Increasing biodiversity
• Eating local / seasonal / organic food
• Beehives
• Growing skills
• Outdoor living > Improved staff and visitor wellbeing
• (Enhanced marketing and partnership opportunities)
Health and exercise e.g. bike / walk to work scheme:
• Reducing carbon emissions and air pollution
• Improving health and wellbeing
• Saving money – economic resilience
49. @juliesbicycle
#greenarts
Guidance
• Sustainable Exhibitions for Museums (http://www.sustainable-exhibitions.co.uk/)
• PAS 198:2012 (http://www.collectionstrust.org.uk/collections-link/collections-
management/bsi-specifications)
• MA sustainability pages
(www.museumsassociation.org/campaigns/sustainability)
• Happy Museum Project (www.happymuseumproject.org )
• Exploring participatory practice in the development of a new permanent gallery
(http://journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/browse/issue-03/embedding-plurality-
exploring-participatory/)
50. Thanks for listening
Lucy Latham lucyl@juliesbicycle.com
+44 (0)20 8746
0400 | www.juliesbicycle.com
Find us on: Twitter | Facebook | Vimeo