California Association of Museums 2014 Conference presentation: California exhibition venues are exploring sustainable practices. What are the opportunities and the challenges? Includes Oregon Museum of Science and Industry's exhibitSEED rubric and sustainable exhibition practices by the Exploratorium and Oakland Museum of California.

1. FRICTIONS:
TRADE-OFFS IMPLEMENTING
SUSTAINABLE EXHIBITIONS
California Association of Museums
March 2014

2. Presenters
Carol Reif
Lisa Ferrier
Scott Moulton
Diane Whitmore

3. Resources
exhibitSEED.org
Green Exhibition Checklist (GEC)
Implementation
Oakland Museum of California
Exploratorium

4. What is Sustainability in Exhibitions?

6. exhibitSEED
• exhibitSEED.orgis a website for exhibit and museum professionals to
find resources for developing,
designing, and building more sustainable exhibits.
• The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) developed exhibitSEED.org
with input from local and national museum industry and design advisors
(including Scott Moulton).
• The resources on this website were developed from
an interactive science museum perspective, but
the information is valuable to exhibit designers
specializing in all types of museums.

7. exhibitSEED
What makes an exhibition sustainable?
• Social:
Considerations that affect the health,
opportunity, and well-being of all people
involved in the exhibit—from fabricators to
visitors and community members.

8. exhibitSEED
What makes an exhibition sustainable?
• Economic:
Considerations that affect the health and well-
being of the project as well as the economy—
from supporting local jobs and businesses to
meeting the project’s budget goals.

9. exhibitSEED
What makes an exhibition sustainable?
• Environmental:
Considerations that affect the health and well-
being of the natural environment—including
impacts on land, air, and water quality, natural
resources, and wildlife.

10. exhibitSEED

11. exhibitSEED
Decision-Making Tools

12. exhibitSEED
Sustainable Exhibit Development

13. exhibitSEED
Materials Guide
Finishes Lighting
Sheet Goods Structural
Graphics/Printing Substrates

14. exhibitSEED
Green Exhibition Checklist (GEC)
Inspired by LEED for architecture
(Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design)
• Points-based metric
• Adapted to exhibit-specific criteria
• Not as objective (quantifiable) as LEED,
allows room for interpretation

15. exhibitSEED
Green Exhibition Checklist (GEC)
• Reduce new materials
• Use local resources
• Reduce waste
• Reduce energy consumption
• Reduce toxic emissions
• Innovation

16. Green Exhibit Checklist (GEC)

17. Green Exhibit Checklist (GEC)
Helpful hints
• Fabricator fills out material data first
• Can be used for single components or full exhibitions
• In general, materials assessed by VOLUME
• Imagine piles of separate materials
FSC-certified
Wood
Acrylic & Sintra
Steel extrusion

18. • Content was sustainability-
related
• Part of larger exhibition
• Choices made to use natural
materials
GEC Case Study
OMSI’s Renewable Energy “Wind Inspirations”

19. Canvas
Plywood
Acrylic
Steel
Electronics (inside)

20. Canvas
Plywood
Acrylic
Steel
Electronics (inside)

21. Model & graphics cannot
be reused or recycled

22. Electronic Blower & Lights

23. Low-VOC wood stain
Graphics with soy inks

25. GEC Case Study Final Assessment OMSI-
Renewable Energy

26. Getting Started… the Challenges

27. Frictions and Trade-Offs
Sustainability can be complicated
What happens when an audio-visual company offers to
donate an incandescent projector for your exhibit, when you
had originally planned for a LED projector?
• Visitor Experience – will the image be bright enough for
the desired impact?
• Cost – free upfront, higher operational costs (electricity
and bulb replacement)
• Donor Relationship – Is this a long-term donor relationship
that is worth fostering?

28. Frictions and Trade-Offs
Sustainability can be complicated
• Taking apart exhibition components for reuse implies
storage, staff to inventory/organize, fabricators to
repurpose
• De-installation for reuse takes longer
• External fabricators may charge MORE to use reclaimed
materials (buying and building new is predictable and
fast)
• LED lighting reduces energy use, avoids UV, and
minimizes heat, but the upfront cost is still more than
incandescent

29. Begin with exhibitSEED
• Start the dialog
• Assess your institution’s value of a sustainable exhibition approach
• Set your priorities and identify the opportunities
• Take small steps
First step

30. Limited in-house exhibit staff?
Before hiring exhibit design consultants
Be prepared!
• Determine your priorities when it comes to sustainability
and share with your consultant(s)
• Consider long-term needs (repairs and content updates)
• Inventory existing exhibit components for re-use
• Use the decision-making tool during the process

31. No shop?
If you don’t have a shop or in-house
fabrication capabilities
Be specific and ask questions!
• Select local fabricator when possible
• Explore options for using modular systems
• Specify renewable/recycled materials, non-toxic
finishes, hardware vs. adhesives
• Consider material and component end of life
if you do not have storage

32. Easy Sustainable Actions
• Reach out to other institutions and
professionals
• Fabricate with formaldehyde-free substrates
• Specify low/no VOC paints and finishes
• Install carpet tiles
• Upgrade to LED lighting

33. No Project will be perfect
- It’s a process of trade-offs

34. My name is Scott and I am a
relentlessly pessimistic
opportunist

36. What does it mean to “do my best?”
It all depends…

37. • Mission driven
• “demonstrating”
sustainability
• Creating social
contexts for
learning
• Design for longevity
/ for change /
platforms
• “Good Design”
Capital funded Sustainable Design

42. • Life cycle
• Carbon footprint
• Content / social experience
• Resources
• 3 pillars
You get to decide how to approach
“Sustainability” but it needs to align with
your mission and unique opportunities

44. And now?
• Things should last just as long as they
need to
• Design for reality not an idealized
version of it
• Capitalize on opportunities
• Prototype / test it

45. Waste Stream

46. Waste Stream
• Building Recycling boxes during de-
install
• Finding other homes for some of the
content
• Designing some things for the
dumpster and others for re-use

47. What is in Storage?

48. A system for re-use

49. Modular wall system

50. Current work
Vinyl : The Sound and Culture of Records

53. Other things that still need attention
• In-house vinyl printing
• Energy efficiency
• Shift from doing less bad to good

54. My name is Diane
and I am probably too optimistic
California Association of Museums
March 2014

55. Sustainable Exhibit Design From End to End
Be Here Now - 2007 Be Here Now - 2013
“The closer design and production are married, the greener you
can be. You can think through all those issues of fabrication, floor
life, reuse and recyclability” Ben Durrell, Boston Children’s Museum
Frictions:

56. The Exploratorium’s iterative design, production and
maintainance loop is an exhibit strategy, not a
sustainability one.
We think we do our best work this way.
Design
Build
Observe
Iterate
Maintain
Refurbish
3D Shapes

57. Of Sustainability:
• Considerations for the front end of exhibit
design
• Challenges and strategies for reducing waste at
the back end of exhibit design
• Policies, forms and resources the Exploratorium
developed during our recent large move.

58. • Relish simplicity
• Reuse where
appropriate
• Embrace Funkiness
The Front End of Exhibit Design
Coupled Pendulums

59. • Value prototyping
• Think about Modularity
• Minimize plug-load
Rotating Faces prototype and exhibit

60. • Maintain for the long term
• Design for ease of upcycling
• Make it size appropriate
What’s Hot, What’s Not?
Pi Toss

61. • Consider off-the-shelf parts
• Strive for cleanable finishes
• Make it portable
Nerve Journey
ReGrow It

62. ...you can too!
The Back End of Exhibit Design
The Exploratorium
learned to divert
landfill, save money
and help people...
Quick-Tempered Clavier
Making it “go away”

63. The Exploratorium’s sustainability story became serious
when it announced a move to a LEED Certified building...
...but many of our day-to-day practices
were behind the ‘green curve’

64. Challenges and Strategies at the
Back End of Exhibit Design
Each one of these
eight columns was a
storage unit

65. • A big clean-out or ongoing exhibit and material disposal
• Obligation to comply with waste disposal laws like e-waste
and recycling
• Lack of space to store
cool stuff
• Not enough time for the job
• Lack of skilled personnel
• Lack of money
The challenges are all too familiar

66. The strategies were hard won
• Find upcycling paths for the bulk of
the material
• Budget from lowered waste-disposal
costs
• Find untapped resources and people
• Build new relationships in the
community
• Create and iterate policies and
processes.
But we found that we could:

67. Strategy- Make initial decisions
Get the big stuff out first Make room to work

68. Strategy- Give things away intact
• Use local and regional
resources
• Schools, museums
• After School Centers and
Clubs
Picket Fence Beats

69. Strategy- Get other people to do the lifting
• Donate to non-profits with
trucks
• Use volunteers in teams of
two when possible
Puzzle Table and Make a Mobile et al

70. Strategy- Label everything
Motion Picture player is still in our collection

71. Strategy- Learn from others...
Twin Peaks

72. …embarrassing mistakes…
...so you won’t have to strip down
an exhibit at a local retailer
Twin Peaks
Gravity’s Rainbow

73. Policies, resources and forms
• Decision and Execution Processes
– ABC process
• Diverse staff input, decision making
• Exhibits Database, Inventory
– Repurposing Policy
• Roles and authorization
• Value thresholds
• Priority order of recipients
• Repurposing Resources
– Non-profits, including museums
– Staff and Artists
– Informal recyclers
• Forms and Memos
Strategy- Create a ‘paper trail’

74. Policies should be flexible and empower
those doing the work…

75. …even if they look a little messy

76. Forms and Memos
Protect the work you’ve done

77. Strategy- Find and maintain re-use
contacts
• Your own programs
• Other (non-local?) museums
– Discovery Center of Idaho,
• Educational Non Profits
– Community Science Workshops, Schools
• Landfill Diversion non-profits and for-profits
– That awesome recycling guy with a truck
• Community Artists, Staff

78. Some Resources we used

79. And Finally, Outcomes
• Reduced waste and cost buys space and time
• Improved compliance with dumping laws means
reduced liability
• Benefits to educational and other non-profits means
good will, better relationships
• Sharing resources may help make sustainability in your
museum a little more viable