Museums & Portfolio Manager- Please Sign On

"The most successful voluntary energy efficiency movement in history..."

It's so easy and so helpful - to you, the field, the planet.  

In the EPA's online tool/database, you can record your energy and water (and waste) monthly, meter-by-meter. The idea is that if you track it - as in you enter it, compare it to other months and over time, and keep checking it, you will see what your energy use looks like.

Help Yourself: Seeing it on a dashboard gives you clues to reducing it - which means saving by identifying potential anomalies (leaks, meter defects, and equipment running too much), and identifying areas of just plain too much use.

Help the field: By supporting the development of an Energy Star category which makes it easier to satisfy USGBC's LEED standards and local code compliance. We have 100 museums signed up but need more to create benchmarks for each region.

Help the planet: Tracking your carbon reduction over time, and any increasing percentages of clean renewable energy use, documents your support of your city's contribution to the Paris Climate Agreement goals of carbon reduction.

The US goal is reductions by 26% to 28% from the 2005 baseline. What's the baseline you can establish and improve upon?

Questions, or need help? Call me, please. I'm thrilled to help. 978-505-4515

NOTE - Both EnergyStar and Portfolio Manager are Registered Trademarks of somebody, likely EPA.

Boston Building Energy Benchmarking - It's a Go. Is Your Museum Ready?

At the recent Summit on Environmental Sustainability Standards in Museums at the national conference for the American Alliance of Museums we talked about how the outside world will enact standards for us -- and wouldn't it be better to create our own? 

Well in Boston (and Philadelphia, Seattle, DC, Chicago, New York and San Francisco) the law is going to require energy benchmarking for each city's large- and medium-sized business and residential buildings within the next five years. When this comes to your city, will you be ready?

Here are highlights from the City's webposting on the Ordinance, summarized with editorial comments of my own added: (Ordinance is here).

• All large and medium buildings or groups of buildings are required to report annual energy use, ENERGY STAR rating (if applicable), water use, and greenhouse gas emissions through ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager or an equivalent mechanism as approved by the Air Pollution Control Commission. (The recent Summit with EPA/ENERGY STAR and Portfolio Manager participation gives us a leg up on this, team...let's get cracking on working with ENERGY STAR for a system that makes sense for museums! - SB)
• The requirement will be phased in over 5 years and will ultimately apply to non-residential buildings 35,000 square feet or greater and residential buildings with 35 or more units. (Not sure 5 years is necessary...let's get going! 18 months would do. - SB)
• The City will make energy and water use per square foot, ENERGY STAR ratings, greenhouse gas emissions, and other identifying and contextual information for individual buildings available online. (Glad the institutions don't have to do it individually, but then why not post it on one's own website if you have one? - SB)
• Buildings not demonstrating high energy performance or continual improvements or other appropriate exemption criteria are required to conduct energy assessments or actions every 5 years to identify opportunities for energy efficiency investment. Building owners are not required to act on the audit. (Jeez Louise...why the heck not? - SB)
• Failure to comply with reporting requirements will lead to fines for building owners. (Let's hope the income ends up in the sustainability fund - SB)

Let's hear from a museum already benchmarking and reporting through ENERGY STAR without any LEED certification attached...

EPA Webinar on Energy Star and Museums

Are you looking to compare your energy use with other museums? Trouble finding comparables? Well hopefully we can begin to develop comparables through Energy Star's Portfolio Manager tool. Listen to this free one-hour webinar on the museum field and energy use, Portfolio Manger, and The Buffalo Bill Cody Museum's success at reducing energy 15% in two years. The session is open for registration. Register Here! After you register, you will receive a confirmation email. Session Information Topic:   Save Energy and Save Money: Best Practices in Energy Management for Museums        Session dates:   Wednesday, January 23, 2013 Starting time:   1:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (New York) Duration:   1 hour Presenters:   Andrea Schnitzer, Phil Anthony and Sarah Brophy Description:   Thirty percent of the energy used in buildings is wasted energy. This means museum operators have the opportunity to achieve significant energy savings, which translates into often much needed financial savings. Additionally, museums have the opportunity to lead by example and share their energy efficiency measures with visitors while educating them on ways to save energy, both at home and at work. In this webinar, attendees will learn about the ENERGY STAR program, and how it is working with the museum sector to provide the tools and resources to help museum operators make their museums energy efficient. Phil Anthony from the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, will also describe how he has leveraged ENERGY STAR to reduce energy consumption by more than 17% in a two year period. Host's name:   Andrea Schnitzer Host's email:   schnitzer.andrea@epa.gov

Get Your Green On!

You've heard me say it before: environmental sustainability is a hugely overlooked area of programming for every single kind of museum. It's a connect-with-the-community opportunity. What are you waiting for!  

The concept of No Child Left Inside is a powerful tool for museums trying to connect with the growing movement to expect environmental awareness, literacy and participation by the nation's youth. But first we have to help kids get outside.

If you need any encouragement to help address the national need to get children up off their behinds, away from a screen, and outside doing something - playing with friends, exploring alone, playing a sport, making art with found materials, climbing a tree, gardening or building a tree house, counting lady bugs for science class, or learning to make a solar panel to power their phones - here are some options for you.

Remember, museum people don't have to know it all; we just have to use our critical thinking skills and professional training to uncover knowledge - for ourselves and our visitors - and find some funding to help.  Here are a few resources for both those:

Information & Programming

• The book from 2005 Last Child in the Woods
• Let's Move: Michelle Obama's program to get all of us exercising and eating well
• Resources for students and educators at the Environmental Protection Agency
• North American Association for Environmental Educators (think AAM or AASLH but for environmental instructors - it's a gold mine
• Find your Cooperative Extension Service office and partner with them
• See if you state has a No Child Left Inside advocacy group
• Check out the really cool program by NOAA and the Public Gardens group on Climate Change
• They even have an adaptable sign and cell phone tour you might want to try
• APGA's 2012 Conference Education Session PPTs

A Few Funding Sources

• Small Grants for New England States' Environmental Literacy Programs
• Current funding opportunities from NOAA for supporting environmental education programs and for training educators
• Visit your state's version of the Department of Natural Resources to check funding announcements
• Toyota's Together Green Environmental Program Funding
• Small grants at the National Environmental Education Foundation

And this is just to get you started....more next time.