Good Green: C'mon in Naples, FL

I recently revisited C'mon, The Golisano Children's Museum of Naples in Florida. (http://www.cmon.org/) I'd had a hard-hat tour of the green building when it was under construction and wanted to see the post-opening version.

They have a long list of environmentally-sustainable choices: solar, sun shades, some green roofs, water capture, recycled materials, and lots of outdoor spaces.

Here's a shot of the rainwater capture approach: water off the first roof runs into two rain barrels on the second roof. They slow the rate of flow to the plants on the green roof that otherwise could carry away the planting medium.



Roof water runs off to rain barrels, then
flows through irrigation tubes to the planted roof

Looks like a work of art, don't you think?

Notes from AAM Conference 2012 Minneapolis

Minneapolis and St. Paul have some awesome green museum action going on:

• I lay on my back on the Bakken Museum's green roof
• I toured the soon-to-open American Swedish Institute - an excellent blending of mission and technology plus an historic house! http://www.asimn.org/. Nina, Christy and Ingrid were fab
• I discovered the lighting designer at MIA as he was changing out all the third-floor Halos for LED's!
• I met the guy with all the data behind the MIA LED change, Charles Walbridge, and he hung out with us PIC Greenies during the conference. Check out his material!
• The ASI architects and designers joined PIC Greenies at Brit's Pub
• So did the Bell Museum of Natural History gang who shared their information on their traveling exhibit "Sustainable Shelter" - http://www.bellmuseum.org/
• I had lunch with the Minnesota Historical Society's sustainability officer plus a green team member. Shengyin Xu may be the first SO at an historical society. Am I right?
• And there wasn't even enough time to repeat earlier visits to James J. Hill House and the Mill City Museum, sigh, but both are doing good green stuff.

All in all, Minneapolis and St. Paul are class acts when it comes to green!

Twelve Green Museum Days of Christmas...

Here's hoping for a green holiday for all museums everywhere:

On the first day of Christmas, donors gave the museum a Building Management System

On the second day of Christmas, donors gave the museum two green roofs

On the third day of Christmas, donors gave the museum three living walls

On the fourth day of Christmas, donors gave the museum four PV Arrays

On the fifth day of Christmas, donors gave the museum five car-charging stations

On the sixth day of Christmas, donors gave the museum six stormwater cisterns

On the seventh day of Christmas, donors gave the museum seven bioswales

On the eighth day of Christmas, donors gave the museum eight motion sensors

On the ninthday of Christmas, donors gave the museum nine recycle stations

On the tenth day of Christmas, donors gave the museum ten operable windows

On the eleventh day of Christmas, donors gave the museum eleven low-flow faucets

On the twelfth day of Christmas, donors gave the museum twelve composting toilets

Quadruple Bottom Line: People, Planet, Profit AND Program

Believe it or not, the world is beginning to get used to a Triple Bottom Line, not just the usual single one of cold hard cash.

The Triple Bottom Line is the 'valuation' of the good an activity does for three important criteria: the people (staff, customers, community, the world). the planet (from the immediate surroundings, to your bio region, to the world), and for profits.

Well now it's time for a Quadruple Bottom Line - add a fourth "P" - Program.

For museums this is critical. We always consider our mission - our program - in decision-making. Well when you're considering a green practice, it matters how green affects, supports, or interferes with programming. So add it to your equation as you try to balance it all.

Here's an example: Someone has suggested that when you replace the roof membrane on your building, that you consider a green roof. After you get through sorting out whether or not your structure is appropriate for a green roof, consider the good it does for each of the four "Ps".

People: With a sturdy fence around it, and the right construction, the green roof can be good for People because it provides a green outdoor space far more pleasant than a classroom, more flexible than an exhibit, and way more relaxing than a picnic table by the loading dock.

Planet: It's good for the Planet insofar as it reduces energy use: by reducing heat-island effects it reduces the cooling needs inside your building and in the area around your building, and it provides more insulation in winter. It also creates a teeny bit of natural habitat, and helps manage stormwater runoff by slowing down the runoff and cleaning it up. If you capture and reuse the runoff you help the Planet even more.

Profit: Up front the green roof may not help profit, but if you have to replace parts of the roof anyway, the first-costs are well under control; and since a green roof by nature protects the membrane from sun degradation, you'll get a longer life out of your entire roof. So by saving energy, reducing water use, making the roof last longer, and timing the build with a necessary renovation, it's sounding like a great investment.

Program: And if you can use this space for educational programs like growing a Victory Garden or teaching about bugs and butterflies; or you can use it for financial sustainability: to compliment your cafe (like the one at the MCA Denver in the photo) or to host fundraising events, or as a setting for yoga for mom's while kids play, you're on the plus side again.

So, when you make that next decision about a green practice or project, consider the whole bottom line, QBL, so your choice makes sense for the whole museum, not just one quarter of it.