Originally published May 24, 2018
The Missouri Historical Society’s energy benchmarking and energy conservation achievements were recently honored with an American Alliance of Museums Sustainability Excellence Award!
Participation in the USGBC-Missouri Gateway Chapter’s voluntary energy benchmarking campaign, now Better Buildings Through Benchmarking, drove the Missouri Historical Society to pledge to reduce their energy use by 25% by 2020. Through energy benchmarking, an energy audit, and implementation of facility improvement measures, the Missouri Historical Society has conserved energy, realized operational cost savings, and extended the life of their operational equipment.
From the case study:
The Missouri Historical Society is a proud steward of sustainable practices in the St. Louis community. We strive to be educators at the forefront of sustainability, and we are constantly finding new ways to reduce our energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In 2009, MHS took its first steps toward increased sustainability through employee and community engagement. Three years later in 2012, in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council, Missouri Gateway Chapter, we took a pledge to reduce our energy usage by 25% by the year 2020. That pledge led MHS to take a closer look at our energy consumption and consider how we can better serve our community, our donors, and our world. We recognized that we needed to make fundamental changes to fulfill our promise, so we commissioned an energy audit of the Missouri History Museum. Its results compelled us to honor our commitment to minimize consumption of energy and materials and reduce our operational costs associated with energy usage.