Brooklyn Museum Undergoes $48 Million Energy Retrofit

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The Brooklyn Museum is implementing a $48 million project to upgrade its infrastructure, aiming to enhance energy efficiency and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. This initiative represents the museum's most extensive energy-focused undertaking to date.

The project, announced in June by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), the Brooklyn Museum, and the New York Power Authority, will integrate renewable energy generation with a modernization of the museum's operational systems. Completion is anticipated in mid-2027, contributing to DCAS's goals for carbon emission reduction.

Known as the Deep Energy Retrofit program, the investment includes solar carport panels, a new building management system, and upgrades to heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning. The museum's aging steam-generation plant will be replaced with a high-efficiency hot-water system, while electric humidification control will regulate gallery conditions.

Hardat Raywat, the museum's deputy director for operations, engineering, and facilities, stated:“This is something that we are very excited about, and we welcome a project of this scale. Through this project, we're expecting a roughly 57% reduction of our carbon, which is over 3,300 metric tons per year. That is the equivalent of taking 725 cars off the road.”

For DCAS, which manages much of New York's municipal infrastructure, the Brooklyn Museum project is part of a wider strategy to comply with Local Law 97, the city's Climate Mobilization Act of 2019. This law sets a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 and requires a 50% reduction in greenhouse gases from city government operations by 2030, based on a 2006 baseline. DCAS's Energy Management division offers technical guidance and funding to city agencies, overseeing programs designed to decrease energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Brian Chang, DCAS's deputy commissioner for energy management, said:“Building operations generate more than two-thirds of city government-operations emissions. Our charge is to bring down emissions to net-zero by 2050 by working with city agencies to decarbonise our portfolio. We're talking about libraries and schools, as well as waste-water treatment plants and cultural institutions. There's no one-size-fits-all strategy, but the work we're doing at the Brooklyn Museum might offer lessons to other cultural spaces.”

When selecting buildings for these projects, DCAS prioritizes spaces that allow for“the greatest amount of energy-efficiency work or upgrades at one location at the same time,” Chang explained. He noted that performing individual upgrades often reveals unforeseen challenges. Raywat added that the museum's prior energy-efficiency efforts were largely maintenance-related, emphasizing that a“major overhaul is needed to support contemporary energy needs and museum standards” for a century-old building.

The Brooklyn Museum is one of 39 organizations in the city's Cultural Institutions Group (CIG), which comprises non-profits, including zoos, botanical gardens, museums, and concert halls, all located on city-owned property. The city provides capital and operating support to CIG members. According to the most recent DCAS emissions report, CIGs account for 4% of the agency's total emissions.

DCAS has also collaborated on other cultural projects, including a $7 million initiative with the Fashion Institute of Technology to replace a steam turbine-driven system with an electric chiller. This new equipment is projected to save over $1 million annually in energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 1,000 tonnes. Additionally, DCAS has completed 30 projects at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including a recent $25 million energy-efficient lighting upgrade.

At the Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) in Queens, DCAS has invested more than $7.5 million over five years in infrastructure improvements. Aziz Isham, MoMI's executive director, noted:“With the steady increase in visitation to the museum, including seeing attendance double in the past year, it has become increasingly important to ensure the long-term viability of our infrastructure.”

MoMI's latest project involved replacing its chiller with a more efficient system that incorporates an air-source heat pump, which Isham described as“a meaningful step towards building electrification.” He added that the museum has about 15% of the work remaining before it is entirely off fossil fuels. These upgrades are expected to save approximately $235,900 per year and have become crucial given ongoing heatwaves in New York's cultural institutions. Isham reported that during a recent heatwave, the museum used only 15% of its cooling load and is on track to become a city-designated cooling center.

While these examples offer valuable lessons, their costs can be prohibitive for organizations with limited budgets. Chang clarified that the $48 million cost for the Brooklyn Museum project covers 17 energy upgrades, making it“a small investment for long positive results.”

Resources exist to assist the cultural sector with energy-efficiency projects. Bloomberg Philanthropies offers research, technical expertise, and hands-on support. The Frankenthaler Climate Initiative provides grants of up to $100,000.

James Merle Thomas, deputy director at the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, which administers the climate grants, explained:“Costs vary widely. A targeted retrofit at a small organization is a different order of magnitude from a comprehensive overhaul at a large institution with historic buildings and collection-conditioning requirements. Building age, condition of existing systems and scope are all factors.” Institutions often combine funds from federal incentives, private fundraising, and capital budgets for larger projects.

Tracey Knuckles of Bloomberg Philanthropies noted that“funding is often a significant barrier,” particularly for“back-of-house infrastructure, deferred maintenance and major capital improvements,” which receive less support than programs and exhibitions. Knuckles observed a growing understanding that“climate adaptation is most effective when it's built into the everyday decisions institutions are already making about their buildings, capital investments and long-term planning, rather than seen as a stand-alone initiative.”

Several organizations, including the Brooklyn Museum, have adopted changes like shifting to less energy-intensive climate-control standards and sourcing sustainable products. Such behavioral changes are considered as vital as major infrastructure overhauls. For institutions tasked with preserving collections for centuries, modernizing the buildings that house art is seen as equally important as caring for the objects themselves.

Source: The Art Newspaper

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