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Trane, a global provider of indoor comfort systems and services, presented the Energy Efficiency Leader Award to the Science Museum of Minnesota. The award recognizes the museum’s long-term commitment to providing a learning atmosphere with minimal impact on the environment.
The Science Museum of Minnesota, one of the most visited museums in the upper Midwest and a national leader in providing informal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, invested in a more sustainable solution after learning that building upgrades could save millions of dollars in energy costs by decreasing fossil fuels and high-energy sources coming from their building. Through a collaboration with Trane, the project exceeded expectations surpassing 75 percent of hot water heat savings since installation and decreasing the amount of energy supply used in the community. The smart design practices and energy efficient systems implemented will save the museum more than $300,000 in operating costs year-over-year.
“Our team was determined to reach its energy efficiency goals, to not only provide long term environmental benefits to our local community, but to make our building a living laboratory that demonstrates energy and sustainable solutions,” says Alison Brown, president and CEO with the Science Museum of Minnesota. “We want to inspire visitors that energy efficiency in large buildings is possible and feasible.”
As a part of the ceremony, Mitchell Farrell, vice president, commercial heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC), presented the grant and award to the museum’s leaders, including Alison Brown and Patrick Hamilton, director of global change initiatives at the Science Museum.
The museum’s goals extend beyond the building, and they continue to invest in the community by partnering with the Ingersoll Rand Foundation for their 2018 Year of the Engineer campaign. This year-long initiative will showcase unique programs and experiences designed to inspire and celebrate engineering’s power to turn ideas into innovations. The Ingersoll Rand Foundation provided a $30,000 grant to invest in the museum educating kindergarten through 12th grade students on creating a more sustainable world.
"We are very proud to honor the Science Museum of Minnesota with the Ingersoll Rand Foundation grant and Energy Efficiency Leader award,” Farrell says. “The museum exemplifies how partnerships can impact the sustainability efforts of an entire city, in this case St. Paul.”
Prior to implementing the upgrades, the museums leadership completed an energy research project of the building to identify opportunity for improvements. Based on the results, Science Museum of Minnesota maximized energy conservation measures for the building. Selected upgrades included chillers designed to lower environmental impact. The project team also added a building automation system to control heating, ventilation and air conditioning as well as lighting systems to keep the machines running at an optimized condition every day.
