The Power of Green

Discussing Broader Implications of Institutional Decisions

Heather SoykaAssistant Archivist/Head of Preservation, Texas Tech University

Power + Green

Getting to know you…

• Understand what you have– HVAC care and feeding– Relationship with maintenance- build a team– What’s a “setpoint”?– Small fixes– Building map of usage

For archivists and collection stewards

-Know thy collection-Climate- indoors and out-Collect data– and check it-Avoid too much fixation on climate targets-Make sure you know what you need- and that

you are asking for the right thing

Evaluating your space

Archives and resource consumption

• Electricity/fossil fuel use determined by environmental controls > archivist/conservator

• Tight control means higher energy consumption

• Increase in mechanical sophistication > decrease in tolerance for deviation on T/RH

• Sophisticated systems require expertise

A few energy facts

• Buildings consume 2/3 of all electricity in the US and produce almost 1/3 of greenhouse gases

• 80% of that energy comes from coal• Between 10-20% of energy is wasted

Peter Pfeiffer, “Real and Relevant Green Buildings,” 2007

Impact of electricity usage

• Loss at each conversion step- only 30-50% reaches destination

http://seco.cpa.state.tx.us/energy-sources/

Conservation versus Efficiency

• Can we change behavior?

• “Do less to use less”

• What is the relationship between heritage and sustainability?

• How can we balance presentation, workspace, and preservation needs? – Ongoing conversation and evaluation

Outreach and Advocacy

Effects of evaluation/”greening”:-direct $ savings, but also indirect benefits

Other ways to make a difference:-recycling program, shredding -building tours/discussion of sustainability

A few more resources

• Climate data tracking– myclimatedata.com (IPI); PEM2s, Onset/Boxcar

• Energy audit-- TX- SECO http://seco.cpa.state.tx.us/

• Environmental guidelines for collections(Getty)– http://www.getty.edu/conservation/science/

environmental/index.html

Thank you!

Heather Soykaheathersoyka@gmail.com