Communicating Sustainability in the Green Science Museum

Laura Cole University of Missouri

Among building types, museums are distinct in their efforts to engage the public through architecture. Architecture is commonly employed as a form of non-verbal communication, and museums use their buildings to brand the institution and represent their values to the public. Of the many values museum architecture may impart, we are particularly interested in those surrounding environmental sustainability, and the ways in which buildings can further public green building education. Science museums are ideal venues for exploring this intersection of environmental values, green buildings and science education. Science museums already strive to make connections between humans and nature, and, in doing so, advocate for environmentally friendly practices. Further, many science museums are beginning to demonstrate environmental commitment through their facilities by increasingly adopting green building practices. Science museums with green buildings thus have the institutional mission and necessary infrastructure to make novel connections between buildings, human behavior, and ecology. But do they? How do they do it? To answer questions such as these, this project investigates the use of green science museum architecture as a communication tool.

This exploratory case study research project examines eight unique science museums across the United States to better understand how and if science museums use their green buildings to further green building education. Using document analysis, site observations, and in-depth interviews with key informants, we will illuminate 1) the green building education strategies employed by science museums with green buildings, and 2) the challenges and barriers science museums face in connecting their green facilities with educational programming. Our overarching goal is to offer insights both theoretical and practical to professionals seeking to improve green building education in the museum