The Reducing Bills project aims to help museums in the West Midlands region reduce their energy bills and improve sustainability practices over 2.5 years. Museums can join the project cohort and will receive free assessments, support developing green plans and projects, and access a small grants pot. The project will track changes in energy spending and carbon footprints at museums from the start to end, and disseminate exemplar case studies more widely. Participating museums must be willing to share utility cost data and participate in knowledge sharing activities. The project partners include various sustainability organizations and aims to explore joint purchasing and other cooperative actions between museums.

1. Greening Museums in the West Midlands
The Reducing Bills project -Callout to those wishing to take part.
Sustainability and resilience for museums are, rightfully, ‘concepts of the moment’ for the museum
sector, as for the rest of society. The Marches Network Museum Development programme (2012 -
2015) includes a range of supportive interventions to improve the organisational, economic and
social strengths of museums in the sector. Within this it has prioritised support for ‘green’ and
environmental actions and projects for museums of all types and sizes.
Over the last two years MDOs have supported knowledge sharing about environmentally sustainable
collections care, encouraged a small group of museums to work towards a Green Tourism Business
Award, enabled a small group to complete the Green Museums Toolkit Review (Renaissance East
Midlands) and others to improve gardens and gallery lighting through provision of small grants.
Over the next two and a half years there will be more opportunities for similar knowledge sharing
through workshops and events. Additionally a longer-term Demonstrator Project; ‘Reducing Bills’ will
track the development of green practices and, hopefully, their effect on reducing (energy) bills with
a core cohort of museums. This project will drive the dissemination of exemplar case studies,
information and advice to the wider museum community.
Reducing Bills: What is involved?
The project will compare a set of data gathered from the cohort at the beginning of the project
(Winter 2012/13) with the set gathered at the end of it (Winter 2015). Core data will consist of
quantitative ‘energy bill’ spend and carbon footprint figures, but other, less tangible, changes will
also be tracked and self-assessed e.g. overall culture change, the development and initiation of new
eco-projects etc.
The core group will consist of a range of small and large, local authority and independent sites. Each
site will take their own pathway according to their capacity. Museum Development actions and
support for these museums will evolve alongside the specific plans drawn up by each museum.
The offer
We have partnered with contractors to supply, free to the participating museums, the following:
Each site will be provided with a free Thermal Imaging Survey and full Sustainability
Assessment at the beginning of the project to provide a baseline. This process will be
repeated, again free of charge, at the end of the project (winter 2015).
Alongside energy, the assessment will also consider waste management, water, travel,
employee awareness and customer engagement. Each of the museums will receive a
feasibility study on basic energy efficiency and renewable technology interventions.
Museums will be supported by the contractor and partners to carry out actions from their plans
throughout the duration of the project. A small grant pot of £10,000 has been allocated for the
lifetime of the project which will be accessible, by the cohort, for activities on their own site (set
against their action plan). The effectiveness of this small figure will be enhanced through partner
projects and joint actions – e.g. joint discounts, demonstration funding and other co-operative
actions.
30 November 2012 Page 1 of 3

2. Greening Museums in the West Midlands
Partners and supporters: Some of the people we are currently working with:
Green Tourism Business Award, Keep Britain Tidy/ Eco-schools Green Flag, DTA Energy Buying Group
/Locality, Northfield Eco-Centre, Sustainable Building Centre, Sustainability West Midlands, Smarter
Working W.M., Business in the Community, TransitionTowns, Warwickshire Community Oil syndicate
While the initial concentration is on energy usage any changes appropriate to the museum’s
operation, from involving visitors in re-cycling to changing heating systems, will be supported.
Although we will be led by the cohort’s needs, we are looking to explore such options as shared
energy buying, joint discounts for recycled or environmentally friendly supplies (café, catering,
cleaning, lighting), local growing and other environmental and community campaigns. We will
continue to focus on encouraging sites to undertake the Green Museum Toolkit and strive towards
GBT Awards.
How can your museum get involved?
Any museum and heritage project in the West Midlandswill be able to attend any open workshops
and events run by the MDOs, but we will recruit a small number of museums to be part the longer
term ‘Reducing Bills’ project (and take advantage of the support outlined above).
To be part of the ‘Reducing Bills’ project any currently operating/trading West Midlands based
museum may put themselves forward. A certain level of commitment is necessary. As the project
involves measuring energy usage and bills, each museum must be willing to share, with MDOs and
agreed contractors, appropriate financial information about energy and other supply costs for the
duration of the project. While this information will be kept confidential, participants must be
prepared to share enough detail to be part of the overall dataset and final case studies.
Each site is also expected to actively participate in group discussions and contribute to other
activities devised with MDOs and the cohort. There is no fixed level of participation, the expectation
is that each site will both ‘give’ and ‘take’ to a level reasonable for their circumstances.
Participating museums must be prepared to facilitate a visit (no more than 1 day) from the Thermal
Imaging/Sustainability contractors between now and the end of February 2013.
How will you benefit?
Access to shared support and advice from a range of partners and
Development of an agreed plan to start to reduce energy costs
Access to support funding
30 November 2012 Page 2 of 3

3. Greening Museums in the West Midlands
Approximate Project Timetable
Action Public? Deadline
Recruitment of cohort Dec 2012/Jan 2013
Assessments completed By end of Feb 2013
Cohort Meet Up ‘Knowledge Café’ ½ Speakers March/April 2013
day + speakers section open
Development of on site Green Training possibility Spring 2013
Champions work
Fund open to Bids Summer 2013
Cohort Meet Up ‘Knowledge Café’ ½ Speakers Summer 2013
day+ speakers section open
Developing of ‘partner As appropriate: shared Summer 2013 onwards
projects’ resources, purchasing,
co-ops etc
Invitation to wider Autumn 2013 onwards
participation beyond cohort
Cohort Meet Up ‘Knowledge Café’ ½ Speakers Autumn 2013
day+ speakers section open
Cohort Meet Up ‘Knowledge Café’ ½ Speakers Spring 2014
day+ speakers section open
Cohort Meet Up ‘Knowledge Café’ ½ Speakers Autumn 2014
day+ speakers section open
Re-assessment and review Autumn/winter 2014
Report and case study Winter 2014/spring
publication 2015
Please contact your local MDO,ASAP, if you wish to be part of the project
NB visits for thermal imaging will take place from December onwards until
end of February
Herefordshire: Sue Knox sknox@herefordshire.gov.uk
Shropshire: Judith Karena judith.karena@shropshire.gov.uk
Staffordshire: Helen Johnson helen.johnson@staffordshire.gov.uk
Birmingham, Black Country, Telford & Wrekin: Emma
Buckleremma.buckler@wolverhampton.gov.uk
Warwickshire, Coventry & Solihull: Glynis Powellglynispowell@warwickshire.gov.uk
Worcestershire: Gemma Dhami GDhami@worcestershire.gov.uk
30 November 2012 Page 3 of 3