Connecticut Green Business Awards
Mark Twain House & Museum
351 Farmington Avenue
Hartford 06105-4401
860-247-0998
marktwainhouse.org
Executive director: Jeffrey L. Nichols
No. employees: 13 full-time, approximately 35 part-timers
Hartford is home to the nation’s first green museum: The Mark Twain House & Museum. The museum’s Museum Center opened in 2003, becoming the first museum in the nation, and the first building of any kind in Connecticut, to attain the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification.
Additionally, the museum received the 2004 GreenCircle Certificate from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Leadership Award from the Connecticut Green Building Council.
The people who run the Mark Twain House & Museum are proud of their organization’s continuing commitment to energy conservation and efforts to operate as a green organization while simultaneously delivering an enriching and enjoyable museum experience. And they continue to seek new and improved ways to be an environmental leader.
The museum has partnered with several organizations to meet that goal: United Technologies Corp., which helped address problems with HVAC systems; Connecticut Light & Power Co, through its Conservation and Load Management program helped the museum convert all the light fixtures in the Museum Center from fluorescent bulbs to LED bulbs; Emerging Technology Associates, which sourced the new LED bulbs, as well as helped the museum receive an Energy Star Partner Rating; Con Serv. Inc., which assisted the museum with the bulb installation; ET Solar USA, which agreed to donate photovoltaic panel technology for use on the Museum Center; and Tychon Energy Systems, which is working closely with the museum on the solar panel project.
“If these accomplishments possibly seem intangible, the numbers tell the story: The Mark Twain House & Museum was in a financial crisis before these changes were made. Now, through the conversion to LED bulbs and the HVAC system changes and repairs, the museum has saved over 125,231 kilowatt-hours and experienced dramatic financial savings as well. In the Museum Center, electricity costs have been reduced by 45 percent,” says Julia Pistell, marketing associate in the museum’s Communication and Special Projects department.
“Best of all, these energy improvements have furthered the museum’s mission of fostering an appreciation of Mark Twain’s legacy,” Pistell says. “When Mark Twain built his Victorian mansion in 1874, it was the epitome of a modern home, with features such as central heating, hot and cold running water and gas lighting fixtures that were uncommon in homes of the period. Based upon his work and his life, we know that he would approve of the use of the best new technologies to preserve and honor his beloved home and the natural world.”
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