WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The sustainable aspects of the new $175 million Williams College Museum of Art will influence the next generation of arts leaders. 

 

"Really building a learning laboratory for sustainable art museums for the future," said Pamela Franks, museum director, at Monday night's community forum.

 

"One of the really distinctive features of the Williams College Museum of Art is its long tradition and contribution to the field of arts leadership. So a student who's leading a tour today may be the director of a major museum tomorrow, and everything that the student learns over the time that they're here at Williams becomes a kind of possibility for impact moving forward."

 

The forum at the Williams Inn was the latest public update on the museum's progress and information on its various aspects, this time on its sustainability focus. 

 

When it opens in fall 2027, the single-story structure designed by Brooklyn-based firm SO–IL will be something of an epitome of the college's sustainability and conservation ethos, first formally adopted by the trustees in 2011.

 

Over nearly 20 years, construction and renovations on campus have focused on attaining energy efficiencies, with projects over $5 million required to reach the gold standard in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED. The college has also sought the Living Building Challenge's Petal level in several cases. 

 

The museum is also looking to become an International Living Future Institute core building, of which only two now exist, and is focusing on Energy Use Intensity benchmarks, with the goal to operate with 70 percent less usage than a comparable 1990 museum. The structure will also be "zero ready" for solar, although it will powered through electricity not solar panels.