National survey to collect energy data 

Museums and similar cultural institutions operate buildings that differ significantly from typical commercial facilities, yet national benchmarking tools have limited data that reflects these conditions. To address this gap, Environment & Culture Partners (ECP) and New Buildings Institute (NBI) are coordinating a national data‑collection effort to support future building performance analysis for the museum sector. 

Institutions are being asked to share building and operational information through a standardized survey. The results will be submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for potential analysis and development of a 1-100 ENERGY STAR® Score for museums and other cultural institutions. 

A dataset from at least 300 cultural institutions of varying types, sizes, and geographic regions nationwide is necessary to produce a representative analysis for the sector. 

If the score is developed, it would offer cultural institutions a consistent and credible way to evaluate building performance, compare similar facilities, identify opportunities to lower harmful greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs, and potentially pursue ENERGY STAR® certification. Learn more about the National Museum and Cultural Institution Energy Survey.  

Join in

 Let the project team know if they can count you in, especially if you’re still organizing data: https://forms.office.com/r/qR28XcUM1Q

 Submit the survey by Friday, May 29, 2026: https://tally.so/r/obO12e

Send questions to ECP at hello@ecprs.org