The Museum of the White Mountains (MWM) engages the Plymouth State University (PSU) community and the broader public in conversations about the cultural, artistic, and environmental legacies of the White Mountains and Lakes regions of New Hampshire. The museum explores these regions’ past, present, and future exhibitions, interdisciplinary educational programming, and stewardship of their collections. The university has taken a leadership role among the nation’s most environmentally friendly institutions of higher education by signing the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment to cut carbon emissions and to use 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030.

Housed in a brick structure built in 1946, MWM was renovated to LEED Silver standards in 2012. To reduce the carbon footprint and other environmental impacts of the building the next step is adding a PV solar system to produce electricity for the building. The MWM has a shingle roof and faces the street with good solar exposure. FCI Technical Assistance funding will support hiring contract consultants to design a PV system. To further reduce the use of greenhouse gas contributing fuels, the project proposed will also conduct an evaluation of the building envelope to identify energy savings opportunities. The final phase of the project proposed will engage a consultant to design the best use of air source heat pumps to replace the current propane heating system. These efforts will produce usable plans for continued steps to reduce the carbon footprint of the MWM.