From Spitfires to Solar Panels: A Museum’s Quest to Go Green

What do a historic airfield, an underground wartime bunker, and a 1930s Royal Navy cruiser have in common? At Imperial War Museums (IWM), these seemingly disparate spaces are united by a singular mission: commemorating conflict, preserving artefacts, and educating the public.

Yet a different priority is now sharing the spotlight—sustainability. In a move that might seem surprising for an institution focused on war history, IWM’s leadership sees its future in drastically cutting carbon footprints and protecting a global environment that grows more fragile by the day.

At the Green Museums Summit, Ben Melham from Mortice Consulting and Paul Brooks from Imperial War Museum spoke about their work to make Imperial War Museums more sustainable.

Early Wins in Greening a Complex Estate

The complexity of IWM’s estate goes well beyond a few upgrades here and there. Five major sites, each with its own set of challenges, serve millions of visitors every year. HMS Belfast, a Royal Navy cruiser, needed to shed its gas-heating system—no easy feat on a warship moored on the River Thames. IWM North in Salford Quays introduced air-source cooling in a building whose architecture already pushes boundaries.

Over at Duxford, a functioning airfield coexists with hangars, storage facilities, and conservation labs. Early sustainability projects included swapping out lighting for LED fixtures, constructing a Passivhaus store, and unveiling a low-impact creative hub at IWM London.

A Wider Lens on Sustainability

As these projects multiplied, the team realised that going green required more than a scattershot approach. In partnership with Mortice Consulting, IWM broadened its scope. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals informed a more holistic view, one that encompassed not just carbon reduction but also local community impacts, the safeguarding of heritage amid climate change, and the responsibility to bring all departments into the discussion.

Paul Brooks, Head of Estates, views data as a cornerstone of progress. By gathering granular energy-use statistics across sites, the museum can pinpoint inefficiencies and redirect resources with surgical precision. This data-driven approach also supports the reasoning behind innovative ideas discussed at all levels, including the museum’s Zero Carbon Club, a grassroots staff group that feeds proposals to a newly established Sustainability Action Group.

Boreholes, Battleships, and Big Ideas

IWM’s next steps are ambitious. At Duxford, the museum aims to strip out oil-fired heating across half the site and replace it with a system tapping into existing water boreholes, cutting emissions by the hundreds of tonnes annually. Meanwhile, another plan involves harnessing tidal energy to power HMS Belfast through a hydro turbine—an eco-conscious experiment that puts a historic warship in direct partnership with the River Thames. Solar panels and battery storage also figure into the museum’s plans, further reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

In the spirit of investigative thinking, each proposal faces a barrage of questions: Where does it make the most financial sense to invest first? Which heritage constraints might slow or complicate a particular retrofit? How will visitors and staff respond to these changes? This evidence-based mindset, reminiscent of Freakonomics, permeates IWM’s decision-making as it seeks to merge curatorial priorities with modern energy considerations.

Inviting a Cultural Shift

None of these efforts would succeed in isolation. IWM’s leadership understands that sustainability cannot be confined to a specialist team—it must be woven into the organisation’s broader goals. Staff are encouraged to offer suggestions and highlight potential inefficiencies, whether they notice a poorly insulated window or come up with a new idea to reduce single-use plastics in the cafés. The Zero Carbon Club has become a hub for bottom-up innovation, complemented by formal governance and strategic planning at the highest levels.

Brooks believes the process benefits greatly from open communication. When staff across all departments see tangible proof—such as lower utility bills after LED installations—they become more inclined to champion further efforts. Moreover, as energy prices continue to rise, cutting consumption provides a financial incentive that sits comfortably alongside environmental imperatives.

A Blueprint for Other Museums

While IWM still faces practical and financial barriers, the ongoing transformation paints a hopeful picture for other cultural institutions. Decarbonising historic sites is notoriously complex, yet IWM demonstrates that complexity need not be a deterrent. From generating power with boreholes at an active airfield to testing tidal turbines on a 1930s cruiser, the museum is using creative thinking, hard data, and collective buy-in to advance toward a low-carbon future.

Those watching from the sidelines can glean a lesson in problem-solving under constraints. Whenever a new hurdle appears—rising costs, heritage restrictions, unpredictable visitor patterns—the museum’s approach remains consistent: ask the right questions, gather the data, and figure out how to reconcile financial, environmental, and cultural needs in one shot. That formula is why, for IWM, sustainable change is more than a passing phase. It is becoming a core operational principle, forever altering how this historic institution manages everything from exhibit lighting to climate control.

In the end, Imperial War Museums offers an example of how even an organisation steeped in stories of past conflicts can become a testbed for forward-thinking ideas. By pairing audacity with analysis, the museum is quietly revolutionising its operations—and inspiring others in the cultural sector to envision the art and science of sustainability on a grand scale.

Ben Melham from Mortice Consulting and Paul Brooks from Imperial War Museum spoke about their work to make Imperial War Museums more sustainable at the Green Museums Summit.