Academy of Arts to upgrade energy infrastructure

The nonprofit Honolulu Academy of Arts has announced a major infrastructure upgrade beginning this month to safeguard the institution’s art collection and reduce energy costs. The most significant piece of the project will be replacement of three aging air conditioner chillers with two more energy-efficient models that will provide dependable climate control in the galleries and vaults.

The $1.5 million project will pay for itself, according to the Academy’s Head of Finance Aaron Kibota. It will cut energy consumption by 28 percent and save about $250,000 a year. The organization’s monthly savings will exceed its monthly loan payment to American Savings Bank, which financed the project, Kibota said. To minimize the impact on operations and visitors, most of the work will be done on days when the museum is normally closed.

Meanwhile, the academy also has hired a New York-based executive recruitment firm to launch an international search for a new director to run the museum, hiring Phillips Oppenheim, which specializes in recruiting nonprofit leaders, to find a replacement for Stephen Little, who resigned in March. The Academy was founded in 1927 and has a permanent collection of more than 50,000 works of art.