103 Abstract Climate change has finally arrived at our museums, archives, and libraries. It manifests itself, for example, in increasing risk scenarios such as severe weather events, but also in the ecological footprint, which threatens to undermine our very mission: the sustainable preservation of cultural heritage. In relation to their area, memory institutions rank among the top energy consumers in the urban context and hence share responsibility in the urgent ecological transformation of our societies. Memory institutions face the challenge of reducing their carbon footprint and their energy consumption in order to counteract the climate crisis. e current energy crisis has intensified this enormous pressure to act. To reduce energy consumption has also ethical aspects, as becoming a “green museum” is only a natural extension of one of their core responsibilities, namely to act as sustainable stewards of their collections for the future. What is unique to museums, libraries, archives, and storage facilities is the interaction between objects, buildings, staff, visitors, and the environment. A rational strategy for controlling microclimatic conditions in museums, libraries, or archives requires an understanding of the magnitude of threats and damage caused by environmental conditions for objects and buildings. e design of HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) systems and climate control, however, is usually based more on technical feasibility than on conservation needs. Apart from operational energy, the gray energy embedded in new construction represents another roadblock on the pathway to green museums. Sustainable conservation in the twenty-first century can be characterized by its economic, ecological, and social impacts, and by the relationship between preserving both culture and nature. Mitigating and adapting to the risks and scenarios of climate change must finally become the underlying priority for all future preservation ef- forts. It is time for museums, archives, and libraries to “look up” and realign their priorities. A broad classification of and a benchmarking effort of energy consumption and real climate conditions in stan- dardized climate categories according to national and international standards and recommendations is a KPI for museums, archives, and libraries. It can help support the necessary transition from a protocol-based to a process-driven decision-making culture in memory institutions. Introduction It is forty-one years since the UNESCO World Conference MONDIACULT in 1982 declared that the objective of human development could no longer be “production”, “profit” or “consumption” but rather human well-being, “the full realization of their potential, both individual and collective, and the preservation of nature”. It has been thirty-one years since the United Nations Con- ference on Environment and Development (UNCED), the world summit in Rio de Janeiro, launched the UNFCCC to “prevent dangerous human interference with the climate How little is enough – Key Performance Indicators for Energy Consumption and Climate in Memory Institutions STEFAN SIMON 1,* , LUKASZ BRATASZ 2 1 Rathgen-Forschungslabor, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, 10785 Berlin 2 Jerzy Haber Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow