Assessment of thermo-hygrometric indicators for preventive conservation inside museums: in field monitoring and passive microclimatic control strategies applied to “La Specola” museum of Florence (original) (raw)
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Applied Sciences
The current energy crisis and the necessity to minimize energy waste suggest the need to assess non-air-conditioned buildings in terms of the need to install an air-conditioning system and to size and control it efficiently. This applies to historical museum buildings hosting artworks that require specific microclimate conditions for their preservation. With this view, this work analyzes the suitability of non-air-conditioned historical museum buildings to properly preserve exhibits. Therefore, two non-air-conditioned museums located in the historical city center of Florence, Italy, are considered as case studies, i.e., Vasari Corridor and La Specola. One year of indoor microclimate data monitored in representative rooms of the museums are analyzed according to the standard for artworks preservation and in terms of historical climate. Results of monitored indoor air temperature and relative humidity show that all monitored rooms are not suitable for the preservation of the exhibits ...
The house museum environment: A methodology for evaluation of hygrothermal conditions
2020
In recent decades, the obvious deterioration suffered by the collections exhibited in museum rooms has become alarming. The lack of environmental control is currently one of the most vulnerable points in the exhibition of objects and works of art in museums.In historic cities, museums are usually housed in old buildings or museum-houses that were not created specifically for the preservation of heritage objects. In this case, preventive conservation includes both the collections and the building itself. The possibilities of creating stable microclimates for the conservation of objects on display are reduced when it is not possible to change its architectural characteristics either due to lack of resources or because it is a priority to conserve the building envelope.The literature indicates that within the criteria of preventive conservation, the monitoring and control of environmental conditions are essential practices to minimize damage to the heritage during the exhibition.The pu...
Environmental monitoring and microclimatic control strategies in “La Specola” museum of Florence
Energy and Buildings, 2015
This work presents the results of the environmental monitoring of some rooms of the "La Specola" Museum in Florence, affected by significant overheating problem in summer mainly due to the absence of efficient solar shadings. The elaboration and analysis of the microclimatic data have been carried out according to the Italian Standard UNI 10829 and the Performance Index of the most important thermo hygrometric parameters has been calculated and assessed. This analysis shows that temperature and RH conditions were not reasonably acceptable for the preservation of the kind of objects exhibited. In order to reduce this problem, solar gain control solutions (shadings and solar control glasses) has been analysed with a dynamic thermal simulation tool for two sample rooms, as a possible solution to improve architectural integration with the historical context. In order to reduce the risk of damage, the evaluation of different strategies has been expressed in terms of the reduction of energy need for space cooling and in terms of the ability to control dry bulb temperature values. The results can be extended to several historical buildings, where large windows and skylights cause high energy consumption and poor indoor environmental conditions that can cause damage to the artefacts.
Conservar Património
This paper presents the analysis of the hygrothermal conditions of a museum space hosted in an 18th century building, in Coimbra (Portugal). This historical building, which houses the Science Museum of the University of Coimbra, is located in the historic centre of the University of Coimbra, officially declared a World Heritage Site in 2013 by UNESCO. The methodology proposed in EN 15757:2010 was applied to two monitoring campaigns carried out at a distance of 4 years, in two of the rooms of the permanent exhibition. The results of the monitoring periods are presented and discussed. The findings unveil the necessity for long-term monitoring of the indoor environmental conditions of museum spaces, towards the support of grounded based-evidence guidelines for the conservation of objects and quality of environment for exhibits conservation. Resumo Neste artigo são analisadas as condições higrotérmicas de um espaço museológico situado num edifício do século XVIII, em Coimbra (Portugal). Este edifício histórico, que acolhe o Museu da Ciência da Universidade, localiza-se no centro histórico da Universidade de Coimbra, declarado oficialmente como Património Mundial em 2013 pela UNESCO. A metodologia proposta na norma europeia EN 15757:2010 foi aplicada em duas campanhas de monitoração realizadas a uma distância de 4 anos, em dois dos espaços da exposição permanente do MCUC. São apresentados e discutidos os resultados dos períodos de monitorização. As conclusões mostram a importância da monitorização das condições ambientais internas dos espaços museológicos a longo prazo, no sentido da elaboração de diretrizes de conservação de objetos e da qualidade do ambiente interior para a conservação de exposições, suportadas e baseadas em evidências.
In the past few years, an increasing attention has been paid to the indoor microclimate conditions of museums, with the purpose being the long-term preservation of both the artefacts and the environment where they are located. In fact, parameters such as the internal air temperature, the relative/ specific humidity, and the lighting conditions could significantly affect the indoor air quality by generating the deterioration of the artworks conserved inside the museum. In this paper, the continuous monitoring of an ancient exhibition site with high historic value situated in Perugia, Italy, is carried out, in order to evaluate the current indoor climate performance. The exposition site consists of a partially subterranean medieval fortress built in the XVI century composed of several exhibition rooms. The purpose of the present work is therefore to propose a multidisciplinary methodology for the enhancement of the preservation of both artworks and buildings where they are kept in the perspective of sustainability and energy efficiency. Results of the thermal-hygrometric continuous monitoring of the Rocca are presented.
Healthy, Intelligent and Resilient Buildings and Urban Environments
In this work a method is proposed to estimate the effect of indoor microclimate on the risk of degradation of ancient materials stored in historical buildings. The method, which combines microclimate observations and dynamic simulation, has shown to be strategic in preventive conservation of historical buildings. Indeed, once the building model is calibrated, it can be effectively used for evaluating the microclimate control solutions on the conservation reducing general degradation risks. The method has been applied to a historical building close to Rome, where deteriorations in ceilings occurred and visitors complain about thermal discomfort. First, the HVAC system in the model has set in order to guarantee both thermal comfort and adequate condition for the conservation of the material. Then, the crack width of wooden ceiling has been estimated by means of an empirical model based on indoor temperature and relative humidity data and validated with the measurements of the crack width. It was found a reduction of annual variation from 0.4 mm to 0.2 mm, experimented by panels, and an improvement of maximum daily variation, especially in winter and summer (less than 0.01 mm on average).
Applied Sciences, 2022
Preservation of the cultural heritage of museums includes measures to prevent degrading effects induced by air temperature and humidity factors which are difficult to control. The present paper includes a synopsis of values of air temperature and relative humidity characterizing the indoor climate of the “Poni-Cernătescu” Museum of Iași, Romania for a period of one year. The objective of this research was to describe the museum microclimate and to identify and analyze the degradation risk of museum artifacts in order to study the impact of hygrothermal indoor and outdoor loads on indoor microclimate parameters. To achieve the objective, the following activities were carried out: acquisition of data on the relative humidity and the temperature of indoor and outdoor air; analysis of data with climate analysis tools and statistical methods; and transformation of data into quantitative and qualitative numerical measures of collection decay risks. The collected data enabled us to accurat...
Microclimate modelling in old museum buildings
The Historic Environment, 1991
It is important when considering the environment in which an exhibition or museum objects are to be displayed, to consider the way in which the building itself responds to the external parameters of relative humidity and temperature. This paper will be concerned with measurements recorded by thermohygrograph units, placed inside display galleries at the Western Australian Museum in Francis Street in Perth, and also at the Freemantle Museum and the Maritime Museum in Fremantle. The data for external values of temperature and relative humidity were obtained from the Bureau of Meteorology in Perth.
2011
The measurement of indoor climate in heritage buildings can provide valuable sources of data needed for an optimal use and management of the works of art exhibited inside. It is a fundamental technique to evaluate environmental damage and degradation processes, to support the protection, conservation and preservation of works of art, improving the quality of museum environments. This is particularly important when the old buildings have special architectural and historical value. In most cases, the buildings themselves are works of art and at the same time preserve various precious objects. The stability requirements of microclimatic conditions play a key role in the deterioration processes of the various materials of building and works of art. It is necessary to reduce variations in thermo-physical parameters because they are as damaging as their absolute values, ensuring a sufficient comfort level for users. In the present paper results from experimental measurements performed inside a historical building used as a museum, located in Fucecchio (near Florence, Italy), are discussed. A method based on the implementation of the current standard UNI EN ISO 13786, was used to study the heat transfer to and from a single thermal zone (one of the exhibition rooms) of the museum. Making some basic assumptions, the time-varying thermodynamic measures could be decomposed, by means of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), into a sinusoidal frequency component. These components could be independently analysed by means of the norm above and the results combined to estimate the total heat transfer wave through the room envelope. These results can provide a useful support in decision making about the choice of the most suitable environmental control strategies such as passive control, controlled ventilation, shading and added insulation of building, modular and movable heating plant systems (e.g. radiant platform) and, if possible, Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) system. In addition, this method allowed an estimate of the time-course of the temperature on the internal surface of the walls, which is an important factor for optimally arranging the paintings inside the exposition rooms.
Energy and Buildings, 2015
Temperierung refers basically to wall heating through pipes mounted in or on the inside of the walls. In the context of heritage preservation the Temperierung system was mainly developed by the State Office for Non-State Museums in Bavaria for heating and climatization of museums and exhibit buildings. Based on the ongoing research project "Temperierung as a Tool for Preventive Conservation-An Assessment" a close and interdisciplinary collaboration is established between building physicists, conservators and practitioners from 18 selected museums. The paper highlights the different existing Temperierung systems within the project, main components of the system and different types of application. The main principles of the technique are explained and compared to more commonly known heating systems like convector/radiator heating and wall/floor heating. Preliminary results of the measured indoor climate and effects of the Temperierung heating system of several chosen museums are presented. The impacts of the indoor climate to the conservation of artifacts, influenced by Temperierung heating, are discussed with typical methods of indoor climate assessment and with conservational assessment. The detailed and neutral description of Temperierung heating gives a basis for planners and persons in charge for retrofitting historical museum buildings.