A sequential process to assess and optimize the indoor climate in museums

Silva, Hugo Entradas; Henriques, Fernando; Henriques, Telma A.S.; Coelho, Guilherme B.A.

doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2016.04.023

Cited by 59 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…This period includes the fully-heating months as well as the transitional period and the summer period. The performance index values (PI) [26,29,51] were also determined ( Tables 4 and 5). In this study, PI is the share of the year when the amplitude of the hourly values of indoor RH is less than ±5% or ±10% from the set point.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proposed Strategies for Improving Poor Hygrothermal Conditions in Museum Exhibition Rooms and Their Impact on Energy Demand

Ferdyn-Grygierek

Grygierek

2019

Energies

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In museums, poor microclimate conditions, especially large changes in relative humidity and temperature, can lead to serious deterioration of the exhibits. Properly designed heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems for precise control of the air parameters are required. However, due to the financial restrictions of museums, complex air-conditioning systems are often not feasible. In this study, we tested and propose novel methods to reduce the short- and long-term fluctuations in the relative humidity in exhibition rooms of a Polish museum. The methods only include indoor temperature and ventilation airflow control strategies, without the use of (de)humidification equipment. The analysis is based on simulations using EnergyPlus software. A multi-zone thermal model of the museum building was validated and calibrated with measured data. A full calendar year was simulated for five control cases (including the current method used) and two internal heat gain schedules. The energy demand for heating and cooling for each case was calculated. The combination of temperature control and adequate ventilation using ambient airflow allows for dramatic improvement in the microclimate conditions. The proportion of the year when the instantaneous indoor relative humidity is ±5% from set point decreased from 85% to 20%. A significant effect was obtained over the summer months.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proposed Strategies for Improving Poor Hygrothermal Conditions in Museum Exhibition Rooms and Their Impact on Energy Demand

Ferdyn-Grygierek

Grygierek

2019

Energies

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“…Moreover, the European Committee CEN/TC 346 [45] provided specific standards for protecting the collections, controlling the environmental variables, and implementing the energy efficiency (also in this case not specifically for museum buildings, but only for historic buildings). Finally, very recent, several case studies tested different thermal control strategies for reducing the energy consumption in museums [63][64][65][66][67]. Ascione et al [64] and Kramer et al [67] confirmed the validity of this approach, obtaining an energy saving from 40% to 77%.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 65%

“…The European Standard EN 15251 [81] suggests a similar approach, switching from local and spot measurements to continuous measurements. Departing from these standards, the scientific literature defines a synthetic "performance index" to evaluate the thermohygrometric quality in museum buildings (air temperature, relative humidity, daily and seasonal gradients), on the basis of a medium/long-term monitoring [36,37,65,65,82]. It identifies the percentage of time in which the measured parameter lies within the required range.…”

Section: Analysis Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multidisciplinary risk-based analysis for supporting the decision making process on conservation, energy efficiency, and human comfort in museum buildings

Lucchi

2016

Journal of Cultural Heritage

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“…Several pieces of research report multi-objective analysis of museums: these studies aim to identify retrofit actions to reduce energy demand or enhance thermal comfort, the maintenance or improvement of indoor microclimate being constraints [41][42][43]. Figure 2 shows a possible application of the indexes in case of retrofit action choice.…”

Section: Importance Of the Application Of The New Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Proposal for New Microclimate Indexes for the Evaluation of Indoor Air Quality in Museums

2016

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A correct artwork preservation requires strict values of several microclimate parameters, in particular temperature, humidity, and light. In existing museums, the evaluation of the effectiveness of current building plant systems and management is essential to avoid artwork deterioration. In this work, we propose the use of five simple performance indexes that use monitored data to estimate the suitability of the whole museum system in the maintenance of benchmark values of temperature, humidity, and light. The new indexes also take into account microclimate daily span and spatial homogeneity, which can represent a criticality in the preservative process. We apply these new indexes to the results of a monitoring campaign in Palazzo Blu, a museum in Pisa, which lasted for almost four months during a temporary exhibition on Toulouse-Lautrec works. The indexes show a mainly acceptable instantaneous microclimate, but HVAC (Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning) system improvement is necessary to avoid high thermo-hygrometric daily span. This methodology is useful for the identification of microclimate criticalities and can help the cooperation between conservation experts and professionals giving hints to improve museum internal microclimate. In case ofalready optimal microclimate, these indexes can be useful in more complex analyses, including simulations of possible retrofit actions, keeping microclimate suitability as a constraint.Keywords: indoor microclimate quality index; museum; monitoring campaign; HVAC system On Microclimate for Artwork PreservationArtworks need strict microclimate conditions to be preserved. Each typology of artwork (e.g., paper, frescoes, paintings, stones) needs specific microclimate conditions for their preservation; in general, typical environmental parameters to be controlled are:• maximum daily and seasonal temperature difference ( • C);• mean relative humidity (%);• maximum daily and seasonal relative humidity difference (%);• maximum allowed illuminance (lx).For each type of artwork, standards suggest suitable microclimate intervals [1][2][3]; in some cases, however, if the artifact has been acclimatized to a particular historical climate environment, it is preferable to maintain these conditions instead of standard intervals, to avoid climatic shocks of the artwork [4,5]. Technical standard UNI 10829 [1] lists acceptable values for illuminance and optimal and acceptable ranges for temperature and relative humidity (in some cases, it is not possible to achieve, at the same time, visitor comfort and correct conditions for artwork preservation [6]). The presence of dust and gaseous pollutants and microbial and UV radiations can also threaten artwork integrity [7][8][9].

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A sequential process to assess and optimize the indoor climate in museums

Cited by 59 publications

References 17 publications

Proposed Strategies for Improving Poor Hygrothermal Conditions in Museum Exhibition Rooms and Their Impact on Energy Demand

Proposed Strategies for Improving Poor Hygrothermal Conditions in Museum Exhibition Rooms and Their Impact on Energy Demand

Multidisciplinary risk-based analysis for supporting the decision making process on conservation, energy efficiency, and human comfort in museum buildings

A Proposal for New Microclimate Indexes for the Evaluation of Indoor Air Quality in Museums

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