Hygrothermal Risk in Museum Buildings Located in Moderate Climate

Abstract

Works of art are sensitive to environmental factors—mainly temperature and relative humidity—which, when stable, are generally recommended as ideal protection conditions, but in historical museum buildings, the required conditions are difficult to maintain, due to a lack of adequate heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. The paper presents the analysis of one-year measurements of temperature and relative humidity in three different museums in Poland. The aim of the research was to identify the risk to museum collections, due to unbalanced moisture loads and unstable indoor air temperatures, as well as to identify possible causes of fluctuations in these parameters. This article focuses on assessing the impact of variable external and internal loads on the hygrothermal parameters of indoor air. The profile of internal hygrothermal loads in exhibition halls varied over time, which resulted in a temporary variation of the indoor environmental parameters. The lack of appropriate systems, shaping the microclimate in the analyzed museums, and the lack of automatic control in existing devices did not allow to maintain the temperature and relative humidity within appropriate limits. In the museums, the maximum indoor temperature values were higher than those recommended in the requirements. Relative humidity values in all museums exceeded the recommended range both above and below.

Automated State-Survey System for Monitoring Salt Damages on Plastered Wall Surfaces

“…In some cases, even by the storing and preservation of historic artifacts in the museums can cause salt problems. [5][6] Because of the numerous factors, sometimes it can be a challenge to reveal the exact source of the appearing salt and moisture or to answer the question when and at what climatic conditions the salt damage occurs. For a more profound investigation of the background of these problems, we need to improve our toolsets used for monitoring historic buildings.…”

Conditions Influencing Mould Growth for Effective Prevention of Wood Deterioration Indoors

“…Indoors, the RH can significantly fluctuate. Even in such a well-controlled environments as museums, RH can fluctuate in relatively broad range: 10-80% [27]. It seems that the mould growth is almost impossible; however, as mentioned above, the main parameter is a w , which can be much higher due to surface condensation or accidental moistening.…”

“…Water is undoubtedly the most important factor for initiation of mould growth; however, temperature also has a major effect since biochemical processes are highly dependent on the metabolic activity of mould growth [1]. The recommendations for museums as well as the real temperature monitoring data have shown that the temperature fluctuations are usually between 10-30 • C [27][28][29] and almost never are below 5 • C or over 53 • C, which are the lower and upper limits for the fungal spore germination [30]. Therefore, for efficient mould growth prevention indoors, the critical factor is humidity, and temperature is only an accelerator.…”

Hygrothermal Analysis of a Museum Storage Room for Metal Cultural Artifacts: Quantification of Factors Influencing High Humidity

“…Some museum buildings and rooms have poor thermal insulation and insufficient airtightness, leading to air leakage through gaps in windows or doors [4] or small thermal and/or moisture capacity of the wall materials. Others may use AC systems of insufficient capacity [5] or may lack human and financial resources to manage them. In museums located in historic buildings, architectural renovations and AC system upgrades for the sake of conservation may not be feasible [6] because of the preservation of their heritage value.…”