Standardized Indoor Air Quality Assessments as a Tool to Prepare Heritage Guardians for Changing Preservation Conditions due to Climate Change

Abstract

Climate change will affect the preservation conditions of our cultural heritage. Therefore, well-considered mitigation actions should be implemented to safeguard our heritage for future generations. Environmental monitoring is essential to follow up the change in preservation conditions and to evaluate the effectiveness of performed mitigation actions. To support heritage guardians in the processing and evaluation of monitored data, an indoor air quality (IAQ) index for heritage applications is introduced. The index is calculated for each measured point in time and is visualized in a user-friendly and intuitive way. The current paper describes the backbone of the IAQ-calculating algorithm. The algorithm is subsequently applied on a case study in which a mitigation action is implemented in a church.

Preservation of Distemper Painting: Indoor Monitoring Tools for Risk Assessment and Decision Making in Kvernes Stave Church

“…RAT is a general term which includes tools for risk management which allow uncertainty to be addressed by identifying and generating qualitative or semi-quantitative metrics, prioritizing, and developing practices to track risks with greater probability. The modified RAT of Anaf et al [7] was applied in this study and emphasizes the influence of temperature and relative humidity. This RAT is beneficial for conservators, allowing them to monitor ongoing decay processes of distemper decorative paints under different scenarios (e.g., passive and active climate control strategy, high and low visitor impact).…”

“…In this study, Figure 6 represents the RAT to estimate three different categories of risk: biological decay (top plots), mechanical and chemical decay (bottom, left plot), and mechanical decay only (bottom, right plot). These risks are estimated following the approach introduced in a study by Anaf and co-workers [7] by comparing the data logger measurements recorded in Kvernes, with the corresponding risky target values/thresholds available in the literature [22,24,25]. Risk thresholds of unsafe RH fluctuations (bottom-right plot, external areas to the safe band) are obtained by the standard EN15757:2010 [26].…”

“…In general, it is assessed to have been left untouched until certain painted areas on the walls were consolidated with sturgeon glue in 2013. Finally, this paper aims to introduce an effective standardized risk assessment tool [7] to the cultural heritage field to better manage the climate-induced decay of this sensitive object.…”

Preservation of Cultural Heritage and Resources Threatened by Climate Change

“…At the European level, only two projects, "Noah's Ark" [3] and "Climate for Culture" [4], have finalized their research on these issues. The SI encompass 10 open access papers presenting research studies based on the exploitation of a broad range of data deriving from preventive conservation monitoring [5][6][7] and climate or numerical modelling on material components for assessing environmental impact and climate change effects [8,9]. These papers are focused on a well-assorted sample of decay phenomena occurring on heritage materials, e.g., surface recession and biomass accumulation on limestone [10], depositions of pollutant on marble [11], salt weathering on inorganic building materials [12], and the weathering process on mortars [13].…”

“…Table 1 summarizes the distribution of data and techniques used in each paper, the target decay type monitored or simulated on one or more heritage materials, and the considered climate change scenario and assessment time. In their paper, Anaf et al [5] present a new tool to help heritage guardians in processing and evaluating monitored data in museums or heritage buildings. The work explains the backbone of their proposed Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)-calculating algorithm, from the recognition of deterioration agents, to conversion functions for calculating the level of risk in specific materials or objects, to the way in which weight is attributed to key risk indicators (KRIs).…”