Environmental Control in Historic Galleries and Museums

Abstract

It is a complex problem to create an environment suitable for both objects and people within museums and galeries housed in historic buildings, which house some of the most important exhibits and require highly controlled conditions. The need to maintain historic buildings intact during restoration often pre vents the installation of full air-conditioning, which is required to adequately control the relative humidity, temperature and pollutants. This paper exam ines how the natural operation of historic buildings can be enhanced to improve environmental control without resorting to full air-conditioning. Also discussed is how to control and predict air movement so as to provide an adequate supply of fresh air for visitors at the same time as a suitable environ ment for the objects, and what effect the visitors have on the objects and fabric of the galleries.

Keywords

Museums Art galleries Historic buildings

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