In recent years more cultural institutions in hot and humid climates have been installing air-conditioning systems to protect their collections and provide comfort for both employees and visitors. This practice, however, can pose complications, including problems of installation and maintenance as well as structural damage to buildings, while failing to provide collections with a viable conservation environment.

This volume offers hands-on guidance to the specific challenges involved in conserving cultural heritage in hot and humid climates. Initial chapters present scientific and geographic overviews of these climates, outline risk-based classifications for environmental control, and discuss related issues of human health and comfort. The authors then describe climate management strategies that offer effective and reliable alternatives to conventional air-conditioning systems and that require minimal intervention to the historic fabric of buildings that house collections. The book concludes with seven case studies of successful climate improvement projects undertaken by the Getty Conservation Institute in collaboration with cultural institutions around the world. Appendixes include a unit conversion table, a glossary, and a full bibliography.

This book is an essential tool for cultural heritage conservators and museum curators, as well as other professionals involved in the design, construction, and maintenance of museums and other buildings housing cultural heritage collections in hot and humid climates.

• Foreword, Timothy P. Whalen
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• PART 1: FUNDAMENTALS AND APPROACHES
  • Chapter 1: Hot and Humid Climates
    • Characterization of Thermal and Moisture Loads in Hot and Humid Climates
    • Overview of Climate Zone Classifications by Empirical Methods
    • Standard 90.1-2013 Climate Classification System
    • World Climate Zone Classification
    • Summary
  • Chapter 2: Risks of Hot and Humid Climates for Collections and Buildings
    • Environmental Risks for Collections
    • Biological Risk and Damage
      • Microorganisms
      • Insects
      • Vermin
    • Mechanical Risk and Damage
      • Dimensional change
      • Embrittlement
      • Material fatigue
      • Material rupture from crystal formation of soluble salts
    • Additional Issues Related to Mechanical Damage
      • Particulates damage
      • Prior environmental exposure
      • Risk levels for mechanical damage
    • Chemical Damage
      • Temperature-induced reactions
      • Humidity-induced reactions
      • Pollutant-induced reactions
      • Light-induced reactions
      • Rate of chemical damage
    • Risks to Heritage Buildings Posed by Interior Environmental Management
      • Temperature and humidity gradients within building envelope assemblies
      • Mobilization of salts in heritage building envelope and fabric
      • Risk of condensation and high moisture content in building envelopes
    • Summary
  • Chapter 3: Balancing Risks and Establishing Conservation Priorities
    • Risk-Based Environmental Management versus Prescriptive Environmental Control
    • Existing Risk-Based Guidance for Managing the Collections Environment
    • Underlying Principles of Risk-Based Environmental Management
    • Prioritizing Risks of Collections Damage in Hot and Humid Climates
      • Biological damage—the greatest risk
      • Mechanical damage—a risk where climate varies widely
      • Chemical damage—a lesser risk
    • Environmental Considerations Unique to Hot and Humid Climates
    • A Conservation Environment Classification Protocol for Hot and Humid Climates
    • How to Read the Conservation Environment Classification–HH Protocol Table
      • Microbial risk
      • Mechanical risk
      • Chemical risk
    • Using the Protocol: Sample Overall Classification for a Collections Environment
      • Microbial risk
      • Mechanical risk
      • Chemical risk
      • Overall risk classification results
    • Summary
  • Chapter 4: Occupant Health and Comfort in Hot and Humid Climates
    • Occupant Health and Indoor Air Quality
      • Airborne contaminants
      • Hazardous collections
      • Determining target conditions for occupant health
      • Strategies for indoor air quality
    • Occupational Noise and Acoustic Comfort
    • Thermal Comfort for Building Occupants
      • Thermal comfort models
      • Physiological response to the environment
      • Parameters for thermal comfort
      • Guidelines for thermal comfort
    • Priorities for Occupant Health and Comfort
    • Conflict between Collections Conservation and Thermal Comfort
    • Summary
  • Chapter 5: Psychrometric Strategies for Environmental Management
    • The Psychrometric Chart
    • Environmental Conditions for a Given Space
    • Target Ranges of Environmental Conditions for Conservation and Thermal Comfort
      • Environmental target ranges for collections conservation
      • Environmental target ranges for thermal comfort
    • Displaying Psychrometric Processes from Initial to Final State Points
    • Psychrometric Strategies
      • Nonmechanical strategies
      • Mechanical strategies
    • Summary
  • Chapter 6: Nonmechanical Strategies for Environmental Management
    • Overview
    • Site Influences on the Interior Building Environment
      • Moisture
      • Sunlight
      • Air movement
      • Ground contact
    • Building Envelope and Hygrothermal Performance
      • Moisture sources and transport
      • Thermal energy transfer
      • Effectiveness of the building envelope
    • Influences of the Spatial Organization of a Building
    • Source Moisture Control Strategies
    • Thermal Energy Management Strategies
    • Convection Strategies
    • Control Strategies for Particulates and Insects
      • Particulates
      • Insects
    • Space Use Strategies
    • Layered Enclosure Strategies—Secondary Envelopes, Microenvironments, and Collections Housing
    • Occupant Load Strategies
    • Maintenance and Sustained Implementation of Nonmechanical Strategies
    • Summary
  • Chapter 7: Mechanical Strategies for Environmental Management
    • Overview of Air-Conditioning
    • Mechanical Equipment for Psychrometric Processes
      • Dehumidification
      • Ventilation
      • Heating
      • Cooling
      • Humidification
    • Nonpsychrometric Mechanical Equipment
      • Filtration
      • Control and control equipment
    • Additional Topics Related to Mechanical Strategies
      • Spatial requirements for mechanical systems
      • Noncentralized and centralized mechanical systems
      • Risks associated with the operation of mechanical strategies
    • Summary
  • Chapter 8: Design and Implementation of Environmental Management Strategies
    • Overview
    • Five Steps to a Successful Environmental Management Strategy
    • Step 1: Team Building
    • Step 2: Assessments
      • Assessment of the environmental context of climate and site
      • Assessment and understanding of historically significant buildings
      • Assessment of the building, its environmental performance, and effects of use and occupancy
      • Assessment of existing nonmechanical and mechanical environmental management systems
      • Assessment and identification of collections vulnerabilities specific to context and building
      • Assessment of institutional capacity
    • Step 3: Strategy Development
      • Define realistic and achievable objectives and criteria and resolve competing objectives
      • Identify possible environmental management strategies
      • Evaluate and select the preferred strategy or strategies
      • The Commissioning Process
    • Step 4: Design and Implementation
      • Predesign—the Owner’s Project Requirements
      • Design
      • Procurement, construction, and installation
      • Start-up, testing and balancing, and construction commissioning
      • Training of owner’s staff
      • Documentation
    • Step 5: Operations, Maintenance, and Continued Evaluation and Improvement
    • Summary
• PART 2: CASE STUDIES
  • Introduction to Part 2
  • Case Study Format Overview
  • Preinstallation Condition Assessments
  • Environmental Management System
    • Psychrometric strategies
    • Nonmechanical strategies
    • Mechanical strategies
  • Postinstallation System Performance
  • Maintenance
  • Energy Metrics
  • Closing Discussions
  • Chapter 9: Hollybourne Cottage, Historic House on Jekyll Island, Georgia, United States: Part A—Basement Ventilation (Conservation Heating) and Heating, and Attic Ventilation (Dilution)
    • Summary
    • Background
      • Climate
      • Building
    • Preinstallation Condition Assessments
      • Building envelope assessment
      • Exterior environmental assessment
      • Interior environmental assessment
      • Preinstallation risk class assessment
    • Environmental Management System
      • Objectives
      • Psychrometric strategies
      • Nonmechanical strategies
      • Mechanical strategies
    • Postinstallation System Performance
      • Humidity
      • Temperature
      • Dew point temperature
      • Postinstallation risk class assessment
      • Thermal comfort
      • Noise
    • Maintenance
    • Energy Metrics
      • Energy intensity
      • Energy use intensity
    • Conclusions
    • Lessons Learned from Hollybourne Cottage, Part A
    • Future Considerations
    • Postscript
    • Project Team and Responsibilities
  • Chapter 10: Hollybourne Cottage, Historic House on Jekyll Island, Georgia, United States: Part B—Whole-House Ventilation, Attic Heating, and Basement Dehumidification
    • Summary
    • Overview
    • Environmental Management System
      • Objectives
      • Psychrometric strategies
      • Nonmechanical strategies
      • Mechanical strategies
    • Postinstallation System Performance
      • Humidity
      • Temperature
      • Dew point temperature
      • Postinstallation risk class assessment
      • Thermal comfort
      • Noise
    • Maintenance
    • Energy Metrics
      • Energy intensity
      • Energy use intensity
    • Conclusions
    • Lessons Learned from Hollybourne Cottage, Part B
    • Future Considerations
    • Postscript
    • Project Team and Responsibilities
  • Chapter 11: Historic Archive of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain: Ventilation and Conservation Heating
    • Summary
    • Background
      • Climate
      • Building
      • Historic Archive collection
    • Preinstallation Condition Assessments
      • Building envelope assessment
      • Exterior environmental assessment
      • Interior environmental assessment
      • Preinstallation risk class assessment
    • Environmental Management System
      • Objectives
      • Psychrometric strategies
      • Nonmechanical strategies
      • Mechanical strategies
    • Postinstallation System Performance
      • Humidity
      • Temperature
      • Dew point temperature
      • Postinstallation risk class assessment
      • Microbes
      • Particulate matter
      • Thermal comfort
      • Noise
    • Maintenance
    • Energy Metrics
      • Energy intensity
      • Energy use intensity
    • Conclusions
    • Lessons Learned from the Historic Archive of San Cristóbal de La Laguna
    • Postscript
    • Project Team and Responsibilities
  • Chapter 12: Museum Storage in Valle Guerra, Tenerife, Spain: Conservation Heating by Ventilation and Conservation Heating
    • Summary
    • Background
      • Climate
      • Building
      • Collection
    • Preinstallation Condition Assessments
      • Building envelope assessment
      • Exterior environmental assessment
      • Interior environmental assessment
      • Preinstallation risk class assessment
    • Environmental Management System
      • Objectives
      • Psychrometric strategies
      • Nonmechanical strategies
      • Mechanical strategies
    • Postinstallation System Performance
      • Humidity, temperature, and dew point
      • Postinstallation risk class assessment
      • Microbes and dust
      • Thermal comfort
      • Noise
    • Maintenance
    • Energy Metrics
      • Energy intensity
      • Energy use intensity
    • Conclusions
    • Lessons Learned from the Museum Storage in Valle Guerra
    • Postscript
    • Project Team and Responsibilities
  • Chapter 13: Ethnographic Storage of the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Belém, Brazil: Conservation Heating by Ventilation and Mechanical Dehumidification
    • Summary
    • Background
      • Climate
      • Building
      • Collection
    • Preinstallation Condition Assessments
      • Building envelope assessment
      • Exterior environmental assessment
      • Interior environmental assessment
    • Environmental Management System
      • Objectives
      • Psychrometric strategies
      • Nonmechanical strategies
      • Mechanical strategies
    • Postinstallation System Performance
      • Humidity
      • Temperature
      • Dew point temperature
      • Postinstallation risk class assessment
      • Insects
      • Pollutants
      • Thermal comfort
      • Noise
    • Maintenance
    • Energy Metrics
      • Energy intensity
      • Energy use intensity
    • Conclusions
    • Lessons Learned from the Ethnographic Storage of Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi
    • Postscript
    • Project Team and Responsibilities
  • Chapter 14: Library of Museu Casa de Rui Barbosa, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Ventilation (Dilution) and Dehumidification, and Limited Cooling
    • Summary
    • Background
      • Climate
      • Building
      • Collection
    • Preinstallation Condition Assessments
      • Building envelope assessment
      • Environmental assessment
      • Exterior environmental assessment
      • Interior environmental assessment
      • Air pollution monitoring
      • Bookcase environments
      • Collections condition assessment
      • Preinstallation risk class assessment
    • Environmental Management System
      • Objectives
      • Psychrometric strategies
      • Nonmechanical strategies
      • Mechanical strategies
    • Postinstallation System Performance
      • Humidity, temperature, and dew point temperature
      • Postinstallation risk class assessment
      • Pollution and particulates
      • Thermal comfort
      • Noise
      • Air duct leaks
    • Maintenance
    • Energy Metrics
      • Energy intensity
      • Energy use intensity
    • Conclusions
    • Lessons Learned from the Library of Museu Casa de Rui Barbosa
    • Comments
    • Postscript
    • Project Team and Responsibilities
  • Chapter 15: Juanqinzhai, the Qianlong Emperor’s Retirement Studio in the Forbidden City, Beijing, China: Seasonal Dehumidification, Limited Cooling, and Recirculation for Filtration
    • Summary
    • Background
      • Climate
      • Building
      • Collection
    • Preinstallation Condition Assessments
      • Building envelope and historic interior assessment
      • Exterior and interior environmental assessments
      • Collections and decorative interior condition assessments
      • Preinstallation risk class assessment
    • Environmental Management System
      • Objectives
      • Psychrometric strategies
      • Nonmechanical strategies
      • Mechanical strategies
      • Operational control sequence
    • Postinstallation System Performance
      • Humidity, temperature, and dew point temperature
      • Postinstallation risk class assessment
      • Particulates
      • Thermal comfort
      • Noise
    • Maintenance
    • Energy Metrics
      • Energy intensity
      • Energy use intensity
    • Conclusions
    • Lessons Learned from Juanqinzhai
    • Postscript
    • Project Team and Responsibilities
• Appendices
  • Appendix 1: Environmental Monitoring for Alternative Climate Management
  • Appendix 2: Köppen-Geiger Climate Classification System
  • Appendix 3: Climate Calculations for Bangkok and Istanbul
  • Appendix 4: Structured Decision-Making Strategies
• Glossary
• Supplemental Bibliography
• Index
• About the Authors

The late Shin Maekawa was a senior scientist at the Getty Conservation Institute, where he conducted research on microenvironmental technologies for the conservation of cultural objects and the built environments of heritage buildings. Previously he conducted research on oxygen-free environments for conservation. He held an MS in mechanical engineering and a PhD in conservation science. He was a registered engineer with the State of California.

Vincent L. Beltran is an assistant scientist at the Getty Conservation Institute. In addition to his work on environmental management in hot and humid climates, his research has focused on the effect of anoxia on light-induced color change and an assessment of the transportation environment for cultural heritage objects. He has a BS from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an MS from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Michael C. Henry, PE, AIA, is principal engineer/architect with Watson & Henry Associates, Bridgeton, New Jersey. He specializes in the preservation of historic buildings and museum environments and in the engineered stabilization of large artifacts. He is adjunct professor of architecture in the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and is a guest lecturer at the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. He was a 2006 Fulbright Distinguished Scholar at the Centre for Sustainable Heritage at University College London.