Integrating Risk Assessment for Pollutants into Energy-saving Strategies for Sustainable Environmental Management of Collection Storage Spaces

FAIN: PR-276878-21

Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY 14623-5603)
Kelly Krish (Project Director: May 2020 to September 2022)
Emma J Richardson (Project Director: September 2022 to present)
Marvin Cummings (Co Project Director: December 2022 to present)

A three-year Tier II advanced research project to develop a diagnostic methodology for cultural heritage institutions to monitor and adjust room-level pollutant concentrations while implementing sustainable preservation strategies.

RIT’s Image Permanence Institute is applying for a three-year Tier II: Advanced Implementation Grant to integrate new methods for pollution risk assessment into best practices for implementing energy-saving strategies in mechanical systems serving collection spaces. Pollutants are pervasive, occurring in indoor and outdoor air, causing damage to nearly all forms of collection objects. The project will document, analyze, and interpret changes to pollutant concentrations when implementing energy-saving strategies, as compared to standard operation. A data collection and modeling procedure will be developed to help institutions balance their own indoor and outdoor pollutant levels with preservation quality, energy-savings optimization, and reduced carbon footprint. The proposed project’s relation to climate change, financial impact, and preservation makes it both timely and pressing, and the results will be applicable to the vast majority of collecting institutions.

Associated Products

Interrogating Pollutants in Collecting Institutions During the Implementation of HVAC Energy-Saving Strategies: Lessons Learned and Practical Implications for Optimizing Sustainable Environmental Control (Article)
Title: Interrogating Pollutants in Collecting Institutions During the Implementation of HVAC Energy-Saving Strategies: Lessons Learned and Practical Implications for Optimizing Sustainable Environmental Control
Author: Emma Richardson
Author: Kelly McCauley Krish
Author: Marvin Cummings
Author: Martin Schooping
Author: Philip Hopke
Author: Jean Tetreault
Abstract: Strategies of outside air reduction, fan speed adjustments, and temporary system shutdowns can be effective ways to maintain or improve the preservation quality of a collection environment while reducing the financial burden and carbon footprint of a collecting institution. However, current criteria guiding safe implementation of energy-saving strategies focus on temperature and RH alone, which ignores risks posed by pollutants. This research aims to address this by monitoring indoor and outdoor-generated pollutants at four collecting institutions before and during implementing energy-saving strategies. Alongside temperature and RH loggers, continuous pollution monitors were located within the mechanical system and collection spaces. Additionally, energy monitors were installed on the mechanical systems serving the collection spaces to quantify the energy consumption prior to and during operation modifications. Initial results indicate pollutant levels remain stable during the test periods, and did not exceed baseline concentrations. In this paper, the lessons learned from this field research are addressed and practical implications for optimizing sustainable environmental controls are given.
Year: 2024
Primary URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00393630.2024.2364993?scroll=top&needAccess=true
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Studies in Conservation
Publisher: Taylor & Francis

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