Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Preservation and Access, Education & Training Grant Program January 2010—December 2013 Image Permanence Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology 70 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, New York 14623 585-475-5199 www.imagepermanenceinstitute.org This project was designed to enable collections care staff in cultural institutions to avoid risks to collections while they support sustainability efforts and pursue opportunities for energy cost reduction. Visit www.ipisustainability.org to learn more. Project Coordinator: Patricia Ford Content: Patricia Ford, Peter Herzog, Jeremy Linden, James Reilly, and Kristin Smith Design & Editing: Lauren Parish Version 2.0 – July 2012 The Image Permanence Institute receives funding from: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Institute for Museum and Library Services The National Endowment for the Humanities CONTENTS Introduction .........................................................................................................................................................1 Foreword ............................................................................................................................................................5 Section 1: What You Need to Know DEFINE AN OPTIMAL AND SUSTAINABLE PRESERVATION ENVIRONMENT CHAPTER 1: The Basic Elements of the Environment and Their Effect on Material Decay ....................................................7 1A: Environmental Basics – Defining Temperature, Relative Humidity, and Dew Point ............................7 1B: Collection Basics – Defining Basic Material Types ................................................................................9 1C: Deterioration Basics – Defining Types of Environmentally-Induced Decay .....................................10 1D: Risks & Benefits: Understanding How the Environment Determines the Rate of Material Decay ... 12 CHAPTER 2: The Factors that Shape the Storage Environment ............................................................................................ 16 2A: The Local Climate ............................................................................................................................ 16 2B: The Building Envelope ........................................................................................................................20 2C: Mechanical Systems ............................................................................................................................22 2D: Energy Use in the Storage Environment ............................................................................................28 2E: Institutional Stakeholders .................................................................................................................... 31 Section 2: What You Need to Do ACHIEVE THE LEAST RISK TO COLLECTIONS AND THE BEST ENERGY SAVINGS POSSIBLE CHAPTER 3: Document the Current Storage Environment ..................................................................................................33 3A: Collect Appropriate Data ...................................................................................................................34 3B: Environmental Monitoring Tools ........................................................................................................35 3C: Determine Where to Locate Environmental Monitors .....................................................................37 3D: Additional Considerations when Selecting Environmental Monitoring Devices ................................38 CHAPTER 4: Document Each Storage Facility’s Mechanical System......................................................................................38 4A: Create Floor Plans Indicating Collection Areas and HVAC Zones ....................................................39 4B: Create Schematic Diagrams to Document the Mechanical System ................................................... 41 4C: Identify Heat Loads and Sources of Moisture ....................................................................................44 C HAPTER 5: Understand the Role of Dew Point ...................................................................................................................46 5A: Managing Dew Points in Practice ....................................................................................................... 47 5B: Understand the Moisture Content of the Air .....................................................................................48 CHAPTER 6: Analyze Collected Data ....................................................................................................................................53 6A: Use Environmental Data to Manage the Environment for Preservation ...........................................53 6B: Use IPI’s Preservation Metrics™ to Analyze the Risk of Material Decay ...........................................54 6C: Data Analysis and Mechanical System Performance .........................................................................59 Section 3: Institute Sustainable Preservation Practices MAINTAIN AN OPTIMAL AND SUSTAINABLE PRESERVATION ENVIRONMENT CHAPTER 7: Create an Environmental Management Team ..................................................................................................64 7A: Develop an Effective Environmental Management Team ...................................................................65 7B: Define the Broad Responsibilities of the Environmental Management Team .................................... 67 CHAPTER 8: Specific Activities of the Environmental Management Team ............................................................................68 8A: Define the Optimal Storage Environment for your Institution in Six Steps .......................................68 8B: Maintain Optimal Storage Environments in your Institution .............................................................. 71 CHAPTER 9: Investigate Opportunities for Energy Savings ...................................................................................................73 9A: Energy Saving Suggestions for Class One, Two, and Three Buildings ................................................73 9B: Energy Saving Suggestions for Class Four and Five Buildings .............................................................75 9C: Operational Energy Saving Opportunities to be Investigated ............................................................78 Section 4: Additional Information GUIDE YOUR INSTITUTION TOWARD SUSTAINABLE PRESERVATION PRACTICES Annotated Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................... 81 Influence of Local Climate on HVAC System Exercise with Regional Examples ..............................................92 HVAC System Documentation Worksheet - Part 1 ....................................................................................... 103 HVAC System Documentation Worksheet - Part 2 .......................................................................................104 HVAC System Documentation Worksheet - Part 3 .......................................................................................105 NEH Grant Opportunities ..............................................................................................................................106 IPI’s Environmental Management Products ....................................................................................................109 INTRODUCTION MAKING CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS SUSTAINABLE An optimal preservation environment is one that achieves the best possible preservation of collections with the least possible consumption of energy, and is sustainable over time. In 2009, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) provided funding to the Image Permanence Institute (IPI) for an Education & Training series titled Sustainable Preservation Practices for Managing Storage Environments. This funding allowed IPI to present information about defining and achieving an optimal and sustainable preservation environment to hundreds of institutions around the country in 2010 and 2011 through a series of workshops and webinars. Our primary goal was to provide information, strategies, and tools that would enable staff in collecting institutions to make informed, strategic decisions regarding sustainability that would result in responsible collections care, energy cost savings, and carbon footprint reduction. The workbook created by IPI for the project has evolved into this publication. During the same period, IPI received funding for two research projects related to sustainability. The NEH Research & Development Program funded Methodologies for Sustainable HVAC Operation in Collection Environments, an investigation designed to determine the best methods to ensure that library, archive, and museum collections are not harmed by short-term environmental fluctuations (temperature and relative humidity setbacks) made in the name of reducing energy costs. The Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS) granted IPI a Research & Demonstration National Leadership Grant titled Research on Energy Saving Opportunities in Libraries to investigate whether energy usage can be significantly reduced by carefully monitored and risk-managed shutdowns of air handling units (AHUs) during unoccupied hours in selected research library storage spaces. These projects will produce