The Museum Environment: a Protocol for Evaluation of Microclimatic Conditions

It is widely accepted that the risk of degradation of artworks collections is strictly related to unsuitable indoor microclimatic conditions of the “building-case”, mainly temperature, humidity and indoor air pollution. Unfortunately, an in-depth analysis of the literature of the field reveals a lack in suitable tools and strategies to achieve acceptable conditions for conservation to implement a preventive conservation of the collections. From this perspective, the extreme complexity of the microclimatic control in museums – especially the air quality – requires operational protocols easy to be implemented including all variables in play. This work aims to illustrate a methodology that allows, on one side, to assess the museum environment from the microclimatic perspective and quantify the factors responsibl for the degradation processes of the cultural heritage, and, on the other side, to choose the most appropriate interventions to improve the state of conservation. The evaluation method here discussed neither meant to be exhaustive or definitive, but simply aims to serve as a reference for technicians and conservation managers, who require clear procedures and applicable interventions, especially for museum institutions with poor economic or management resources. The adoption of standard procedures in this area is now a necessity, not only to simplify and standardize the procedures, but also to regulate the relatively young field of environmental monitoring for the cultural heritage.