HVAC Standards for Historic Houses

[StephGaub]

HVAC standards for historic house museums are currently under review. I'm sure that this is a welcome statement for anyone who works at such a site. I know from past experience working at house museums that installing HVAC systems and other environmental control devices in order to bring these buildings up to standards can be a nightmare, if not next to impossible! Here is the article from the National Trust website:

HVAC Standards for Historic House Museums Under Review
November 25, 2008 by Max van Balgooy

Environmental standards and HVAC decisions are among the most complicated and expensive for historic sites. They often involve the destruction of original building fabric (both at the time of installation and as a result of changes to environmental conditions), the intrusion of modern fixtures, and higher longterm maintenance and utility costs. Recently completed projects at National Trust Historic Sites such as Lyndhurst and Decatur House have clearly shown the failure of modern HVAC projects. As a result, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has launched an initiative to document through case studies a number of unsuccessful recent installations and provide information about new approaches that may be more successful and less expensive. Among the issues addressed will be technology, security, accreditation, building codes, insurance, requirements for collections loans, and balancing the needs of buildings, collections, and visitors. Currently underway are studies at Wilson House and Cliveden, which are attempting a more holistic approach based on the multiple perspectives of architects, engineers, conservators and curators. Initial reports suggest that typical standards adopted by museums (65-70°F and 50±3% RH) are not only very difficult (if not impossible) to achieve in historic buildings, but can also cause irreparable harm to the building (the primary artifact of the site) and result in much higher maintenance and utility expenses (which is not sustainable for most organizations). We’re currently considering much wider tolerances for temperature and emphasizing humidity but much more study will need to be completed. In the meantime, the following resources provide the best thinking about this issue (there are many articles and books on conservation and environmental conditions in museums, but very few for historic sites):

*Jessup, Wendy editor. Conservation in Context: Finding a Balance for the Historic House Museum. Washington, DC: National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1995.
*Kerschner, Richard. “A Practical Approach to Environmental Requirements for Collections in Historic Buildings.” Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 31 (1992): 65-76.
*Stovel, Herb. “The New Orleans Charter: Forging a Strategy to Preserve Historic Structures and Artifacts.” APT Bulletin: The Journal of Preservation Technology 27 (1993): 57-8.

We are soliciting comments from the field, suggestions for case studies, and models for alternatives to traditional HVAC for historic sites, so please post your comments below or contact us at sites@nthp.org.