Introduction

Abstract

In this chapter the history of climate control is presented. Discussing the climate in an unheated museum in the late nineteenth century, to the extremely dry environment in a heated building in the early twentieth century. Experience with collection preservation during the Second World War indicated the positive effect of a stable relative humidity. Since the mid twentieth century the set point for the relative humidity and temperature closely followed the technical development of climate systems. Resulting in an uncontrolled increase in energy demand. The effect of these adaptations on the building and climate control systems was enormous. Confidence in the technology grew, all though in practice numerous examples exist of malfunctioning of these systems. The overall risks to the moveable collections have increased to an almost unacceptable level.

With this publication collection managers and stakeholders are assisted; by providing information that will allow responsible decisions about the museum’s indoor climate to be made. The focus is not only on the outcome, but also on the equally important process, which leads to that outcome. Nine consecutive steps are proposed to structure the decision making: valuation, assessment of the collection needs, the building needs, human comfort requirements, preparing for a balanced decision, understanding the building physics, climate control strategies and finally a cost-benefit analysis to make a choice.