Calculating the Carbon Footprint of Interventive and Preventive Conservation at English Heritage, UK

Abstract

ABSTRACT English Heritage (EH) is a large cultural heritage organisation, which cares for 1million artefacts over 136 sites. Preventive conservators and conservation scientists manage a mixture of controlled and uncontrolled historic site environments housing diverse object types. Two fine art conservators manage treatment programmes for easel and wall paintings, gilded frames and gilded furniture. Other objects are managed by preventive conservators and outsourced to private conservation studios for treatment. Sustainability is becoming an increasingly important part of the conservation team's agenda. Measuring and understanding the carbon impact of both the preventive and interventive conservators’ work was an important starting point for creating more sustainable solutions. To create a baseline for future monitoring and carbon reduction, carbon footprint studies were undertaken to evaluate the carbon impact of interventive painting conservation treatments; preventive conservation framing (adapting frames and making microclimates for displaying paintings in non-ideal environments); and running conservation (humidistatic) heating vs air conditioning systems in display rooms.