Abstract
The assessment of indoor environmental quality in historic buildings converted to museums is a significant tool in deep energy renovation processes, as it provides insights for the microclimatic conditions in the interiors of the building where vast numbers of visitors walk every year and where artifacts that are vulnerable to pollution are exhibited. In this work, aiming to contribute to the development of an energy retrofitting protocol applied in the Mediterranean region (HAPPEN MedZeb protocol) for museums hosted in historic buildings by providing useful data, an experimental campaign to evaluate the indoor environmental quality of a museum housed in a historic building located in Athens took place from February 2019 to April 2021 and was divided into two periods. The findings revealed high concentrations of volatile organic compounds as well as poor thermal comfort levels since the sensors recorded low acceptable percentages of T values within the limits from 7 to 33% for the entire experimental period. Based on the findings, recommendations for retrofitting interventions are made.
Highlights
Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) in historic buildings such as museums is an important parameter to be considered during the design phase of a retrofit intervention.Microclimatic conditions in the interior spaces of a building and air pollution, either in the form of gaseous pollutants or in the form of particulate matter, impact the conservation of various artifacts as well as the physical and mental health of visitors and employees [1].Due to the delicate nature of the exhibits, the indoor environment of a museum should meet specific hygrothermal and air quality requirements [2]
This paper aims to contribute to the previously discussed framework by undertaking an indoor evaluation strategy as an upgrade measure in a historic building located in the Mediterranean zone (Athens, Greece) to enhance the already existing literature concerning IEQ and thermal comfort regimes and to provide useful data for the development of a state-of-the-art energy retrofitting protocol for museums hosted in historic buildings
HAPPEN (Holistic APproach and Platform for the deep renovation of the med residential built Environment) Project aims to enhance the market of deep energy retrofitting, especially in Mediterranean countries, by using indoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal comfort and energy data in order to develop an optimum retrofit approach that has been tailored for the Mediterranean environments [33]
Summary
Due to the delicate nature of the exhibits, the indoor environment of a museum should meet specific hygrothermal and air quality requirements [2] Factors such as the diversity in collections and their respective conservation requirements, the fluctuating external thermal loads as a result of changes in weather patterns or daylight, and the natural deterioration of the building in cases of historic heritage buildings impede the maintenance of the stable optimum indoor microclimatic conditions that are required for the optimal preservation of the in-house collections [3,4,5]. Hygrothermal variations, high concentrations of volatile organic compounds, particulate matter, dust, light sensitive pollutants, and various gaseous pollutants (i.e., O3 , NO2 , SO2 ) have adverse effects on human health and can degrade the quality of the exhibits by causing damage. The concentration of specific volatile organic compounds within museums should be less than 100 ppb with regard to general collections, whereas the limiting values for key gaseous pollutants sensitive materials are 0.09–4.89 μg m–3 for NO2 , 0.1–1.05 μg m–3 for SO2 , and less than 0.1 μg m–3 for O3
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