Sustainable Practices Applied to the Environmental Management of Archival Collection Storage Spaces at the Southwest Wing in the National Maritime Museum in London, UK

Abstract

ABSTRACT The rigidly set bandwidths for temperature and relative humidity have been the subject of discussions among museum professionals to ensure the preservation of collections while reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions to achieve a sustainable practice for environmental management in collection spaces. In 2020 at Royal Museums Greenwich, a group including engineers and conservators from Estates and Collections Services departments worked together to find a strategy to reduce energy consumption while running the mechanical system in exhibition galleries and storage rooms. During this process, a methodology developed by the Image Permanence Institute published in 2017 was followed to verify if the collection spaces at the National Maritime Museum were suitable to test sustainable energy-saving strategies. The focus of this article is on presenting and discussing the results of the first year of seasonal tests conducted at the archives of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. After a thorough assessment, the strategy chosen for the archives was programed shutdown of the mechanical system. The outcome was that collections stored in this area were maintained in a stable environment without the need to run the HVAC system at night, which translates to less energy consumption and lower carbon emissions.