Indoor air quality assessment of a naturally ventilated museum in Portugal: evaluation of two halls of permanent exhibition

Abstract

It is recognized worldwide that indoor air quality (IAQ) conditions in museums influence the preservation of the exhibited items. Recently, international guidelines towards environmental management in the field of conservation have been revised, leading to a different perspective on ‘ideal/fixed’ hygrothermal air conditions, namely EN 15757:2010. Herein, some results of the ongoing study of the IAQ conditions in the Science Museum of the University of Coimbra (UC) are discussed, following a continuous monitoring campaign recently implemented (since January 2017). These data are compared with those of a previous study on the environmental conditions of this museum, a XVI-XVIII century heritage building with no mechanical air conditioning and ventilation (HVAC) system, which was grounded on several non-consecutive monitoring campaigns conducted over more than one-year focused on the hygrothermal air conditions of two exhibition rooms of the Museum. The obtained results reinforce the need for further investigation on the subject. HVAC might be required for proper control of the indoor conditions, e.g., for minimizing the impact of the identified risky conditions.