TY - JOUR TI - A sustainable storage solution for the Science Museum Group AU -Marta Leskard PY - 2015 VL - IS - Autumn 2015 KW - hemp KW - hemp-lime concrete KW - hempcrete KW - hygroscopic building materials KW - museum storage KW - preventive conservation KW - relative humidity KW - sustainable AB - Museums in recent years have sought ways to reduce the environmental impact of their operations. One approach has been to look at ways to cut back on the energy required to stabilise storage conditions, particularly relative humidity, through passive moisture control rather than mechanical systems of heating and air conditioning. To this end the Science Museum Group employed hemp in the form of hemp-lime concrete, to construct a new storage facility for its collections, drawing on research into the buffering ability of hygroscopic natural building materials. The objective was to reduce energy use, to decrease reliance on mechanical systems and to produce very stable levels of relative humidity, in order to ensure the preservation of significant heritage collections. Although a prototype, to date, this building has performed as anticipated despite some initial construction snags and mechanical system malfunctions. The results encourage further investigation into hygroscopic construction materials to design even more energy-saving ways of providing stable storage conditions for museums. Media not found N1 - Paintings and ship models had been on exhibition since the 1960s in the Shipping Gallery in the Science Museum. They had to be moved into storage in order to develop the space for the new Information Age Gallery (opened 2014). The horse-drawn carriages had been moved earlier from hangars, where they were prone to attack by mould and moth, to the north wing of the Engineering Building (Conservation); this space now was required for the conservation of objects such as the Rugby Tuning Coil, which was to form the centre of the new gallery. N1 - Carbonation is the chemical reaction between lime (calcium hydroxide) and atmospheric carbon dioxide, which converts the lime back to calcium carbonate. N1 - Resistant Building Products www.resistant.co.uk N1 - A wireless Hanwell® (IMC Group) monitoring system relays data on temperature and relative humidity from data loggers situated in exhibition galleries in the Science Museum and in storage areas in Blythe House and at Wroughton to a central database which can then be read by conservation staff at all three sites. N1 - Initially the dehumidifiers had to be emptied either by the contractor or by conservation staff. Usually by Monday morning the tanks would be full, resulting in the RH bouncing back to the upper level. N1 - This is similar to data from all the hangars on site, which remain damp even when outside RH is low. N1 - http://www.greenbuildnews.co.uk/news-details/2013-Greenbuild-Awards-winners-revealed/812; http://www.museumsandheritage.com/show/awards/hall-of-fame/2013-award-winners; http://www.ciob.org/near-you/south-west N1 - In other words, dust – particularly fine calcium carbonate particles. PB - The Science Museum Group SN - 2054-5770 LA - eng DO - 10.15180/150405 UR - https://journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/article/sustainable-storage-solution/ T2 - Science Museum Group Journal