Strategies for Environmental Quality and Energy Efficiency in Museum Buildings

This is the winner of a Medal

The study emphasises that the conversion of heritage buildings into exhibition spaces involves a series of conservation risks and issues. It aims to define innovative actions on cultural heritage conserved in museums, in order to extend its life-time, to value environmental and energetic quality and to plan efficient control solutions.

The study demonstrates that care, comfort and energy-saving are compatible. Through this research an operative instrument to assist museum authorities and project-designers during refurbishment has been evolved to optimize planning actions. This instrument has been tested in the Pinacoteca of Brera in Milano in order to evaluate conservation risks, plan environmental control, energy consumption, spatial layout and maintenance procedures.

“For a holistic methodology for preventive conservation and optimal environmental quality in museum buildings, which brings together conservation, comfort and energy efficiency, through the development of a practical operational instrument.”