Relaxing climate control

I would like to read people's reaction to this recent article by
Javier Pes in The Art Newspaper issue 212, April 2010:

   "Indianapolis relaxes climate controls: Leading directors have
    been questioning the scientific validity-and cost-of running air
    conditioning to the current standard specification" By Javier
    Pes From issue 212, April 2010 Published online 8 Apr 10, 2010
    (Museums)

    (c) The Art Newspaper 2010

    <URL:http://www.theartnewspaper.com/
        articles/Indianapolis-relaxes-climate-controls/20440>

   "The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) has come off the 'gold
    standard' of museum environmental control in a unilateral move
    made without fanfare in February.

    The internationally observed standard is a temperature range of
    18 to 25 degrees Celsius and relative humidity between 40 and 50
    per cent, which is also a standard condition for loans. The IMA
    will allow the range of its exhibition gallery's temperature and
    relative humidity to fluctuate by a few degrees on either side
    of the standard.

    ...

    **** Moderator's comments: The piece quoted above has been
    truncated; there is additional text in the article.

    There is, in the same issue a piece by Maxwell Anderson,
    Director and Chief Executive of the Indianapolis Museum of Art:

        "Revising the gold standard of environmental control" There
        is an impasse preventing the world's art museums from
        adopting less stringent standards"
        Maxwell Anderson
        From issue 212, April 2010
        Published online 8 Apr 10, 2010
        (opinion)

        <URL:http://www.theartnewspaper.com/
            articles/Revising-the-gold-standard-of-
            environmental-control%20/20549>

    **** Moderator's comments: The above URLs have been wrapped for
    email. There should be no newlines.

Here at the Canadian Centre for Architecture we gradual ramp down
our humidity levels in our exhibition galleries in winter to avoid
condensation damage to our building in our extremely cold winter.
We report our lower winter RH range on our Standard Facilities
Report and have never been refused a loan because of it.  I have
wondered lately the possibility of museums relaxing climate control
in order to "save the planet", which deserves saving as much as our
collections do.  What do others think?

Karen Potje
Chef, Service de la conservation/restauration
Centre Canadien d'Architecture


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 23:42
                 Distributed: Wednesday, April 28, 2010
                       Message Id: cdl-23-42-017
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