S. U. N. Y. Fashion Institute of Technology
‘THE GREEN CHALLENGE’:
INCORPORATING SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES AND MATERIALS
INTO COLLECTIONS CARE
By
Christian Hernandez
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
Master of Arts Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice
Fashion Institute of Technology
2013
This is to certify that the undersigned approve the Qualifying Paper submitted by
Christian Hernandez
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of Arts
__________________________
Qualifying Paper Advisor
__________________________
Qualifying Paper Committee
ABSTRACT
Collections care professionals are looking for ways to be more sustainable in their
work without sacrificing their standards of best-practices. This is important due to the
ethical connection of caring for a collection ‘in perpetuity’ in light of climate change and
the negative impacts humanity has had on the environment. This paper centers around
two facets of collections care, practices and materials, and explores each in separate but
related parts with the common thread of minimizing the consumption of energy, water,
chemicals and resources using information gathered from journal articles, blog posts and
interviews with professionals in heritage preservation and allied fields.
Various collections care practices are explored and suggestions are made as to
how they can be made more sustainable. These suggestions include those easily enacted
such as turning off unnecessary lights, to those that require more time, money or effort to
enact, such as modifying the temperature and relative humidity ranges in storage to reduce
energy consumption. Sustainable practices used by the manufacturers of collections care
materials are discussed and expanded in the second part, which explores how a material can
be both sustainable and museum-quality. Roadblocks preventing the widespread use of
sustainable materials are identified and challenged by analyzing the ideas behind a museum
quality material and a sustainable material. The Oddy Test, which is commonly used to
identify museum-quality materials, is conducted twice on a group of museum-quality
cellulose boards, plastic foams and plastic boards along with their sustainable
alternatives. EcopHant, Ethafoam® HRC and MRC and Corogreen™, all of which are
made from recycled materials, are tested twice and pass. The results of this research are
that collections care practices and materials can be sustainable without sacrificing quality.
iv
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... vi-viii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................... ix-x
TERMINOLOGY .......................................................................................................... 1-2
INTRODUCTION: WHY IS SUSTAINABILITY IMPORTANT WITHIN
COLLECTIONS CARE? ................................................................................... 3-7
PART I: THINKING AND ACTING SUSTAINABLY .................................................... 8
CHAPTER 1 .................................................................................................... 9-12
CHAPTER 2: ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING: TEMPERATURE,
RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND HEATING/VENTILATION/
AIR-CONDITIONING (HVAC) SYSTEMS .................................... 13-19
CHAPTER 3: ELECTRICITY AND LIGHTING ......................................... 20-25
CHAPTER 4: EMERGENCY PLANNING, MITIGATION & RESPONSE . 26-29
CHAPTER 5: INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM) .................... 30-31
CHAPTER 6: STORAGE MATERIALS ...................................................... 32-40
CHAPTER 7: DOCUMENTATION ............................................................. 41-42
CHAPTER 8: EXHIBITION AND STORAGE FACILITY DESIGN OR
RENOVATION ................................................................................. 43-48
CHAPTER 9: ENCOURAGING SUSTAINABILITY WITHIN
COLLECTIONS CARE ..................................................................... 49-53
v
PART II: FINDING SUSTAINABLE MUSEUM-QUALITY MATERIALS ................ 54
CHAPTER 10: OBSTACLES PREVENTING SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS
FROM BEING USED ........................................................................ 55-70
CHAPTER 11: MATERIALS TESTING ........................................................ 71-91
CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................... 92-94
WORKS CITED ....................................................................................................... 95-101
APPENDICES
1. BLANK ODDY TEST DOCUMENT ..................................................... 102-105
2. SCANNED IMAGES OF MATERIALS TESTED ....................................... 106
3A. TEST 1 – COMPLETED PAGE 1 OF ODDY TEST DOCUMENT .......... 107
3B. TEST 1 – COMPLETED PAGE 4 OF ODDY TEST DOCUMENT ......... 108
4A. TEST 2 – COMPLETED PAGE 1 OF ODDY TEST DOCUMENT ......... 109
4B. TEST 2 – COMPLETED PAGE 4 OF ODDY TEST DOCUMENT ......... 110
5. DETAIL PHOTOGRAPHS OF ODDY TEST RESULTS ............................ 111
6. QUESTIONNAIRE SENT TO INTERVIEWEES ................................. 112-113
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research could not have come to fruition without the help of many people.
First I would like to thank advisor Sarah Scaturro, professor at the Fashion Institute of
Technology and Conservator in Charge, The Costume Institute, Metropolitan Museum of
Art, whose encouragement was endless and support unwavering. I would also like to
thank all my professors at the Fashion Institute of Technology, especially Denyse
Montegut, Lourdes Font and Valerie Soll.
This research could not have been accomplished without the advice, opinions, and
informative discussions of collections care professionals. I would like to thank Emily
Kaplan along with Susan Heald, Marian Kaminitz, Patricia Neitfeld and Dawn
Neuendorffer of the National Museum of the American Indian, Melanie Keable of the
British Museum, Ada Hopkins of the Bata Shoe Museum, Whitney Robertson of the
Society of Cincinnati, Matthew Manninen of the Worcester Art Museum, Tom Callas of
the Museum of Photographic Arts, Terri Hudgins of the Cape Fear Museum, Meghan
Grossman Hansen of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising,
Elizabeth Byrne of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Arni Brownstone and Molly
Minnick of the Royal Ontario Museum, Mary Oey of the Library of Congress, Sandra
Vanderwarf and Allison Galland of the Brooklyn Children's Museum, Anne Lane of the
Charlotte Museum of History, Derya Gölpinar of the Rubin Museum of Art, private
conservators Sue Maltby, Bari Falese, and Wendy Jessup along with peer Erica Travis for
helping transcribe some interviews.
For providing insight about the manufacturing and supply of museum-quality
materials I would like to thank Daniel Ryan from Carr McLean, Alan Yaffe from
vii
Peterboro Cardboards Ltd, and Robert Dorfman of Dorfman Figures, Inc. For providing
samples to test, I would like to thank Meghan Redmile at Coroplast, Alison Bitner at
Conservation By Design Limited, and Mark Thomas at Sealed Air along with my peers
Janet Lee and Julia Carlson for helping to test the materials.
I would like to especially thank Mary Betsy Haude, Denise Stockman and Sarah
Nunberg of the American Institute for Conservation’s Committee on Sustainable
Conservation Practices for allowing part of this research to be presented in the
committee’s first formal conference gathering at the 2012 American Institute for
Conservation’s annual meeting and encouraging sustainability within conservation. I
would also like to thank Rose Cull, "conservator, confidant, and guide through the road
less traveled” who has encouraged this research from the beginning and gave insightful
comments while reading the first draft. I would also like to thank proofreader and friend
Kathryn Stephens. And lastly I would like to thank Neenah Paper for providing me with
the paper which this thesis is written on, which a 100% pre-consumer recycled content
acid and lignin free thesis paper. It is made from the waste material created during the
manufacturing of other Neenah Papers.
ix
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AAM – American Alliance of Museums - formerly the American Association of Museums
A-D – Acid-Determinant (only used in reference to A-D Strips)
AIC – American Institute for Conservation
AMNH – American Museum of Natural History
ANSI – American National Standards Institute
ASTM – American Society for Testing and Materials
ATHM – American Textile History Museum
BCM – Brooklyn Children’s Museum
CAMEO – Conservation and Art Materials Encyclopedia Online
CFC – Chlorofluorocarbon
CSCP – Committee on Sustainable Conservation Practices
CXD – Conservation By Design
FSC – Forest Stewardship Council®
HCFC – Hydrochlorofluorocarbon
HRC – High Recycled Content (only used in reference to Ethafoam® HRC)
HVAC – Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning
IARC – International Agency for Research on Cancer
ICOM – International Council of Museums
ICON – Institute of Conservation
IIC – International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works
IPI – Image Permanence Institute
IPM – Integrated Pest Management
x
ISO – International Organization for Standardization
LDPE – Low-Density Polyethylene
LED – Light-Emitting Diode
LEED – Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design
MCI –Museum Conservation Institute
MFIT – Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology
MOPA – Museum of Photographic Arts
MRC – Maximum Recycled Content (only used in reference to Ethafoam® MRC)
MFA, Boston – Museum of Fine Arts Boston
MSDS – Material Safety Data Sheet
NEH – National Endowment for the Humanities
NMAI –National Museum of the American Indian
NMNH – National Museum of Natural History
NTP – National Toxicology Program
OSHA – Occupational Health and Safety Administration
PE – Polyethylene
PVA – Polyvinyl Acetate
RC – Recycled Content (only used in reference to Ethafoam® RC)
RH – Relative Humidity
SFI – Sustainable Forestry Initiative®
TAPPI – Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry
TBL – Triple Bottom Line
V&A – Victoria and Albert Museum
VOC – Volatile Organic Compound
1
TERMINOLOGY
The terms sustainable or sustainability used in this research paper refer to
environmental sustainability, and the general sense of care and concern intended toward
the environment. This can be described as “whole system thinking [by] approaching
environmental issues in an integrated fashion.”1 Examples of sustainability include using
materials and energy more efficiently, as well as minimizing the negative impacts of
pollution, waste, and chemicals on the environment.
Within cultural heritage, sustainability more often refers to economic or financial
sustainability, such as whether or not museums can maintain their spending habits or
visitor numbers. This definition for the term is used throughout the field’s literature, such
as the pan-institutional Smithsonian Institution Digitization Strategic Plan for the years
2010 to 2015, which is problematic since the term is occasionally used in reference to
environmental sustainability, such as the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of
Natural History (NMNH)’s 2010 to 2015 entitled Knowledge for a Sustainable Future.
Environmental sustainability along with economic and social sustainability forms
the components of the sustainability model referred to as the three-legged stool or the
three pillars of sustainable development.2 This model, hotly defended and contested,
forms the framework for much of the discussions about sustainability in various fields.
For the purposes of this research, environmental sustainability will be the focus.
1 Sarah Brophy and Elizabeth Wylie, “It’s Easy Being Green – Museums and the Green
Movement,” Museum News, September/October 2006, 85, no. 5: 44. 2 Neil Dawe and Kenneth Ryan, “The Faulty Three-Legged-Stool Model of Sustainable Development,”
Conservation Biology, 17, no. 5 (23): 1458-1460.
2
Another often-used term is green, where the general sense of care and concern for
the environment is also implied. According to the authors of The Green Museum: An
Environmental Primer the term “green” refers to products and behaviors that are
environmentally benign, while sustainable means practices that rely on renewable/reusable
materials and processes that are green or environmentally benign.”3 As is often the case
these two terms are used interchangeably since for most people they are synonyms. Unlike
the term sustainable, which appears to be more rooted in science, green is more often
used in a colloquial fashion by the broader public and by companies trying to market
their products or services as being environmentally conscious. Similarly other terms such
as environmentally-friendly, -conscious or -benign, along with their eco- counterparts are
used without clarification of intent. Since use of these terms is not regulated they are
often misused and exaggerated, a phenomena called “green washing.”
In using the word sustainable over green, it is the author’s intent to avoid the
more corrupted of the two, as well as to be aligned with the term favored by the
conservation community, as is evident by the American Institute for Conservation
(AIC)’s Committee on Sustainable Conservation Practices (CSCP). After discussing
terminology with various professionals, it has become apparent that there is no consensus
on what these various terms mean in the conservation field, let alone in allied fields.
3 Brophy and Wylie, “It’s Easy Being Green,” 39.
3
INTRODUCTION
Why is sustainability important within collections care?
As environmental issues become more prominent in today’s world, the
connections between caring for the environment and caring for artifacts have become
much more apparent. These links were always present but in recent years the field of
heritage preservation has acknowledged them, resulting in changes in ethics and
practices. This may be due to what Jonathan Ashley-Smith, former head of conservation
at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), calls the “adolescence of the profession.”4
The field of heritage preservation is currently in flux and being molded by the variety of
professionals from within who, in some respects, are in a profession yet to be fully
defined, and the inclusion of sustainability is one such evolution.
Nicholas Poole, current president of the International Council of Museums
(ICOM) has stated that “changes in both the internal micro-climate and the external
macro-climate have impact on the sustainability of collections,” calling it “The Green
Challenge.”5 “If we telescope the issues from the micro-environments of exhibition and
storage facilities to the macro-environment of the planet as a whole, we can see how poor
environmental practices have put our shared cultural heritage at risk.” 6 Therein lies the
foundation of sustainability within heritage preservation; it is grounded in forethought and
4 Jonathan Ashley-Smith, “The Adolescence of the Profession” (lecture, Royal Academy of Arts, London,
England, September 2009), https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/learning/conservation-principles-dilemmas-
and-uncomfortable-truths,1104,AR.html (accessed May 28, 2012). 5 Nicholas Poole, "10 Challenges for the Next Generation of Collections Management Standards," slide 23
from slide presentation to the German Collections Management Standards conference, Dresden, Germany,
January 1, 2010 posted on January 30, 2010, http://www.slideshare.net/nickpoole/10-challenges-for-the-
next-generation-of-collections-management-standards?from=share_email_logout2 (accessed August 10,
2011). 6 Brophy and Wylie, “It’s Easy Being Green,” 44.
4
ethics, and is not a passing fad or a marketing ploy. “There is little point in preserving
collections for posterity if survival of future generations is under threat or the cultural
heritage is at risk from environmental catastrophes.”7
This paper largely explores the relationship between sustainability and heritage
preservation in a technical fashion – minimizing waste, efficient energy use and the like –
but the ethical relationship between them is often unstated though hugely important, and
forms the framework for this research. Professional ethics in heritage preservation often
mention how a collection must exist in perpetuity, which is clearly linked to sustainability
since “the severity of floods and other natural disasters is widely seen as a product of
global climate change, in turn a result of poor environmental practice” and as
professionals we can “think of it as the ultimate in preservation conservation.”8 This facet
of collections care is difficult to see, since there is no tangible, immediate reward in
disaster prevention, but preparedness is an ethical responsibility – for collections and for
the environment. Fundamentally caring for the future environment ensures there are still
people in the future to visit and care for the collection.
Together with the ethical relationship previously mentioned is the influence of
working within a field aimed at cultivating knowledge – “the museum has special
responsibilities to address scientific issues of relevance to our society and the world, such
as the preservation of biological and cultural diversity and the impact of global
environmental change.”9 Anyone working in heritage preservation has the opportunity to
educate visitors about sustainability, what it truly means to care for collections in
7 Brophy and Wylie, “It’s Easy Being Green,” 44.
8 Sarah Brophy and Elizabeth Wylie, The Green Museum: A Primer on Environmental Practice (Lanham:
AltaMira Press, 2008), 5. 9 National Museum of Natural History, Understanding Our World: Strategic Plan for the National Museum of
Natural History, 2004-2009 (Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, 2004), 13.
5
perpetuity and how museums and the public are both affect the future.10
“As places of
authority and keepers of culture, museums have unequaled power and responsibility to
model and to teach the methods of preserving ourselves, our planet and our cultural
resources.”11
Furthermore museums have the responsibility to represent their city, state or
region as institutions “standing at the intersection of research, education, teaching and
discovery.”12
When asked if sustainability was part of his institute’s mandate or mission,
Terri Hudgins, museum registrar for the Cape Fear Museum, stated “we are a county
agency, and sustainability is part of the county’s vision.”13
Considering how connected heritage preservation is to the environment, it is
surprising how infrequently museums mention it in their mandates or missions.14
Natural
history museums have led the way in acknowledging sustainability since their focus is on
the natural world and “species are disappearing as a result of accelerating environmental
changes.”15
In 1998 the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) “convened a
cross-departmental Sustainability Practices Committee to research opportunities to
increase awareness about sustainability practices at the Museum and to make
recommendations for and, where appropriate, implement changes that add or improve
10
Brophy and Wylie, “It’s Easy Being Green,” 38-45; National Museum of the American Indian, Strategic
Plan 2006-2008: Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (Washington, DC: Smithsonian
National Museum of the American Indian, 2008), 25; Sarah Brophy and Elizabeth Wylie, “Saving Collections
and the Planet: For Creating a Green, Sustainable Future, Museum Collections Are Part of the Solution - and Part
of the Problem,” Museum News, November/December 2009, 88, no. 6: 52-57 and 59-60. 11
Brophy and Wylie, “It’s Easy Being Green,” 38-39. 12
Brophy and Wylie, “It’s Easy Being Green,” 38-39. 13
Terri Hudgins, e-mailed message to author, October 1, 2012. 14
In a survey created for this research, all but one respondent answered no to the question “Is caring for the
environment part of your institute’s mandate or mission?” This was echoed in Brohy and Wylie’s The
Green Museum. 15
National Museum of Natural History and Cristián Samper, Knowledge for a Sustainable Future:
Strategic Plan, 2010-2015 (Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, 2010), 5.
6
upon environmentally sound practices at the Museum.”16
Similarly the NMNH included
sustainability in its mission statement, which is to “increase knowledge and inspire
learning about nature and culture, through outstanding research, collections, exhibitions,
and education, in support of a sustainable future.”17
The NMNH also titled their 2010-
2015 strategic plan “Knowledge for a Sustainable Future” describing goals such as
“[improving] technology and facilities operations to meet sustainable criteria,”
“incorporating sustainability standards throughout our facilities and operations,” and
“[assessing] long-term relationships between humans and their physical and biotic
environments.” This plan also thoughtfully states “our aim will be to create experiences
that invite visitors to connect with science at a very personal level, understand its
relevance to society, and recognize their role in the preservation of the natural world and
in building a sustainable future.”18
Some professional associations and non-collections-holding institutions have also
acknowledged sustainability. The AIC has stated in their Code of Ethics and Guidelines
for Practice that “the conservation professional shall practice in a manner that minimizes
personal risks and hazards to co-workers, the public, and the environment.”19
The
Institute of Conservation (ICON), a UK equivalent to AIC, has also stated in their
professional guidelines that “the Conservator-Restorer shall strive to use only products,
materials and procedures which, according to the current level of knowledge, will not
16
American Museum of Natural History Sustainability Practices Committee, “Sustainability Principles,”
American Museum of Natural History, http://www.amnh.org/about-us/sustainability-principles (accessed
July 29, 2011). 17
NMNH and Samper, Knowledge for a Sustainable Future, 12. 18
NMNH and Samper, Knowledge for a Sustainable Future, 26; NMNH and Samper, Knowledge for a
Sustainable Future, 30; NMNH and Samper, Knowledge for a Sustainable Future, 10, NMNH and Samper,
Knowledge for a Sustainable Future, 18. 19
American Institute for Conservation, “Codes of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice,”
http://www.conservation - us.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewPage&PageID=858&d:
%5CCFusionMX7%5Cverity%5CData%5Cdummy.txt (accessed September 15, 2011).
7
harm the cultural heritage, the environment or people.”20
Similarly the 2007-2017
strategic plan for the Smithsonian Institution Museum Conservation Institute (MCI) states
“our world’s cultural legacy, like its environment, is precious and fragile, and both
require responsible stewardship.”21
Some heritage preservation professionals may question the importance of
sustainability, but the real question is when has concern about the preservation of past,
present and future of culture not been important? As Brophy and Wylie have said in their
book The Green Museum, “What we do today affects tomorrow.”22
20
Institute for Conservation, “Guidelines for Practice,”
http://www.icon.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=121 (accessed February 1, 2012) 21
Museum Conservation Institute, Our Next 10 Years, MCI Strategic Plan 2007-2017 (Washington, DC:
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, 2010), 1. 22
Brophy and Wylie, “Saving Collections and the Planet,” 52-57 and 59-60.
9
Chapter 1
“Our standards present the problem, but not the solution.”23
The focus of this research is collections care, a fairly new concept in conservation.
Collections care, also known as collections conservation or collections management, broadly
includes any practice applied to a group of artifacts to ensure its future preservation.24
Collections care practices can affect the whole collection, such as maintaining appropriate
humidity, or they may be unique to a single artifact, such as a custom storage mount; they
also vary in invasiveness from minimizing exposure to light to routine vacuuming or
labeling. The title of the person in charge of collection care varies from institution to
institution but is commonly a collections manager, conservator or registrar and involves the
collaborative efforts of curators, preparators and facilities management staff. Throughout
this research they will collectively be known as collections care professionals.
Closely aligned with collections care is preventive conservation, which is an
approach that aims to minimize or avoid agents of deterioration through control of the
environment in which artifacts are stored, displayed and transported.25
Preventive
conservation measures can include “actions taken on the object's surroundings to prevent
damage from fire, theft, vandalism, shocks and vibrations, water, dust, pollutants, pests,
23
Nicholas Poole, "10 Challenges," slide 19. 24
For the purposes of this research, a collection can be any public or private group of artifacts, including
libraries, museums and archives. 25
Emily Kaplan, “Integrating Preventive Conservation into a Collections Move and Rehousing Project at
the National Museum of the American Indian,” Journal of The American Institute for Conservation 44, no.
3 (2005): 226.
10
light, ultraviolet radiation, temperature or humidity.”26
It is important to practice
preventive conservation because “[an artifact’s] rate of deterioration slows significantly
with proper preventive care” and also it “will decrease the need for costly and time-
consuming conservation treatments.”27
Both terms are often used interchangeably within
professional literature but the preferred term in this research will be collections care with
the knowledge that this includes preventive conservation.
Collections care is important to both the short and long-term life of a collection, but
it is resource and process intensive. Much of what collections care professionals do is not
seen or noticed by the general public. Collections care, much like sustainability, is not easily
quantifiable in the same way public programming or renovations are - “it’s a cost without a
clear return.”28
Within museums, the collections department has often fallen behind other
departments when it comes to sustainability but “collections deserve the best care possible,
i.e., curatorial practice that incorporates careful consideration of fiscal and scientific
responsibility.” 29
This includes practices that may seem unrewarding, small or invisible,
such as sustainable practices, which to some may seem unrelated to collections care.
In exploring the nexus between caring for collections and the environment, the
highest level of collections care principles was kept in mind while simultaneously asking
“how can our new generation of standards make use of new knowledge about living in
sympathy with our environment?”30
Put another way: Can what needs to be done be done
26
Carole Dignard, Heather Dumka and Joan Marshall, “What is Conservation,” Canadian Association for
Conservation, http://www.cac-accr.ca/what-is-conservation (accessed July 23, 2011). 27
National Park Service, “Appendix K: Curatorial Care of Textile Objects,” Museum Handbook,
([Washington, DC]: 2002). http://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/MHI/Appendix%20K.pdf (accessed
September 23, 2011). 28
Nicholas Poole, "10 Challenges," slide 19. 29
Meredith Lane, “Features - The Homeless Specimen - Handling Relinquished Natural History
Collections,” Museum News, January/February 2001, 80, no. 1: 60. 30
Nicholas Poole, "10 Challenges," slide 23.
11
using different practices or materials that are more sustainable? In a real-life situation
this could be answered by taking any particular practice, measuring a base-line of what is
being consumed or disposed of and either reduce that or use different, more sustainable
consumables. For example condition reporting consumes paper, printer ink and
electricity, which can be made more sustainable by using 100% recycled paper, changing
light-bulbs to energy efficient ones in all rooms used, or digitally editing the reports to
minimize waste in reprinting. In this example none of the sustainable practices or
materials are much more costly or inconvenient but due to the all-encompassing nature of
sustainability it may seem like change is difficult since there is no clear place to start.
Implementing sustainability, like collections care, is a gradual change -- comparable to a
dimmer switch as opposed to a light switch. The ideal cannot be immediately attained but
a slow, methodical transition from current habits to better ones will ultimately lead to the
best possible circumstances. But if the goal is to simply do better, changes in practice
become difficult to justify and a new question emerges, what does it mean to do better?
Sustainability is such a new facet to collections care that there is no clear answer
to this question. A good place to start may be to examine the difference between being
“less bad” and “more good.”31
Take the use of toluene in adhesives as an example. It
would be less bad to use a smaller amount of it, thereby reducing the volatile organic
compounds let out into the air, but shifting to nonvolatile based adhesives is more good.
The intentions of both are similar, but being less bad can lead to a false sense of progress
whereas being more good not only reduces the negative impacts, but also adds positive
ones. In other circumstances the difference between the two may be less obvious,
31
American Association of Museums, "Green Machine: An Interview with Architect and Industrialist William
McDonough," Museum – American Association of Museums, November/December 2008, 87, no. 6: 54-61.
12
requiring more research and asking colleagues to provide insight. This lack of easily
accessible knowledge is one of many roadblocks for incorporating sustainability into
collections care since “unlike farms, museums are not always driven by hard-nosed
‘lowest cost’ economics in each decision because of the tangible/intangible values of our
collections, which, ethically, we avoid compromising.”32
Part I is divided into seven aspects of collections care explored though the
sustainable use of materials, energy, water and chemicals, including both less bad and
more good practices. Some aspects of collections care are already sustainable, and the
suggestion is to simply continue or increase their practice, while others require a slight
change but are easily integrated into daily operations. Some recommendations however
may take more time, money and effort to enact but increasing sustainability is worth it for
the long term care of collections. Collections care professionals have within their means
the ability to act on short-term, easily accomplished changes while working towards
gradual long-term goals. Small changes that cost no money, such as turning off lights when
not needed, have a positive sustainable impact that eventually becomes second nature
which can lead to more costly actions, such as replacing light bulbs, which then may lead
to greater changes, such as purchasing sustainably sourced energy to power those light
bulbs. Since there are no guidelines or checklists for sustainable collections care and
since no two collections are the same, the following is intended to be a wide-ranging
reference for collections staff to “replace antiquated storage modes in collections.”33
32
Thomas Strang, “I’ve Got Bugs in my Pockets and I Don’t Know What To Do About Them,” Museum
News, July/August 2005, 84, no. 4: 46-47. 33
NMNH, Understanding Our World, 26. It is not the author’s suggestion to immediately replace materials
with more sustainable ones, which may be financially difficult and create much waste, but rather to make
more thoughtful decisions when purchasing new materials or implementing new processes.
13
Chapter 2
Environmental Monitoring: Temperature, Relative Humidity and
Heating/Ventilation/Air-Conditioning (HVAC) Systems
Environmental monitoring has undergone the biggest shift towards sustainability.
Many decades ago the standard of 50% relative humidity (RH) and 70°Farenheit was
mentioned regarding ideal temperature and RH to store artifacts. Strict adherence to this
was largely viewed as the ideal, static goal all collections should strive for. A museum,
once they reached this goal with minimal fluctuations, could take pride in knowing they
were doing the best. In the long term this perspective proved to be flawed.34
Not only are
most collections multi-media, preventing any narrow range from being safe for all
artifacts, but monitoring and maintaining this environment proved a significant use of
time and money that could have been spent on other areas of need.
Articles discussing the problematic aspects of the traditional environmental
control parameters have argued that collections are safe in a wider range of temperature
and humidity levels than previously thought. David Erhart and Marion Mecklenburg in
their 1994 article “Relative Humidity Re-Examined” stated that “there is no one ‘ideal’
RH for museums, only values and ranges that minimize specific types of change in
materials and objects.”35
Significant changes slowly occurring, such as seasonally from
winter to summer, is less of a concern than more frequent sudden changes, such as day
34
Nicholas Poole, "10 Challenges," slide 19. 35
David Erhardt and Marion Mecklenburg, “Relative Humidity Reexamined,” in “IIC Preventive
Conservation Practice, Theory and Research – Preprints of the Contributions to the Ottawa Congress, 12-16
September 1994,” ed. Ashok Roy and Perry Smith (1994), 37.
14
and night. Considering different materials have different safe zones in regards to RH and
temperature, a wider range is also best for the collection as a whole.36
This discussion has
continued with publications such as the 2009 Draft Guiding Principles prepared by the
International Group of Organizers of Large-Scale Exhibitions, also known as the Bizot
Group, who discussed expanding environmental condition as a means of reducing the
carbon footprint of loans.37
Many scholarly presentations have been made to address this
document and Matthew Siegal, Chair of Conservation and Collections Management at the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA, Boston), planned and hosted a conference,
“Rethinking the Museum Climate,” along with the Getty Conservation Institute in 2010
to address the Draft Guiding Principles.38
In deciding on a range of temperature and RH, it would benefit collections care
professionals to determine what is most valuable – financially, historically, and culturally
– in their collection and then to consider that, along with what material is most prevalent
in the collection. Some collections have mostly a single material such as paper and an
ideal temperature range can be easily deciphered, but most are multi-media collections
and have a greater challenge. Also, materials that have undergone conservation and
restoration treatments are now composite objects, such as a ceramic repaired with an
acrylic adhesive.39
Another consideration is balancing the safe zones for materials stable
in a wide range of temperatures, such as stone, glass and fired pottery, with those that are
36
Erhardt and Mecklenburg, “Relative Humidity Reexamined,” 37; Audience discussion, “Linking the
Environment and Heritage Conservation: Presentations, Tips and Discussions” (conference presentation
discussion at American Institute for Conservation’s 2012 Conference, Albuquerque, new Mexico, May 9,
2012). 37
National Museum Director’s Conference, “NMDC Guiding Principles for Reducing Museums’ Carbon
Footprint,” http://www.nationalmuseums.org.uk/media/documents/what_we_do_documents/guiding_
principles_reducing_carbon_footprint.pdf (accessed January 29, 2013). 38
Elizabeth Byrne, e-mailed message to author, September 18, 2012. 39
Rose Cull, e-mailed message to author, January 31, 2013.
15
more sensitive, such as leather, wood and many textiles.40
Materials already in poor
condition are also more sensitive than those in better condition.41
Put into practice, a
collection may lean toward environmental conditions suitable for sensitive materials
which may approach the boundary of those for stable materials. For example collections
of textiles, where the ideal temperature range is between 65ºF and 75ºF, may benefit from
a temperature lower than the ideal since “low temperatures […] may help slow down the
rate of deterioration for textiles that are damaged by weighting”, although considerations
should be made since textiles, which are hygroscopic, can suffer “dimensional change
and mechanical stress that can lead to breakage and structural damage of weak yarns”
from fluctuations in temperature and RH.42
Regardless of the circumstances, any change
should be monitored rigorously for any indication of whether the new conditions are
suitable. This should not be a deterrent in moving away from the standard temperature
and RH model and into a range more appropriate to the collection at hand.
When changing environmental conditions, many aspects such as material
sensitivity to fluctuations and outdoor climate need to be researched beforehand. One of
the resources available to aid this is the Image Permanence Iinstitute (IPI)’s Dew Point
Calculator, an easy temperature-RH-dew point scale that identifies the risk level based on
the environmental conditions entered by the user of four types of aging: natural aging,
mechanical damage, mold risk and metal corrosion.43
The Dew Point Calculator is the
result of a multi-year study of environmental monitoring, energy reduction and
collections care that has produced many important resources for collections care and is
40
National Museum Director’s Conference, “NMDC Guiding Principles.” 41
Brophy and Wylie, “Saving Collections and the Planet,” 52-57 and 59-60. 42
National Park Service, “Appendix K.” 43
Image Permanence Institute, “Dew Point Calculator,” Rochester Institute of Technology,
http://www.dpcalc.org/ (accessed December 17, 2012).
16
available at no charge at www.dpcalc.org. This environmental monitoring study, further
discussed in “Encouraging Sustainability within Collections Care,” is the largest study of
its kind and has changed the way the collections care professionals see sustainable
environmental monitoring. For example the Society of Cincinnati is “currently looking
into altering the seasonal set points of [their] HVAC system in the hopes of saving on
energy (this is per IPI’s recent findings and guidelines for Sustainable Environments in
Storage Areas).”44
Similarly Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) is “revisiting these
[temperature and RH] ranges in light of recent research re-evaluating the common
industry requirements that allow only very minor fluctuations in these numbers
throughout the day. […] Our investigation into this is driven in large part to the potential
costs saving that might be achieved, provided that the collection is not jeopardized.”45
Modifying environmental conditions has many benefits in addition to being more
mindful of collections: it relaxes the burden of rigorously monitoring and maintaining
environmental conditions, financially beneficial since HVAC equipment does not have to
work as hard to maintain a narrow range as well as sustainable since less energy is used.
Furthermore, the reality is that many institutions do not have the resources to attain, let
alone maintain, a narrow ideal. In their 1994 article “Let’s Be Honest – Realistic
Environmental Parameters for Loaned Objects” authors Jonathan Ashley Smith, Nick
Umney and David Ford mentioned a story where a curator asked a group of conservators
how to overcome the problem of not being able to meet a lending institution’s specified
environmental conditions. The conservators’ response was “We lie!”
44
Whitney Robertson, e-mailed message to author, October 1, 2012. 45
Tom Callas, e-mailed message to author, October 10, 2012.
17
In addition to HVAC systems, many institutions use passive environmental
control measures in their collections which can likewise be made more sustainable.
Keeping artifacts in an enclosed container, such as a cabinet, drawer or box, is a common
practice in passive environmental control where the container acts as a buffer, reducing
the fluctuations in temperature and RH. Currently there are few sustainable museum-
quality boxes available (further explored in “Storage Materials” as well as in “Part II:
Finding a Sustainable Museum-Quality Material”). Currently Lydamore upright
document box manufactured by Conservation by Design (CXD) and the Green Document
Case by Conservation Resources International, LLC, are the only boxes marketed for
collections storage, although there are many boxes made from recycled content cardboard
that may be suitable for some archives or libraries that only require short term storage.
Another passive environmental measure is the use of desiccants to regulate RH
within a confined space, such as an exhibition case, by absorbing and releasing
atmospheric moisture. Desiccants used in collections care are often made of solid silica
pellets, even when called a gel, and can be purchased commercially under the brands
such as PROSorb, Art Sorb or RHapid Gel.46
Some types of silica pellets have a moisture
indicator additive that changes color for easy monitoring. This moisture indicator can
come in various colors but is often blue with the active ingredient being a cobalt chloride
additive. Unlike colorless silica, blue self-indicating silica is hazardous to the
environment due to the cobalt chloride and if disposed of should be considered industrial
waste.47
It would be more sustainable to use a small amount of self-indicating silica
46
Desiccants made from other substances such as activated charcoal, calcium sulfate or calcium chloride
are more common in other industries and will not be discussed. 47
Talas, “Material Safety Data Sheet – Self-Indicating (Blue) Silica Gel,”
http://talasonline.com/photos/msds/silicagel.pdf (accessed November 17, 2012); National Park Service,
18
pellets, RH indicator cards (ideally cobalt chloride free themselves), or RH meters in
addition to the colorless silica pellets. A new version of self-indicating silica pellets,
which uses the additive methyl violet to change color is currently being marketed as “an
environmentally safe choice” since it “is virtually inert and has no known adverse effect
on the environment,” and “is not classified as hazardous waste.”48
Another sustainable environmental monitoring practice is to switch from
hyrgrothermographs to electronic thermo-hygrometers or data loggers which are smaller,
less expensive, do not use up materials such as paper and ink, and are often rechargeable
or can use rechargeable batteries. The resulting data is also more easily graphed and
storing historic data does not take up physical space as paper charts do.
In environmental monitoring, air filtration goes hand in hand with temperature
and RH and, concerning the quality of air, there is no change in the ideal as there should
be as little atmospheric pollution as possible. In some ways “collections managers have
been following green practices for decades in their storage areas with attention to good
air quality (using low-volatile organic compound or VOC materials and smart ventilation
strategies).”49
Approaching air quality with a sustainable mindset acknowledges that
there is a clear link between pollution outside and inside the collections facility –
reducing the former inevitably reduces the latter. Although a single person’s actions to
minimize air pollution may be discouraging, the spirit of actions such as taking public
transit or cycling to work and planting trees will have a cumulative effect on air quality,
Conserve O Gram - Cobalt Indicating Silica Gel Health and Safety Update (Washington, DC, 2001),
http://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/conserveogram/02-15.pdf (accessed November 17, 2012). 48
Gaylord Bros., “Silica Gel, Indicating, Orange,”
http://www.gaylord.com/adblock.asp?abid=15594&search_by=desc&search_for=silica&mpc=WW
(accessed November 17, 2012); Silicagelpackets.com, “Material Safety Data Sheet – Orange Silica Gel,”
http://www.gaylord.com/ad_block/MSDS-SilicaGel-15594.pdf (accessed November 17, 2012). 49
Brophy and Wylie, The Green Museum, 6.
19
inside and outside the collections facility. Within collections holding institutions,
controlling HVAC system operations are likely beyond the expected duties of collections
care professionals, often left to the facilities or building and grounds departments, but it is
not unreasonable to inquire about and request more sustainability from outside
departments. For example, there are HVAC cleaning chemicals that are marketed as
sustainable alternatives to those commonly used which may be equally effective.
Within an exhibition space environmental monitoring is a unique situation since
the presence of humans and increased exposure to the outside is to be expected. In this
circumstance, environmental monitoring can again include sustainable ideals through the
use of cobalt chloride free desiccants, using thermo-hygrometers, modifying narrow
environmental controls and using sustainable materials for cases and platforms.
The connection between the quality of the environment outside a collections
facility, the quality of the environment inside a collections facility, and the rate at which
artifacts age have clear, direct connections with each other. “Mitigating global levels of
pollution is an important aspect of mission fulfillment for those in the preservation
business. Pollution in Los Angeles is made of toxic particulate from China – the very
same particulates museums are trying to keep away from objects.”50
50
Brophy and Wylie, The Green Museum, 5.
20
Chapter 3
Electricity and Lighting
As museums become increasingly concerned with finances, electricity usage is
often mentioned as an area where savings can be made. “In some climates, easily half or
more of the annual energy consumption can go towards dehumidification in summer.”51
Many institutions have already begun to reduce their light and electricity usage, often
with the primary goal of financial gain, but when thoughtfully and efficiently done, the
effects go beyond that and include a smaller carbon footprint, a less negative impact on
the environment and collections, and a built-in preventive conservation program.
Lighting and electricity are so ever-present and needed in daily life that their
overconsumption often goes unnoticed. Although a minimum amount is needed for
human comfort and safety, there are many ways energy use can be reduced that require
little to no investment. Since there is not a single list of sustainable energy practices
that can equally apply to all collections, energy reduction plans need to reflect the
unique circumstances of the storage facility and regional energy use guidelines with
tips gathered from many sources. The following information intends to be a jumping off
point for collections care professionals to create and enact their own protocols. Some
will be able to go above and beyond, while others may be able to enact only those
requiring the least investment.
A simple first step in sustainable energy use is to unplug any equipment that is
rarely used or does not need to be constantly on. Due to a phenomenon known as standby
51
Brophy and Wylie, “Saving Collections and the Planet,” 52-57 and 59-60.
21
power, some electronics and electrical equipment are designed to use energy while in
sleep mode and in some cases even when turned off.52
Similarly lights can be turned off
when not in use or can be placed on motion sensors or timers to ensure they are only in
use when needed. Sustainable lighting practices are already widely in use, such as at The
Society of the Cincinnati, which has motion sensors in storage while the Cape Fear
Museum has them in some exhibition cases.53
MOPA put sensors on exhibition lights
“primarily as a cost-saving measure, with the understanding that it would also have a
beneficial effect on the long term preservation of the collection.”54
In open storage facilities where artifacts are exposed, minimizing light use is
common practice but it is applicable even where artifacts are not. Additionally, bank
lighting can be utilized or installed so that a common walkway can be lit without lighting
the whole storage facility. The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (MFIT)
utilizes this practice by having secondary lights that can be turned on for individual
aisles. In facilities where the storage space and the staff’s workspaces are together,
lighting needs to be on for comfort and safety, but if it is possible to turn off certain lights
or to utilize natural light, then it should be taken advantage of. Not only is minimizing light
a sustainable practice, it is also a good collections care practice. All artifacts susceptible to
damage from light or ultra-violet radiation should be covered since damage is cumulative
and irreversible, and can result in a change of color or be a catalyst for deterioration.55
52
Science Daily, “ ‘Vampire’ Appliances -- They Suck Electricity Even When Switched Off -- Cost
Consumers $3 Billion A Year, Says Cornell Energy Expert,”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/09/020926065912.htm (accessed July 23, 2012). 53
Whitney Robertson, e-mailed message to author, October 1, 2012; Terri Hudgins, e-mailed message to
author, October 1, 2012. 54
Tom Callas, e-mailed message to author, October 10, 2012. 55
National Park Service, “Appendix K.”
22
When exploring sustainable light use the kind of light bulbs employed are an
important factor. Currently light-emitting diode (LED) lights are one of the most energy
efficient light bulbs and museums such as MFA, Boston are switching to them in all
areas.56
They also have a clear financial benefit, as the The McMichael Canadian Art
Collection saw when their energy bills were reduced after switching to LED lights.57
It is
important for collections care professionals to continue researching advancements in
lighting and to make thoughtful, researched decisions when enacting change because of
the rapidly changing nature of technology and electronics. For example a research group
which included scientists from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam recently published
an article that concluded that LED lights were discoloring the yellow pigments in Van
Gogh paintings.58
This article has been criticized for its findings which utilized a six year
old spectral chart and highlighted atypical LED lights with unusually high blue without
clarification.59
The initial article was heavily sensationalized by the mainstream press
while the clarifying article was not.
Another common sustainable energy practice is to switch to energy efficient
equipment and light bulbs such as those approved by ENERGY STAR, “a joint program
of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping
us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and
56
Elizabeth Byrne, e-mailed message to author, September 18, 2012. 57
Sue Maltby, e-mailed message to author, October 2, 2012. 58
[Koen Janssens, Bruno Brunetti, Costanza Miliani, Letizia Monico, Ella Hendriks, Muriel Geldof,
Marine Cotte, Gerald Falkenberg?] “LED lights may be bad for Van Gogh Paintings,”
http://www.vangogh.ua.ac.be/ (accessed February 24, 2013). 59
The International Magazine for Architectural Detail and Commercial Lighting, “Study wrongly implies
LED to blame for van Gogh masterpiece damage,”
http://www.mondoarc.com/news/1766260/study_wrongly_implies_led_to_blame_for_van_gogh_masterpie
ce_damage.html (accessed February 24, 2013).
23
practices.”60
In using energy efficient equipment and electronics, a collections facility
will not only save energy but also money and reduce their carbon footprint. A list of
ENERGY STAR approved products are noted on their website. Many of the available
products (e.g. HVAC equipment, vacuums, cameras, office appliances, etc.) can be used
in collections. In using long-lasting energy efficient light bulbs and electronics, the need
to dispose of them is reduced, lessening the hazardous waste produced by the institution.
Although the initial investment of purchasing new equipment is a clear hurdle since some
institutions “don't have the luxury to invest in the big ticket items, like energy efficient
appliances,” the long-term financial savings coupled with the sustainable benefits may be
worth it.61
Utilizing renewable energy such as solar, wind, hydroelectric and geothermal is a
way that institutions can include sustainability into their culture with only slight changes
to their daily operations. In some cases it can be as simple as purchasing sustainably
sourced energy, often through their current energy supplier. MOPA “participates in a
program with our local electricity supplier to reduce our energy bills in return for our
promise to reduce our energy use in times of peak demand.” 62
Museums can mitigate the
negative effects of energy consumption by buying “Green Certificates” or offsetting their
carbon through other means such as tree planting or buying coupons.63
These means are
not without their controversies since they are not regulated and cannot easily be verified,
60
Energy Star, “About Energy Star,” http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=about.ab_index (accessed
September 10th
2012) 61
Meghan Grossman Hansen, e-mailed message to author, October 1, 2011. 62
Tom Callas, e-mailed message to author, October 10, 2012. 63
For further information check the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Buying Clean Energy” web site
http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/buying-clean-electricity.
24
leading to less than honest for-profit companies and their customers who pay for the
privilege of continuing their destructive habits rather than change them.
Some museums have taken up the initial cost of installing equipment that collects
sustainable energy from the environment. The Brooklyn Children’s Museum (BCM)
utilizes geothermal wells which “draw stable-temperature water from Brooklyn′s
underground aquifers to a series of heat pump air handlers that control the temperature of
the building” and, in comparison to traditional HVAC systems, eliminates waste-water
created while using less energy.64
Many museums, such as the Toledo Museum of Art,
the Columbia Museum of Art and the Big Pit National Coal Mining Museum, have
installed solar panels, which have become more economically feasible than in the past.65
These actions can raise a visitor’s awareness about the importance of sustainability. The
MFA, Boston is “currently researching ways to produce our own energy through solar,
wind, and geothermal technologies.”66
Although these options have not been fully
explored in relation to the collections facility, the mere presence of sustainable energy in
a museum means the collections department benefits from it.
When creating a sustainable energy and electricity plan it is important to note that,
although the whole space should be considered, it could be executed in sections. For
example Art Institute of Chicago’s Executive Director of Conservation Frank Zucari,
along with a team, upgraded their institute’s lighting system zone by zone and “reduced
64
Brooklyn Children’s Museum, “The Green Museum,”
http://brooklynkids.org/index.php/aboutus/greenmuseum (accessed September 12, 2011); Brophy and Wylie,
The Green Museum, 23. 65
Toledo Museum of Art, “Solar Panel Installation,” http://www.toledomuseum.org/about/green/solar/
(accessed January 23, 2013); Columbia Museum of Art, “About – Solar,” Columbia Museum of Art,
http://www.columbiamuseum.org/about/solar (accessed January 23, 2013); David Greene, “Coal Mining
Museum Welcomes Solar Panels,” npr.org, http://www.npr.org /2012/12/20/167688230/coal-mining-
museum-welcomes-solar-panels (accessed January 23, 2013). 66
Elizabeth Byrne, e-mailed message to author, September 18, 2012.
25
electricity use and controlled the cumulative exposure of objects to light through a new
sunshade system that diffuses and redirects sunlight and works in conjunction with the
artificial lighting system.” This integrated approach to lighting saves energy but is also
“good conservation practice: chiefly controlling light, humidity and air pollution.”67
67
Brophy and Wylie, “It’s Easy Being Green,” 44.
26
Chapter 4
Emergency Planning, Mitigation & Response
Emergency planning, mitigation and response, here described collectively as
emergency preparedness, is a facet of collections care that collections staff are
increasingly including as part of their roles as caregivers. Emergency preparedness aims
to identify, avoid and respond to risks large and small, which can include natural and
man-made disasters, pest infestation, theft and utility failure, amongst others. These risks
vary from institution to institution and are influenced by factors such as climate, security
of the facility, location of storage in relation to ground level, or presence of windows.
The connection between emergency preparedness and sustainability is made strikingly
clear considering many of the risks collections are preparing for are products of or
magnified by climate change.68
In 2005 the Heritage Health Index Report surveyed
collecting institutions’ conservation and preservation practices, including emergency
preparedness, and reported that poor environmental controls, inadequate staffing and poor
planning for disasters threatened a substantial loss of collections.69
Each institution will be able to prepare for emergencies to different extents
depending largely on whether the time and staff are available. With resources such as the
Emergency Response Wheel now downloadable as a smartphone application and
Heritage Preservation Alliance for Response’s thorough website, it is becoming more
68
During the writing of this research several environmental events occurred. Most recently Hurricane
Sandy struck portions of the Caribbean, and the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, causing the
total or partial destruction of many museums and collections from flooding, winds, loss of power,
prevention of staff from reaching their collections and the less obvious effects of the loss of revenue. 69
Brophy and Wylie, The Green Museum, 5.
27
possible for institutions of all sizes to have emergency response plans. As such it is
important to reinforce that sustainability can be easily included in emergency
preparedness by creating and editing plans digitally, as was recently done at the Charlotte
Museum of History, before the final hard copy edits.70
Furthermore, an emergency
response cart can have sustainable qualities with supplies such as reusable water
absorption materials, rolling carts made from recycled plastic or energy efficient
equipment such as vacuums or battery-free flashlights.
Since views on sustainability are fervently being discussed in many fields it is
important to continuously keep up to date on current information and practices. An
example comes from a June 2012 posting on the conservation list serve DistList which
sparked a debate on the sustainability of fire suppression systems. Amy McKune,
Director of Museum Collections at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and
Western Art in Indianapolis, Indiana, was looking for advice on whether replacing their
Halon fire suppression system with a Novec™ 1230 system for their collections facility
was appropriate and worth the less harmful environmental effects. Myriam Lavoie, object
conservator at the Centre de Conservation du Québec in Québec City, Canada, responded
that their city was asked to phase out Halon fire suppression systems in favor of a more
sustainable option. Halotron, a similar product to Novec™ 1230, was tested along with
an ABC fire extinguisher and a water mist extinguisher with the help of a firefighter.71
These tests involved extinguishing a fire with each system in a mock-collection
consisting of a painting, newsprint and books. While the ABC system left an easy to
70
Anne Lane, e-mailed message to author, 71
An ABC fire extinguisher is one that can suppress class A fires (ordinary combustible material such as
wood and paper), class B fires (flammable and combustable liquids), and class C fires (electrical
equipment).
28
clean powder, the Halotron system left an impossible to clean residue, despite claims on
the company’s website that it works “without generating an undesirable solid residue.”72
The possible environmental benefits in this case need to be measured against the possible
loss from fire and possible damage from the residue.73
To this Monona Rossol, president and founder of Arts, Crafts and Theater Safety,
Inc., a not-for-profit corporation providing health and safety services to the arts,
responded with various reasons why a substance may be better for the environment but
still harmful to humans, which may make the environmental benefits less valuable.74
This
debate of safety for the environment centers around a substance’s ozone depleting
qualities, of which the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the Novec™ 1230 Fire
Protection Fluid states “this substance does not contribute to ozone depletion; it has an
atmospheric lifetime of approximately 5 days and a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of
1 (IPCC 2001 Method).”75
Halon’s MSDS mentions nothing but the company’s website
states it is a “safe, effective, environmentally acceptable chemical blend based on the raw
material HCFC-123” and was introduced to replace the severe ozone depleting Halon
1211.76
Monona Rossol points out that there is often no data such as those relating to
cancer or reproductive health. In this case the MSDS for Halon states that it is not a
carcinogen and has undergone extensive animal testing and did not affect the
72
American Pacific Corporation, “Products – About Haltron®
1,” http://www.halotron.com/halotron1.php
(accessed January 13, 2013). 73
Amy McKune, e-mail to DistList mailing list, instance: 26:4, June 16, 2012, http://cool.conservation-
us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/2012/0663.html (accessed June 16, 2012); Myriam Lavoie, e-mail to
DistList mailing list, instance: 26:5, June 23, 2012, http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-
lists/cdl/2012/0673.html (accessed June 23, 2012). 74
Monona Rossol, e-mail to DistList mailing list, instance: 26:7, July 9, 2012, http://cool.conservation-
us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/2012/0717.html (accessed July 9, 2012). 75
3M, “MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET 3M™ Novec ™ 1230 Fire Protection Fluid [FK-5-1-12],”
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?mwsId=SSSSSuUn_zu8l00x482xNx29Mv70k17zHvu9lx
tD7SSSSSS-- (accessed January 13, 2013). 76
American Pacific Corporation, “Products – About Haltron®
1.”
29
reproductive performance in rats although did show an increase in non-life threatening
tumors. The MSDS for Novec™ 1230 Fire Protection Fluid does not mention any similar
relevant information. In both cases this does not indicate anything one way or the other
since “OSHA [Occupational Health and Safety Administration] doesn't require missing
data to be mentioned and still allows manufacturers to say ‘not listed as a carcinogen by
IARC [International Agency for Research on Cancer], NTP [National Toxicology
Program] or OSHA’ which actually means there is no data.”77
In this instance the question led to a discussion with no conclusive answer and
there may still not be any clear answer. It will be up to the individual to decide to stay
with what is already in place, to act on what research is available, or to continue to
research until a more decisive answer is found. Either way it is clear that the connection
between sustainability and collections care is multi-faceted and every aspect, even
emergency preparedness, is affected by this relationship.
77
Monona Rossol, e-mail to DistList mailing list, instance: 26:7, July 9, 2012, http://cool.conservation-
us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/2012/0717.html (accessed July 9, 2012).
30
Chapter 5
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
IPM is the combination of all actions taken to prevent, monitor and eliminate
pests in the collection environment.78
Often this has focused around the collections
environment and health of the staff, but the health of the global environment is equally
important. “We are constantly re-adjusting our perceptions of acceptable pest-control
practices based on increased knowledge and recognition of downstream effects.”79
Due to past practices that “often involved regular applications of toxic chemicals
to collection areas and actual collections,” the use of minimal chemicals or materials that
are harmful to people or collections is already the norm.80
As a result, preventative
measures have become “the first, and most fundamental step in pest management” which
is largely explored through other parts of this research.81
After exploring professional
literature, five common IPM practices are mentioned, along with how they are included
in other aspects of this research.
First upgrading and repairing the building envelope and utilizing closed storage
shelving mitigates pest entry into the collection and is explored in the “Exhibition and
Storage Facility Design or Renovation” chapter. Enclosing materials known to attract
pests in storage boxes is an IPM practice and the “Storage Materials” chapter along with
78
“Pests,” in Conservation-Wiki.com (American Institute for Conservation, updated on December 30,
2011), http://www.conservation-wiki.com/wiki/Pests (accessed September 2, 2012). 79
Strang, “I’ve Got Bugs,” 46-47. 80
Integrated Pest Management Working Group, “Main,” MuseumPests.net (accessed April 4, 2011). 81
“Pests,” in Conservation-Wiki.com (American Institute for Conservation, updated on December 30,
2011), http://www.conservation-wiki.com/wiki/Pests (accessed September 2, 2012).
31
the second part of this research mentions the sustainability of materials. Proper
environmental monitoring often deters pests from entering the facility due to the colder
nature of storage environments and is part of a collection’s environmental monitoring and
discussed in the “Environmental Monitoring” chapter. Furthermore any artifacts entering
the facility should be thoroughly inspected and the “Documentation” chapter mentions
sustainable practices in this. Finally any outbreaks should be treated with modified
temperature or anoxic environments, which can be done with energy efficient equipment
and without the use of chemicals.
Every collections facility has a different set of circumstances that will affect the
likelihood and species of pests. We already know that “better pest management doesn’t
mean more chemicals” but we should always strive to learn more about up-to-date
collections care practices.82
These suggestions follow best practices and as shown in
other parts of this research best practices can often have a sustainable facet to them.
82
Integrated Pest Management Working Group, “Main.”
32
Chapter 6
Storage Materials
The proper care of collections includes storage systems such as boxes, trays, bags
and supports made from materials such as boards, foams, papers, fabrics, plastics and
adhesives. All these were at one point a raw material, harvested, processed, packaged,
shipped, distributed, used and later disposed of. Sustainability can be incorporated into
any of these stages. Sustainable materials will be discussed in depth in Part II but the
following information explores other facets of storage materials that can be or are already
sustainable, focusing on companies doing innovative, often unrecognized work.
Throughout the manufacturing process the energy, water and chemicals needed to
produce storage materials can be sustainably managed. One manufacturer that is a leader
in innovation is Peterboro Cardboards Ltd., which makes mat boards that are also used in
mount and box making. Upon learning that the glue they used in manufacturing limited
the reprocessing of their products to low-quality goods such as housing shingles,
Peterboro changed their lamination process from a polyvinyl acetate (PVA) adhesive to a
more sustainable polymerized potato starch.83
This starch adhesive is unprecedented as it
took two years of development and trials between Peterboro and Penford, the patent-
holders of Peterboro’s equipment. Peterboro is likely the only manufacturer using this
process since “apparently we [at Peterboro] were the only matboard manufacturer that
83
This research does not intend to imply that these materials are not without their downsides. For example
starch may be a source of food for pests.
33
was willing to invest the time and money.”84
This starch is used in most of their mat
boards, including their conservation-grade purified wood fiber board.85
In the
manufacturing of their museum-grade 100% cotton board, the starch adhesive cannot be
used since the traditional PVA adhesive is needed in the high-heat manufacturing
process. PVA adhesive is used worldwide in cotton board production but “at present we
[at Peterboro] are running trials on several different techniques to see if we can overcome
the production issues and be the only manufacturer able to use water soluble glue on
cotton.”86
Since switching to the water-soluble potato starch, Peterboro has found use for
the “truckloads of trimmings” produced which are now “all … recycled into high quality
board products.”87
Furthermore paper and boards that are unusable for whatever reason are cut into
standard sizes and donated to local schools as art supplies – “this is a great way to recycle
and of course the benefits to the art students is a given.”88
Peterboro has not limited itself
to finding new uses for waste materials, but also to “looking for better ways to
manufacture responsibly,”89
We use recycled materials wherever allowable and purchase as much SFI
[Sustainable Forestry Initiative®] or FSC [Forest Stewardship Council
®] material
as possible. We have eliminated the use of anything that our Ministry of the
Environment will not let us put down the drain. In an effort to reduce packaging
we coat the interior of our museum board boxes with a medical grade calcium
carbonate application used to protect surgical instruments from possible acid
contamination during shipping. This has eliminated the need for an extra layer of
wrapping used by other companies. … [As well as] our new boiler that uses far
84
Alan Yaffe, e-mailed message to author, June 31, 2012. 85
Peterboro Cardboards, “Peterboro's Fall 2010 Newsletter,”
http://www.peterboromatboards.com/pdf/newsletter-2010-november.pdf (accessed May 22, 2012); Alan
Yaffe, e-mailed message to author, June 31, 2012. 86
Alan Yaffe, e-mailed message to author, June 31, 2012. 87
Alan Yaffe, e-mailed message to author, June 31, 2012. 88
Alan Yaffe, e-mailed message to author, June 31, 2012. 89
Alan Yaffe, e-mailed message to author, June 31, 2012.
34
less energy and at present we are re-lamping our new plant with the newest
energy efficient lighting. I am constantly looking for ways to use less
consumables.90
Peterboro president Alan Yaffe has significantly increased the sustainability of the
company because of the realization that caring for the environment and a professional
career are not mutually exclusive.
I have been a passionate fly fisherman since I was 12 and over the years I have
been disheartened by the ongoing destruction of the environment and the loss of
stream habitat. As a result I am probably more environmentally active in both my
private life and as a manufacturer than most people. Since taking over Peterboro
ten years ago we have made great strides in changing the way we do things and
what we buy, in an effort to reduce our use of non-renewable raw materials.91
Another company working sustainably is Sealed Air, manufacturer of the range of
foams used in collections care known as Ethafoam®. Since introducing Bubble Wrap
® in
1960, Sealed Air has been on the forefront of innovation, especially with its Specialty
Materials unit which partners with their customers to research and develop how to
“maximize the use, profit and effectiveness of their products while minimizing the costs,
processes and impact on the environment that are normally associated with such gains.”92
The company has also created the SmartLife™ program, which aims “to raise awareness
about sustainable packaging and to advance Sealed Air’s sustainable mission within the
company’s larger business strategy” while “[helping] our customers make smarter
decisions by considering the entire lifecycle of their packaging materials. These include
production and manufacturing, application, performance and disposal and reclamation.”93
90
Alan Yaffe, e-mailed message to author, June 31, 2012. 91
Alan Yaffe, e-mailed message to author, June 31, 2012. 92
Sealed Air, “Determined and Innovative,” http://www.sealedairspecialtymaterials.com/la/es/pdf/
specialty-materials-overview.pdf (accessed July 15, 2012). 93
Sealed Air, “Sealed Air Ethafoam® MRC
® & HRC
® and Stratocell
® RC
®: Infinite Usage, Infinite Uses,”
http://www.sealedairprotects.com/la/es/pdf/recycled-foams.pdf (accessed July 15, 2012).
35
Sealed Air’s manufacturing practices, including those for Ethafoam®, are manufactured
with the considerations about sustainability such as increasing the stability of the material
(which minimizes the amount of material needed while maintaining the same quality of
protection and increases the materials ability to be reused), increasing the recyclability of
the material, and creating a bio-stable material that will not degrade to pollute the air or
water.94
Sealed Air also aims to reduce their “energy usage, water usage and […] our
environmental footprint by cutting greenhouse gas emissions and increasing our yield.”95
Largely unnoticed by the customer, some of the least sustainable aspects of
storage materials are their packaging, shipping and transportation. Unfortunately it is
often impossible to track the full life cycle of the materials, often travelling from original
source to manufacturer to vendor to redistributor to end user. Fortunately collections care
professionals can have an impact by purchasing directly from the manufacturer or
distributor, instead of a redistributor, reducing a product’s carbon footprint. For some
materials, purchasing in bulk may reduce the packaging but if the material expires or
negatively ages, the waste created may not be worth the packaging saved. Some
companies may utilize sustainable packing materials such as water-soluble starch peanuts
or space fillers made from waste paper or cardboard. In addition some manufactures
require impractical minimums for purchasing, which may be circumvented by sharing the
cost with other institutions.
As sustainability becomes more prominent in collections care, companies are
beginning to offer sustainable alternatives to common products. CXD offers a range of
museum-quality boards and boxes made exclusively from the waste from the production
94
Sealed Air, “Sealed Air Maximum Performance with Minimal Environmental Impact,”
http://www.sealedairprotects.com/ap/en/pdf/pp_sustainability.pdf (accessed July 15, 2012) 95
Sealed Air, “Infinite Usage, Infinite Uses.”
36
of their other paper and board products.96
These boards are further explored in greater
detail in Part II. Conservation Resources International, LLC, sells a sustainable document
case with the same properties as their non-sustainable versions, both lignin free and
alkaline in grey-white faced board, but its components “are made [with] low-impact,
clean, 100% renewable hydroelectric power and are manufactured carbon neutral …
through the acquisition of carbon-offset credits, or Verified Emission Reductions
(VER’s).” 97
These VERs “[neutralize] the effects of carbon emissions created in the
manufacturing process… [and] are verified by a third party and registered on the
Greenhouse Gas Registry of the Environmental Resources Trust, Inc. and on the Chicago
Climate Exchange.” 98
The company also offers and is phasing in other products “made
entirely with clean, renewable energy, and are manufactured carbon neutral” such as
branded file, map and print folders along with both corrugated and solid fiber board
boxes and document cases.99
Gaylord Bros., a company supplying materials for the library, museum and
archive industries, has embraced sustainability and is “committed to sustainable
development through environmental protection, social responsibility, and economic
progress. We are dedicated to meeting the needs of our society today and to minimizing
the impact of our actions on future generations and on the environment.” 100
In keeping
with this the company has created an environmental policy where:
96
Conservation By Design Limited, “New Recycled Green Archival Storage Box,” http://ebookbrowse.com
/press-release-cxd006-lydamore-boxes-pdf-d102381265 (accessed December 17, 2011). 97
Conservation Resources International, LLC, “Environmentally Friendly Green Document Cases,” http://
www.conservationresources.com/Main/S%20CATALOG/We_Go_Green.htm (accessed January 28, 2012). 98
Conservation Resources International, LLC, “Environmentally Friendly Green Document Cases.” 99
Conservation Resources International, LLC, “Environmentally Friendly Green Document Cases.” 100
Gaylord Bros., “Gaylord Environmental Policy,”
http://www.gaylord.com/page_manager_st_leftnav_no_ ewe.asp?page_ID=going_green&LeftNav_ID=900
(accessed November 17, 2012).
37
In the design, development, manufacture, and delivery of our products, it is our
policy to:
Reduce waste, re-use materials, and recycle whenever possible in both our
office and manufacturing operations.
Conserve energy through the use of efficient business processes.
Promote awareness of sustainable products and practices in the library and
museum communities by working with partner organizations that share our
green values.
Encourage our employees to be responsible, green citizens.
Pro-actively collaborate with environmental leaders and our community at
large to develop new and innovative environmental initiatives. 101
The company has implemented their policy through the creation of an “Everyday
Green Guide” for customers wanting to know more about sustainability and they have a
dedicated page listing sustainable products. As well, they have “been awarded
the Onondaga County Industrial Achievement Award for nine years in a row due to our
wastewater compliance.”102
Continuously reusing materials, conceptually known as “cradle-to-cradle”, rather
than using a material and then disposing of it in part or in whole, known as “cradle-to-
grave”, is also a sustainable practice. Written by Michael Braungart and William
McDonough, the influential book Cradle to Cradle explores the downfalls of the
traditional reduce, reuse, recycle model and advocates for products that degrade to
nourish the earth or are continually circulated. Although reusing the entirety of no-longer
needed materials is the ideal, reusing or recycling them in part is commendable.
“Materials containing recycled content expands markets for recycled materials, slow the
consumption of raw materials and reduce the amount of waste disposed of in landfills.”103
Put into practice, collections care professionals can embody this thinking with actions
such as repurposing shelving from other departments and prototyping mounts in waste or
101
Gaylord Bros., “Gaylord Environmental Policy.” 102
Gaylord Bros., “Gaylord Environmental Policy.” 103
Brophy and Wylie, The Green Museum, 10.
38
non-museum-quality materials. Furthermore mounts can be made that serve several
purposes, such as use in storage, exhibition and/or transportation and efforts can be made
to make long-term instead of short-term mounts. In some ways collections care
professionals already embody cradle-to-cradle thinking by using materials such as muslin
or cotton sheeting, which can be washed and reused, in textile and dress storage.104
An example of a supplier embodying this ethos is Dorfman Museum Figures, Inc.,
manufacturer of exhibition and storage mounts and mannequins. Fine particles of
Ethafoam® are generated in their product manufacturing and the company has an
arrangement where they ship the clean waste particles to “a catalog company that
specializes in conservation products for museums” where they use it to stuff pillows that
they sell through their catalogue.105
Dorfman Museum Figures, Inc. also “[uses] larger
pieces of scrap ETHAFOAM as loose packing material for shipping our products” 106
and
has in the past shipped scrap Ethafoam® to a customer who shredded it and used it as
snow in an exhibition.107
Robert Dorfman, president of Dorfman Museum Figures, Inc.,
stated quite clearly the importance of sustainable practices to his company – “We do not
sell our waste cuttings. My interest is in not putting our ETHAFOAM waste in a landfill,
so we give our waste ETHAFOAM away to people willing to pay the shipping.”108
Once materials have reached the end of their usefulness it is up to collections care
professionals to dispose of them in a sustainable manner “because the [collections care
professional], as a waste stream generator, bears the responsibility for ensuring that their
104
Sue Maltby, e-mailed message to author, October 2, 2012. 105
Robert Dorfman, e-mailed message to author, June 1, 2012. 106
Robert Dorfman, e-mailed message to author, June 1, 2012. 107
Robert Dorfman, e-mailed message to author, June 1, 2012. 108
Robert Dorfman, e-mailed message to author, June 1, 2012.
39
waste is dealt with in a safe and environmentally sound manner.”109
The majority of
storage materials can be recycled in some way. Cellulose products such as papers and
boards can usually be recycled with similar materials. Coroplast®, being a common
polypropylene copolymer coded 5 by the Society of the Plastics Industry, is recyclable in
the same processing stream as plastic milk cartons and detergent bottles.110
Coroplast®
scraps can simply be cleaned of any non-polypropylene components and placed in the
recycling bin, or otherwise taken to a local recycling center.111
Sealed Air’s polyethylene
foams, including the commonly used Ethafoam® 220, “are classified as #4 low-density
PE (LDPE) material and can be recycled in LDPE recycling systems, including [Sealed
Air’s] Closed Loop Recycling program.”112
This program, described in more detail at
recyclepefoam.com, has recycling plants in or near many major cities across the U.S.113
Recycling small amounts of foam might not be sustainable since the carbon footprint of
shipping could cancel out the positive aspects of recycling, but working with nearby
museums to jointly ship larger amounts might be an alternative, as can using a
polyethylene compactor to make it easier to ship the foam to the recycling plant.
Although much of what happens to a material before it is in the customers’ hands
is beyond their control, letting a supplier know that sustainability is important can have a
hugely positive effect on understanding the customer’s needs. This can be done by simply
109
Michael White, Judith J. Bischoff, Chris Stavroudis, and Lisa Goldberg, “From Cradle to Grave: Waste
Management for Conservators,” American Institute for Conservation’s Health and Safety Committee,
http://www.conservation-us.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewPage&PageID=817&d:%5CCFusion
MX7%5Cverity%5CData%5Cdummy.txt (Accessed 9/30/2012). Note the quote originally said
“conservator” instead of collections care professional. 110
Coroplast, “Environmental Aspects of Coroplast®,”
http://www.coroplast.com/technicalinfo/environmental.htm (accessed September 30, 2012). 111
Coroplast, “Frequently Asked Questions,” http://www.coroplast.com/technicalinfo/faq.htm (accessed
September 30, 2012). 112
Sealed Air, “Infinite Usage, Infinite Uses.” 113
Sealed Air, “Sealed Air® Polyethylene Foam Recycling Program,”
http://www.sealedairprotects.com/na/en/sustainability/recycle_pefoam.aspx (accessed July 15, 2012).
40
asking that purchases be shipped with water-soluble peanuts or recycled filler, asking
whether the company has taken steps to increase their sustainability, or whether they
carry sustainable products. Since companies often have online catalogues, a customer no
longer needs to have a hardcopy catalogue which minimizes the materials used and
disposed of. Purchasing from companies that have made an effort towards sustainability
is an affirming action and it is important to let them know so.114
Companies are interested
in satisfying their customers. When asked whether there are any plans on expanding their
product offerings or manufacturing practices to be more sustainable Robert Dorfman,
president of Dorfman Museum Figures, Inc., answered, “We are always looking to see
what our clients need.”115
114
Having worked at a supplier of museum-quality materials, it is the author’s experience that inquiries
such as this really do have an impact, and due to the small staff of most suppliers, people who are in
positions of authority will likely hear your comment, inquiry or concern. 115
Robert Dorfman, e-mailed message to author, June 1, 2012.
41
Chapter 7
Documentation
Maintaining proper documentation of a collection is an important part of the care
of all collections. Knowing the storage location, history and appearance of each artifact is
a preventive conservation practice that minimizes handling and exposure to light and
helps identify areas of concern, but as a sustainable practice it also prolongs the life of
mounts and boxes, reducing waste created in their replacement, and in cases where the
storage and office space are separate, prolongs the life of light bulbs, reduces the
electricity used to power them, and eases the load on HVAC systems having to adjust for
the presence of staff.
Inventories, accession records, object and condition reports can all be created and
edited electronically, as many collections care professionals are already doing, some even
utilizing a hand-held tablet for quick, transportable documentation which also streamlines
work flows and increases efficiency.116
All printing can be done on recycled paper,
double sided, and any waste created can be recycled. The MFA, Boston “recently
upgraded all printers in the building to use energy efficient equipment that is able to print
double-sided.”117
Even archival copies of records can be made in part or in whole of
recycled materials and maintain the appropriate qualities for long-term storage. Terri
Hudgins of the Cape Fear Museum notes that “sustainability is something we are
conscious of. We are trying to get away from doing lots of printing, and we are in the
116
Betsy Nelson, e-mail to RC-AAM mailing list, September 14, 2012. 117
Elizabeth Byrne, e-mailed message to author, September 18, 2012.
42
process of digitizing our collection, with images available for more than half of our
objects.”118
The Cape Fear Museum has a collection of more than 50,000 objects, but
digitizing a collection of any size will have comparable sustainable aspects of increasing
the sustainability and care of collections. The decisions we make can have a positive or
negative affect and actions seemingly as small as recycling paper have a cumulative
impact beyond the institutional walls.119
118
Terri Hudgins, e-mailed message to author, October 1, 2012. 119
Although not precisely a documentation practice, the NMNH sustainably created their strategic plan
entitled “Knowledge for a Sustainable Future | Strategic Plan 2010–2015” by making it widely available
online as well as using recycled Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper.
43
Chapter 8
Exhibition and Storage Facility Design or Renovation
Collections care professionals are often called upon for their involvement in
actions that may be executed by others, such as the design or renovation of a facility or
building. In these instances drafting a plan aimed at the highest standard of collections
care, which also includes sustainability, of utmost importance. “Anyone in the
preservation business has a huge opportunity to use sustainable design to educate
audiences about the responsibilities of caring for collections in perpetuity.”120
The NMNH included sustainable renovation in their 2010-2015 strategic plan by
mentioning a desire to “improve technology and facilities operations to meet sustainable
criteria, provide a safe environment for our staff, volunteers and visitors, and to support
the Museum’s mission … [accomplished through] priority facility renovations and
[ensuring] they are LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design]-
certified.”121
In the same document the NMNH listed as one of their key milestones for
the 2010-2015 years “[to] create state-of-the-art facilities that meet sustainability
standards and that support our collections, research, exhibitions, and education
activities.”122
Far beyond the scope of traditional collections care responsibilities is the
construction of the physical building the collections are housed in, but sustainability is
increasingly being included in the design, construction and renovation of cultural heritage
120
Brophy and Wylie, “It’s Easy Being Green,” 43. 121
NMNH and Samper, Knowledge for a Sustainable Future, 26. 122
NMNH and Samper, Knowledge for a Sustainable Future, 32.
44
institutions. The U.S Green Building Council’s LEED Program is a rating system often
used to gain accreditation for a building’s sustainable operation and construction. The
program grants credits based on the following main areas of sustainable performance:
Sustainable sites credits encourage strategies that minimize the impact on
ecosystems and water resources.
Water efficiency credits promote smarter use of water, inside and out, to reduce
potable water consumption.
Energy & atmosphere credits promote better building energy performance
through innovative strategies.
Materials & resources credits encourage using sustainable building materials
and reducing waste.
Indoor environmental quality credits promote better indoor air quality and
access to daylight and views.123
Although this system is not without its downfalls – as the accreditation process is
often prohibitively cost and time consuming – it is a useful set of guidelines for any
institution to improve their sustainability with or without the goal of accreditation. 124
The BCM was able to get LEED accreditation while undertaking their extensive
renovations from 2002 to 2008 with the support of an Institute of Museum and Library
Services grant. BCM, the first LEED certified museum in New York City, uses
sustainable materials throughout its building, stabilizes the interior temperature using
geothermal heating and cooling, offsets energy use through photovoltaic panels collecting
solar energy and monitors and adjusts their HVAC system using energy-saving sensors
that monitor the carbon dioxide, occupancy and daylight. Furthermore the BCM has
included educating visitors about their sustainability in exhibition didactics and wall
123
U.S. Green Buildings Council, “LEED Green Building Rating Systems,”
http://new.usgbc.org/leed/rating-systems (accessed January 11, 2012). 124
Brophy and Wylie, “It’s Easy Being Green,” 40.
45
graphics placed throughout the building, in tour groups and through a Green Threads
initiative and accompanying pamphlet.125
Renovations can be both sustainable and a good collections care practice. In
fixing the building envelope, the temperature indoors can be more easily controlled,
leading to less drastic fluctuations in temperature, reduced energy use and fewer pests
and outdoor pollutants entering the building. Elizabeth Byrne of the MFA, Boston has
said, “… when new construction occurs, the opportunity is taken to improve windows,
doors, and insulation for energy conservation.” 126
Within exhibition design, the choice of materials for walls, platforms, paints,
frames and mounts can have a sustainable impact. Christine Guintini, conservator of the
Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas at The Metropolitan
Museum of Art has consciously tried to reuse exhibition materials through the use of
slant boards and pinning hung textiles into fabric covered Ethafoam® bars, allowing for
easy unpinning and reuse.127
Similarly the MOPA and the MFA, Boston, along with
many other institutions, reuse temporary walls, mounts, crates, exhibition cases and
furniture whenever possible.128
Creating microclimates in storage cases rather than trying to maintain proper
environmental controls in a large room may also lower electricity bills.129
When
exploring possible materials for platforms, walls and flooring “choosing durable
materials will reduce replacement costs and demand on the environment. Choosing
125
Brooklyn Children’s Museum, “The Green Museum.” 126
Elizabeth Byrne, e-mailed message to author, September 18, 2012. 127
Christine Guintini, discussion with author, New York City, NY, November 8th
, 2011. 128
Tom Callas, e-mailed message to author, October 10, 2012; Elizabeth Byrne, e-mailed message to
author, September 18, 2012. 129
Brophy and Wylie, “Saving Collections and the Planet,” 52-57 and 59-60.
46
sustainable materials, like fast-growing bamboo flooring and plywood, capitalizes on
renewable resources, not those that take many years, or even centuries, to replace.”130
The MFIT currently uses a reusable neutral colored platform in their Fashion and Textiles
History Gallery. The platform, which has a perforated metal surface over a standard
platform, minimizes the appearance of old holes.
The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the Museum of
Science and Industry in Chicago have together created a fully digital exhibition about
sustainability called Green Revolution. This exhibition “doesn't ‘travel’ on trucks.
Instead, it's transmitted online—from a secured website to your computer. There are no
crates needed.” 131
Host institutions are provided with digital files of exhibition graphics
along with a basic blueprint that they then use to tailor their space. Not only is the subject
matter about sustainability, “[focusing] on several major themes: waste, energy, green
pioneers, gardening and composting, green construction, and our carbon footprint,” but
also can be built using sustainable materials and, as an exhibition, it has a low carbon
footprint.132
Sustainable storage design can also include shelving, racks, and cabinets. Rather
than disposing of old storage furniture when upgrading ask local institutions if they
would want them. This happened in October 2012 when the American Textile History
Museum (ATHM) in Lowell Massachusetts lost storage space during a move. Rather than
dispose of the exhibition supplies, mannequin stands and folding tables, Stephanie Hebert
of the ATHM listed all the exhibition supplies and furniture they would be giving away
130
Brophy and Wylie, “It’s Easy Being Green,” 41. 131
Smithsonian Institution Travelling Exhibition Services, “Green Revolution,”
http://www.sites.si.edu/greenRevolution/ (accessed January 11, 2012). 132
Smithsonian Institution Travelling Exhibition Services, “Green Revolution.”
47
or selling at a modest price on the professional Registrar’s Committee of the American
Alliance of Museums (RC-AAM) list serve.133
As collections continue to grow, the need for more storage space is a clear issue.
With sustainability in mind, tearing down buildings to build new ones is a significant use
of resources; retrofitting unused rooms as storage or installing compact storage may be
both cost-efficient and more practical. In the fall of 2012 Monica Katz, conservator at the
Hispanic Society of America, was tasked with returning large artifacts coming back from
a long-term loan into an already overcrowded storage space. With limited resources
existing shelving was rearranged and new wire shelving on casters were purchased that
could be stored in front of shelves but rolled out of the way when needed.134
For those
collections that need offsite storage, the offsite building can have sustainable qualities not
possible in the onsite storage facility. One institution interviewed used an offsite storage
company that has a LEED silver rating on their building.135
Temporary storage, such as transportation crating, can be a significant use of
materials that are often disposed of after the fact. A simple way of including
sustainability into this is by creating a reusable or easily modifiable storage system or a
system suitable for both transportation and storage. The Smithsonian Institution National
Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) incorporated sustainability into their five-year
move from New York City to Suitland, Maryland by reusing the transportation crates.
The entire collection was moved using two truckloads of crates – while one was
transported and unloaded in Suitland, the second was being packed in New York.
133
Stephanie Hebert, e-mail to RC-AAM mailing list, October 4, 2012. 134
This is the author’s observations as a graduate intern at the Hispanic Society of America. 135
Interview with collections care professional, November 19, 2012. This interviewee wished to remain
anonymous.
48
Returning trucks were filled with empty crates as it was already returning to pick up the
following load. Not only was this a sustainable practice, but also a good conservation
practice since it “resulted in tight control over the conditions and quality of storage of the
materials used in contact with the collection.”136
Collections care professionals, as a part of a larger institution, have the
opportunity to encourage and utilize sustainability in the presentation and storage of their
artifacts. Although it may be easy to fall back on the standard, easily accessible solutions
to problems such as changing shelving, building platforms or moving collections, it does
not align with the overall ideal museum culture of innovation, education and
preservation. “In the design of a museum today, if somebody designs a building that was
sick or destroyed the planet, what is that telling the people coming to the building? It’s
telling them that they’re not important and that the planet’s not important. It’s telling
them that only one thing is important, which is our content, this didactic. But the fact is
the museum is a place of didactic communication.”137
136
Kaplan, “Integrating Preventive Conservation,” 226. 137
American Association of Museums, "Green Machine," 54-61.
49
Chapter 9
Encouraging Sustainability within Collections Care
In many ways incorporating sustainability into collections care is an uphill battle
because even if the desire to do so is present, collections departments are often
underfunded, understaffed and overworked. Luckily this is beginning to change. There
are several grant programs currently being offered to encourage sustainability within
collections care. The National Endowment for the Humanities’ (NEH) Sustaining
Cultural Heritage Collections grants is offered to U.S. nonprofit heritage and educational
institutions to implement preservation projects “designed to be as cost effective, energy
efficient, and environmentally sensitive as possible.” 138
Collections-holding institutions
in particular “should aim to mitigate the greatest risks to collections rather than to meet
prescriptive targets” 139
which is in line with holistic collections care by eliminating
prescribed ideals. Projects implementing sustainable preventive conservation practices
“are especially encouraged.” 140
These grants, which range from $40,000 for planning to
$350,000 for implementation, encourage viewing sustainability through every aspect of
collections care, including measuring energy consumption, conducting thermal imaging
of the building, upgrading HVAC systems, rehousing collections or improving
emergency planning, amongst many other listed possibilities.141
138
National Endowment for the Humanities, “Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections,” http://www.neh.gov
/grants/preservation/sustaining-cultural-heritage-collections (accessed September 12, 2012). 139
National Endowment for the Humanities, “Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections.” 140
National Endowment for the Humanities, “Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections.” 141
National Endowment for the Humanities, “Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections.”
50
One of the recipients of an NEH grant is the IPI, which was awarded two grants
by the NEH Education and Training arm of the organization. These grants were designed
to meet the ongoing need for information about implementing sustainable practices,
specifically towards issues about energy-efficient environmental monitoring and resulted
in a publication entitled Sustainable Preservation Practices for Managing Storage
Environments along with webinars viewable online and workshops held at locations
across the U.S free of charge. Response to the initial grant’s outcomes was so profound
that the second grant was awarded and more comprehensive materials were released. The
IPI, already a leader in materials testing and environmental monitoring, is becoming a
trailblazer in sustainable preservation practices as well, and has added a Preservation
Environmental Specialist to their staff. The job posting requested candidates have
“experience in the field of preservation and a strong interest in preventive conservation
[…] and sustainable energy practices.”142
Relevant, scholarly, and innovative information on sustainable conservation and
collections care – once difficult to find – is now a burgeoning field. The Northeastern
States Conservation Center offers an online course called “The Green Museum:
Introduction to Environmental Sustainability in Museums” taught by Sarah Brophy,
author of The Green Museum.143
The Collections Trust, an English organization working
with collections-holding institutions to improve their collections care, actively works
with English institutions to improve their energy efficiency, and chief executive Nick
142
Image Permanence Institute, “IPI is Seeking a Preservation Environment Specialist,” Rochester Institute
of Technology https://imagepermanenceinstitute.org/ (accessed April 04, 2012). 143
Northern States Conservation Center, “Online Museum Classes - MS265: The Green Museum:
Introduction to Environmental Sustainability in Museums,”
http://www.collectioncare.org/training/trol_classes_ms265.html (accessed February 24, 2012).
51
Poole, whose comments about what he calls the “Green Challenge” inspired this research,
often discusses sustainability in his blog posts and lectures.144
Much like other aspects of heritage preservation, professionals interested in
incorporating sustainability into their practice can learn from collective experiences
shared through professional organizations all the while making more and more
information readily available through blogs, webinars and scholarly writing published
online. AIC has fostered this by creating the CSCP, which began in 2008 as the Green
Task Force and held its first formal luncheon and presentation at the 2012 annual
conference. This luncheon included keynote speakers from allied fields and a series of
conservation and collections care professionals speaking about their research. The
speakers included MCI conservator Jia-sun Tang speaking about sustainably retrofitting
exhibition cases to meet conservation standards; Patricia Silence of Colonial
Williamsburg Foundation speaking about environmental monitoring, energy saving and
her particular institution’s complex series of buildings and HVAC systems; Eliza Gilligan
of the University of Virginia discussing her experience with electrodeionization as a
sustainable and practical option for water treatment, along with a presentation by the
author regarding an early phase of this research. The CSCP luncheon sold out and
garnered so much positive feedback and interest that it will continue at the 2013 annual
conference, which has a theme of “The Contemporary in Conservation”, including
“current issues in conservation and preservation, such as digitization, environmental
144
Nigel Blades, “Energy Efficiency in Historic Buildings - the National Trust Approach,” slide
presentation, http://www.collectionslink.org.uk/discover/environmental-control/854-energy-efficiency-in-
historic-buildings-the-national-trust-approach (accessed January 10, 2012).
52
sustainability.”145
The CSCP has continued its dissemination of information with a
dedicated section on the organization’s wikipage and a Sustainability Resources section
under the organization’s online Resource Center, both of which are available to non-
members. The broader conservation and heritage communities have published much
innovative research involving sustainability which does not directly relate to collections
care, but are included in the bibliography under the heading “Additional Sources”.
Although incorporating sustainable practices into collections care can be difficult,
the greater cultural heritage profession is moving towards encouraging, if not requiring
sustainability to be considered. The AMNH created its five guiding Sustainability
Principles, which were created after a cross-departmental examination of its operations
focusing on sustainability. These five principles affect all aspects of the museum and are:
Manage the Museum's operations and facilities in a manner that reduces the
Museum's negative impact on the environment.
Encourage environmentally responsible practices in projects that call for the
design, renovation, and/or restoration of the Museum's facilities.
Develop opportunities for the Museum to inform and encourage its staff and visitors
about sustainable practices and the Museum's efforts to lessen its own impact.
As appropriate, collaborate with external entities such as governments,
businesses, citizens groups, schools, and peer institutions to advance awareness of
environmental issues and the impact of personal and industrial behavior.
Continue to monitor the sustainability of the Museum's operations: by assessing
the impact of existing and newly initiated practices; by establishing and
evaluating sustainability goals; and by looking for new opportunities to improve
the Museum's "green" practices.146
Similarly the Smithsonian Institution created the institution-wide Green Task Force
to increase sustainability in their nineteen museums and galleries, the National Zoological
Park and nine research facilities. Both of these examples are institution specific, but as
145
American Association for Conservation, “Annual Meeting,” http://www.conservation-
us.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=710 (accessed October 21, 2012). 146
AMNH Sustainability Practices Committee, “Sustainability Principles.”
53
leaders in heritage preservation, the Smithsonian Institutions and the AMNH can lead by
example.
Sustainability, much like collections care, is important to cultural heritage.
Although it was once brushed aside, sustainability is now incorporated into preserving it.
Information about sustainability is disseminated through traditional avenues such as
scholarly articles, conferences and, more importantly, through discussions with other
professionals. “It’s always good to know what others are doing. If you feel you are the
only one doing something, it’s hard to plug and make a difference. Now we can share
information on finding sources of funding, on how to go about organizing a certain
project.”147
Future conferences discussing sustainability include the National Museums of
Berlin’s 2013 conference, entitled “Heritage Science and Sustainable Development for
the Preservation of Art and Cultural Assets – On the Way to the Green Museum”; the
2013 North American Textile Conservation Conference, entitled “Conserving Modernity:
the Articulation of Innovation,” will discuss among other topics “the impact of the
environment on these [modern] materials and/or the artifacts created from them”; and, as
previously mentioned, the AIC’s 2013 conference, entitled “The Contemporary in
Conservation.”148
147
Joelle Seligson, “Hitting the Green Running,” Museum – American Association of Museums, July/August
2009, 88, no. 4: 35-37. 148
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, “Heritage Science and Sustainable Development for the Preservation of
Art and Cultural Assets – On the Way to the Green Museum,” (accessed February 5, 2013); North
American Textile Conservation Conference, “Announcements – Call for Papers and Posters,”
http://www.natcconference.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=106&Itemid=226&lang
=en (accessed December 4, 2012); American Association for Conservation, “Annual Meeting.”
55
Chapter 10
Obstacles Preventing Sustainable Materials from Being Used
“Care and preservation of collections is energy and resource intensive
and inextricably connected to the health of the global environment.”149
Environmental consciousness in collections care can come in many forms. Some
practices require only a slight change while others require more time, effort or money to
enact. Switching from a familiar material to a new one requires only a slight change in
practice, but there are many factors preventing sustainable alternatives to museum-quality
materials from being used. The purpose of Part II is to explore how materials are
perceived and to overcome obstacles preventing change towards sustainability. There are
many ways to approach this topic; the following research is organized around three of the
most significant factors preventing sustainable museum-quality materials from being
used. They are:
1. How sustainable materials are perceived to be does not align with what museum-
quality materials are believed to be.
2. Suppliers of museum-quality materials do not yet offer sustainable alternatives.
3. Most sustainable materials have not been “certified” as being museum-quality.
The following research addresses these three factors, followed by a thorough
documentation of materials testing and aims to be a well-documented narrative that
others can use as a reference when doing similar research. The information below comes
from a literature survey, interviews with museum professionals and suppliers of museum-
149
Brophy and Wylie, The Green Museum, 4.
56
quality materials, as well as from knowledge accrued having worked for a supplier of
materials for museums, libraries and archives.
How sustainable materials are perceived to be
does not align with what museum-quality materials are believed to be.
This statement is based on the idea that traditional museum-quality materials are
in their purest, least contaminated state, which often means that they are made from new
resources. But what is a museum-quality material? The language used to describe this
kind of material is not definitive, but rather descriptive, and before exploring sustainable
museum-quality materials the language used needs to be clarified. Addressing the
following three questions can do this: what is a museum-quality material? What is a
sustainable material? What can a sustainable museum-quality material be?
What is a museum-quality material?
The term museum-quality, much like the term archival-quality is inherently
flawed as it “is a generic term that suggests long-term stability but there is no industry
standard definition.”150
These terms are used as marketing tools but taken literally the
term museum-quality simply implies that that it can be used within a museum which,
according to the American Alliance of Museums, is any institution that “is making a
‘unique contribution to the public by collecting, preserving, and interpreting the things of
150
Howard Wellman, “Storage Environments: Packing & Labeling Materials,” slide 8 from slide
presentation, http://www.sha.org/documents/research/packing.pdf (accessed September 16, 2011).
57
this world.’ ” 151
This includes everything from art history museums to zoos to science
centers. As such the term museum-quality does not reflect the breadth of what a museum
can be. The term archival-quality, although more specific, is also problematic as some
archives are meant to last only short periods of time and therefore use materials without
long-term stability, which is contrary to what most believe to be museum-quality.
Similarly describing a material as conservation-quality is not suitable as the materials
used by conservators are as varied as the artifacts conserved. For example, a corrugated
board used to build a long-term storage box is very different from a surfactant used to
wash a soiled rug. Further confusing the situation is that many materials used by
conservators are also used by other professionals and are marketed using different terms,
such as the surfactant Orvus®, which is primarily used to wash livestock. These three
terms, along with their -grade counterparts, are vague and misleading when undefined.
A more appropriate way to describe the materials used in museums is to describe
them qualitatively. Terms such as ‘acid-free’, ‘lignin-free’, ‘pH neutral’, ‘buffered’ or
‘unbuffered’, along with more specific descriptors, such as ‘buffered to a pH of 7’ or
‘acid-free faces and core’, denote unique qualities and are more clear. But even these
terms do not indicate universal suitability. For example, pH neutrality is often suitable in
museums, but some materials are best kept in an environment with a higher or lower pH,
in which case neutrality is actually undesirable. The Library of Congress has published a
series of specifications for supplies and materials used in collections care which describes
specific qualities for various materials such as paper, card, and board stocks along with
polyester sleeves and metal cans used to house motion picture reels. These specifications,
151
American Alliance of Museums, “What is a Museum” http://www.aam-
us.org/aboutmuseums/whatis.cfm (accessed October 11, 2011).
58
although hugely valuable in the under-documented field of collections care materials,
were created in the 1990s and last revised in 2009 and do not reflect recent technological
and cultural changes. These specifications reflect a past perception towards recycled
content and at present every specification for a cellulosic material (papers, cards, boards)
mention how they “must not contain any post consumer [sic] waste recycled pulp” while
those for pressure sensitive tapes often mention how “the polyester must be [a]
non‐recycled film.”152
However, much like all aspects of conservation and collections
care, “the specifications are subject to change” and reflect the changing views towards
sustainable materials.153
Heritage preservation professionals require a broad range of materials to suit
various needs and gather materials from various industries while accumulating supplies
with a broad range of qualities. Most of the materials used in museums and in
conservation have the unifying quality that over the long term they are chemically stable
or inert, which means they will not contribute additional pollutants to the environment
and will not autodegrade. For the purposes of this research the term museum-quality
material signifies a material safe for use with collections objects due to its long-term
chemical stability.
152
Library of Congress Preservation Directorate, “Library of Congress Preservation Directorate -
Specification Number 600‐611 – 11 - Specifications for Singlewall E‐Flute Corrugated Board - For
Protective Enclosures,” http://www.loc.gov/preservation/resources/specifications/specs/600-611_11.pdf
(accessed January 4, 2013); Library of Congress Preservation Directorate, “Library of Congress
Preservation Directorate - Specification Number 800‐801 – 09 - Specifications for Pressure Sensitive
Adhesive Security Strips - For Application in the Spine Hollow of Bound Books,”
http://www.loc.gov/preservation/resources/specifications/specs/600-611_11.pdf (accessed January 4, 2013). 153
Library of Congress Preservation Directorate, “Preservation Supply Specifications,”
http://www.loc.gov/preservation/resources/specifications/index.html (accessed February 4, 2013).
59
What is a sustainable material?
Ideas about sustainability are continuously evolving as our acceptance increases
and knowledge broadens. Sustainability can come from a reduction in energy, water,
chemicals or material use as well as the use of sustainable alternatives to those. From the
material’s original source to its disposal, the whole life cycle of anything “where they
came from; what materials were used and how they were extracted, adapted, and
combined; how the materials affect the health of your workers and the environment; how
the product gets packaged and shipped; and how you will use and reuse or dispose of it”
can have a sustainable aspect and, as such, the concept of a sustainable material is
perhaps even more undefined than the concept of a museum-quality material.154
As stated in the beginning discussion on terminology, the terms sustainable,
green, eco-friendly/conscious/benign and environmentally-friendly/conscious/benign, are
vague terms. In the context of this research the term sustainable refers to the general
sense of care and concern for the environment. However, much like museum-quality
material, sustainable material is often used descriptively rather than definitively. The
more concrete terms refer to its original material, processing or post-consumed qualities
such as materials made in part or in whole from recycled materials and described as
having some percent of pre- or post-consumer recycled content. Other materials may
have been made from an original source that is sustainable, such as quickly growing
bamboo or cotton grown without pesticides. A material can also be processed sustainably,
such as those made with reduced energy consumption or with chemicals that do not harm
the environment when disposed. Some materials may be sustainable in their post-
consumed life, such as those that degrade quickly or those that can be entirely recycled.
154
Brophy and Wylie, The Green Museum, 10.
60
As with the term museum-quality, the term sustainable is debated among
professionals. For example bamboo, although quickly growing, requires more energy and
toxic chemicals than wood to be processed into paper or fabric, although when cut and
used instead of wood, it can be considered a sustainable alternative. Another example is
biodegradable materials, which often need to be exposed to air and light in order to
degrade, and as such will not quickly do so in a landfill under heaps of waste. Further
adding confusion are materials that have designations or stamps, such as the recycling
symbol, but some recycling plants can only handle certain kinds of materials. Note that
the recyclability of a material does not affect its sustainability since it is up to the
individual to recycle as much as possible, and also to ensure that their recycling gets
taken to the appropriate factories for processing. The point of this research is not to fully
define sustainability, but rather to explore the ideas surrounding it. These ideas are
evolving and thus it is important to remain informed and form one’s own opinions on the
topic. For the purposes of this research the term sustainable material signifies a material
that has some sustainable aspect in its production or processing.
What can a sustainable museum-quality material be?
In the mind of some collections care professionals, the two concepts of a
sustainable material and a museum-quality material are incompatible. “[Museum-quality]
materials are inherently stable (will not auto-degrade), of known compositions (recipes
and formulations are known and consistent), will not contribute to the decay of the
artifacts, and will remain stable for 100+ years.”155
Three of these four points directly
contradict what a sustainable material is often marketed as. Recycled-content materials
155
Howard Wellman, “Storage Environments,” slide 8.
61
can sometimes have varied original sources, especially considering mixed content paper
and plastic recycling programs, and some sustainable materials are meant to degrade and
do so in under a century, but these are not true in all cases.
Sustainable materials, much like their museum-quality counterparts, have their
production tailored to their unique circumstances. A museum-quality material must be
produced with careful consideration to all its components so as not to have any quality
that may make it interact negatively with the collection. Likewise the machines used to
manufacture cardboard from virgin pulp cannot process recycled cardboard.156
CXD has
dealt with this by controlling the source of their recycled materials and found a mill that
can accommodate and still produce a museum-quality product.157
Similarly Peterboro
Cardboards, Ltd has altered their manufacturing process once they discovered the product
they were producing was not easily recyclable.158
Collections care professionals often
believe “that it is hard to get recycled materials to be to the same archival standards as
virgin materials” and that “ ‘virgin’ means there are no unstable additives or recycled
materials that might introduce instabilities” which when put together implies virgin
sources are the only acceptable option.159
Conceptually it is true that materials should be
in their cleanest state, (e.g. unbleached and unsized muslin or boards without optical
brightening agents), but these qualities can also exist in sustainable materials. For plastics
specifically, “studies have shown that products manufactured with recycled plastic
materials have a lower carbon footprint than products made entirely from virgin
156
Maurus Biedermann, Jan-Erik Ingenhoff, Martino Barbanera, Davide Garbini and Koni Grob, “Using
Recycled Cardboard in Food Packaging Risks Contaminating Food with Mineral Oils,” abstract, Packaging
Technology and Science 24, no 5 (August/September 2011).
http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/PressRelease/pressReleaseId-98297.html (accessed March 15, 2012). 157
Alison Bitner, interview by Christian Hernandez, Albuquerque, NM, May 10, 2012.. 158
Alan Yaffe, e-mailed message to author, June 31, 2012. 159
Howard Wellman, “Storage Environments,” slide 9.
62
materials” and improving the quality of recycled plastics has significantly advanced,
although whether these plastics are safe for collections care remains to be proven.160
It is
important to remember that being sustainable and being museum-quality are not mutually
exclusive and the compound of these terms should do justice to both.
The following two tenants of the AIC’s Code of Ethics gives the framework for
what a sustainable museum-quality material can be:
I. The conservation professional shall strive to attain the highest possible
standards in all aspects of conservation.
VI. The conservation professional must strive to select methods and materials
that, to the best of current knowledge, do not adversely affect cultural property or
its future examination, scientific investigation, treatment, or function.161
Considering these tenants, along with the previously discussed definitions, a
sustainable museum-quality material must have two traits. First it must match or exceed
the museum-quality aspects of the material that would otherwise be used. Second it must
also have some sustainable aspect in its production or processing.162
This second trait is
intentionally left broad because a material that can in any way be considered sustainable
is better than a material that cannot be considered sustainable at all.
The initial statement regarding what conservators perceive to be a sustainable
material versus those that do not align with what they believe a museum-quality material
to be is a reflection of a past mindset. Previously the quality of a material was based on
its safety for the collection while its safety for the environment was not considered, but
160
Sealed Air Specialty Materials, Ethafoam®
HRC®
– The Search is Over (Grand Prairie, TX: Sealed Air,
[2009]). 161
American Institute for Conservation, “Codes of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice.” 162
As previously stated, in the context of this research, sustainability does not guarantee the post-consumer
life the material will take since it is up to the individual to use any material sustainably and ensure its
proper recycling.
63
sustainability should not be removed from the definition of quality – “how can something
be high-quality if it destroys the planet or makes people sick?”163
During this research many collections care professionals were interviewed and
asked whether they would ever consider using a sustainable museum-quality material in
collections care. Below is a sample of the responses:
“If these [museum-quality and sustainable materials] were comparable in price
and quality, I’m sure we [at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Design and
Merchandising] would switch. However, for the next few years we have a very
limited budget, so we would not have the luxury of spending more on the
sustainable choices.”164
“If they were reasonably priced and proven to be safe for collections, I [as museum
registrar at the Cape Fear Museum] would be very willing to switch to them.”165
“Provided they are readily available and not extraordinarily expensive, I [as
registrar at the Museum of Photographic Arts] would be very willing.”166
“We have to use what is best for the art, so if a sustainable and non-sustainable
product would deliver the same quality, we may go to the sustainable, but it also
depends on cost.”167
“It would be great if there were items created from recycled materials that
maintained the same level of archival acid- and lignin-free integrity without off-
gassing or breaking down. […] If someone could find a way to do this at an
affordable price, we [at the Society for Cincinnati would] definitely be interested.”168
“The MFA, Boston would certainly strive to use sustainable museum-quality
materials, as long as they were archival and passed the [combined accelerated
aging and VOC] Oddy test.”169
“Provided it passed the tests necessary to determine its suitability, [as a collections
care professional most recently employed at the Charlotte Museum of History]
I would be happy to use recycled or more sustainably produced materials.”170
163
American Association of Museums, "Green Machine," 54-61. 164
Meghan Grossman Hansen, e-mailed message to author, October 1, 2012. 165
Terri Hudgins, e-mailed message to author, October 1, 2012. 166
Tom Callas, e-mailed message to author, October 10, 2012. 167
Interview with collections care professional, November 19, 2012. This interviewee wished to remain
anonymous. 168
Whitney Robertson, e-mailed message to author, October 1, 2012. 169
Elizabeth Byrne, e-mailed message to author, September 18, 2012. The Oddy Test is further explained
in –depth in “Chapter 11: Materials Testing.” 170
Anne Lane, e-mailed message to author, October 1, 2012.
64
In these responses two points – those of quality and price – were mentioned time
and time again. Whereas the idea of quality is fluid, as discussed throughout Part II, the
idea that sustainable materials cost more is linked to other facets of collections care. In
general specialty materials often cost more, new materials require expensive testing and
they need to be purchased through unfamiliar suppliers, but if collections are worth the
expensive HVAC systems, custom storage boxes and highly trained staff, do they not
also warrant increased sustainability?171
In the future sustainable materials are likely to be
more common, which will reduce their cost as they become less of a specialty material.
The concerns about price are valid since collections are often underfunded but it does not
negate that the quality of a material is based on whether or not it is safe for the collection,
which includes both its impact on the environment and its long term stability. “Balancing
conservation (museum type) against conservation (environmental) will probably prove
difficult, but the sooner we start the less painful it will be.”172
Suppliers of museum-quality materials do not yet offer sustainable alternatives.
This statement is based on two observations that came to light while researching
this topic. When trying to find materials that fit the criteria of a sustainable museum-
quality material, the obvious first place to look was companies that supply museum-
quality materials. Most of these companies offered no sustainable materials suitable for
collections care, although most did offer sustainable options for craft supplies, printing
171
It is not the author’s intention to imply that sustainable materials are worth any price, but rather that
sustainable qualities add value that should be considered along with other qualities. 172
Anne Lane, e-mailed message to author, October 1, 2012.
65
paper or short term storage, such as bankers boxes made from recycled cardboard. The
first observation was simply a lack of products marketed as both sustainable and
museum-quality. Of the materials tested, CXD’s Superior Millboard was the only one
marketed as safe for collections care. Of the materials considered but not tested, only
some recycled-content papers were specifically promoted as being “archival” or had
qualities, such as being acid-free, which are desirable for collections care.
The second observation came from having previously worked for a supplier of
museum-quality materials. Seeing the development of products from one catalogue to the
next, it was my observation that the greatest innovations in products occurred with
advances in electronics and equipment. Unlike storage materials, which largely remained
the same from one year to another, data loggers, encapsulation supplies and even scissors
were improved upon, possibly a reflection of the customer’s expectations for innovative
technology but not innovative materials.
Both these observations are the result of many factors but common between the
two is that collections are customers of the suppliers. It is safe to assume that customers
usually order from the product range offered to them by a supplier and conversely
suppliers usually carry products they know will sell to their customers. Products with
technological advances, such as smaller data loggers or easier to use mat cutters, will
assuredly sell and therefore suppliers will carry these new products because of the high
probability customers will want it. This is not so when it comes to sustainable storage
materials that are not widely accepted by collections care professionals and, therefore,
suppliers are unlikely to carry sustainable products because of the high-risk customers
will not want to purchase them. For companies such as Sealed Air or Coroplast, who
66
manufacture but do not sell their products directly to customers, creating new materials is
possible due to their large and varied customer base, of which collections care
professionals are a small fraction of it, and internal financial support for research and
development. For companies whose main customer base is the heritage preservation
sector, the risk is higher and budget for research and development likely smaller. For
these suppliers, stocking new products often requires purchasing a large amount to keep
in stock, hoping their customers want to buy it.173
All of these discrepancies between
selling a traditional versus a sustainable museum-quality material are reasons why
suppliers of museum-quality materials do not yet offer sustainable alternatives.
Further adding confusion is the fact that most museum-quality materials are not
made specifically for use in museums. Materials such as Mylar, Tyvek® and Ethafoam
®
are made primarily for other industries and suppliers of materials to museums are simply
aware that their customers will purchase them. Similarly collections care professionals
can purchase materials like Coroplast® Archival from any supplier because of the
confidence that it is consistent regardless of who is selling it. That same confidence is not
available for sustainable materials because there is no widely accepted brand name. There
are many companies selling sustainable materials so the problem is not in a lack of
possible sustainable museum-quality materials, but that none of these materials have been
certified as being museum-quality and are therefore less trusted by customers.
173
Jake Salik, interview with author, May 30, 2012. This information is further corroborated from author’s
experience having worked for a supplier of materials for museums, libraries and archives.
67
Most sustainable materials have not been “certified” as being museum-quality.
The above statement is largely formed from interviews with conservation
professionals and observations by myself as an emerging conservation professional.
Peterboro president Alan Yaffe shares this observation and has said of his company’s
increased sustainability, “…the [customer’s] reaction has been mixed. Some people are
very much interested in what we are doing to improve sustainability while others do not
comment. I have found that many conservators are reluctant to change or try something
new. I will keep trying to improve sustainability because of my own personal feelings on
the subject.”174
Historically this reluctance was justified since many materials were
considered safe at the time but later on proved to have poor aging qualities such as tapes
that became brittle, adhesives that failed or tissue paper that became acidic. As a result a
short list of trusted materials informally exists and has been widely accepted for use in
collections care.
The use of new materials to replace those commonly accepted has often been a
difficult and slow transition. These materials must be certified in some way – their value
proven and quality vouched for. This can be done most scientifically through material
testing, but collections care professionals often consider widespread use of a material to
be certification in and of itself. When selecting a new material for use in storage it is
often recommended to “consult with colleagues on the track-record of materials in use
elsewhere.”175
Because of this it is difficult for a new material to be added to the shortlist
of recommended materials.
174
Alan Yaffe, e-mailed message to author, June 31, 2012. 175
Howard Wellman, “Storage Environments,” slide 6.
68
One of the first obstacles a new museum-quality material must overcome is to
prove its long-term chemical stability via material testing. The time, effort and resources
needed to conduct even the most basic of these tests is a clear obstacle and deterrent for
both collections care professionals and suppliers. In addition, there is no test that is an
indisputable guarantee that the material is safe for use in collections care and therefore
the reluctance to test new materials is compounded by the fact that any test is not
definitive. Both customers and suppliers will need convincing that a sustainable material
is a suitable alternative to traditional materials.
Some professional organizations have standards that place materials into grade
levels, essentially providing certification, but few organizations are willing to publicly
support a material they cannot guarantee and furthermore most do not want to appear to
be favoring one company’s products over another. One of the few organizations that does
offer certification is the Fine Art Trade Guild in the United Kingdom that has standards
for mount boards, tapes and adhesives which place materials into one of five grades, the
top two being conservation-grade and museum-grade, the latter of which is higher.
Conversely the organization also lists the companies that are professional members,
which is an ethical dilemma in that companies will pay the organization to be listed on
their site, a form of advertising but also a form of inadvertent accreditation. The U.S.
counterpart to the Fine Art Trade Guild, the Fine Art Care and Treatments Standards,
collapsed in 2009 “and its directors placed its standards and materials in the Guild's safe
hands.”176
A different but comparable body is the Conservation and Art Materials
Encyclopedia Online (CAMEO), which “is an electronic database that compiles, defines,
176
Fine Art Trade Guild, “Standards, Training and Qualifications,”
http://www.fineart.co.uk/STQs/Standards_training_and_qualifications.aspx (accessed October 16, 2012).
69
and disseminates technical information on the distinct collection of terms, materials, and
techniques used in the fields of art conservation and historic preservation.”177
CAMEO,
although affiliated with the MFA, Boston, does not support any particular company,
simply listing any suppliers or manufacturers of the material, nor does it directly certify any
particular material, rather listing its qualities such as chemical compound, melting point,
trade names in various countries, along with technical data sheets, mentions in scholarly
articles, links to webpages on corporate websites and images of the material in use.
Certification for any particular material is ethically and technically difficult to do.
In most cases suppliers cannot vouch for their products, although some offer results from
an Oddy Test. Suppliers can foster a sense of trust with their customers by being
members of professional organizations, sponsoring professional events such as
workshops, buying booths at conferences and donating materials to institutions in need.
Examples of this include The Cunha/Swartzburg Award sponsored by Hollinger/Metal
Edge, the book and paper conservation workshops sponsored by CXD, or the heritage
preservation associations of which Carr McLean and other companies are members.178
Along with trust it is simply convenient for collections to buy materials from a single or
select few suppliers rather than deal with multiple purchase orders, shipping fees, and
delivery times.
This complex situation involving suppliers, customers, a lack of innovation and a
flawed certification system is corroborated in an interview with Dorfman Museum
177
Conservation and Art Materials Encyclopedia Online, “About CAMEO,” Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,
http://cameo.mfa.org/about/index.asp (accessed October 16, 2012). 178
Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, “George Cunha and Susan Swartzburg
Award,” http://www.ala.org/alcts/awards/profrecognition/lbicunhaswartz (accessed October 10, 2012);
Conservation By Design “Scholarships and Workshops,” http://www.conservation-by-
design.co.uk/home.aspx?pagename=scholarships (accessed October 10, 2012); Carr McLean, “About Us –
Associations,” http://carrmclean.com/StaticPage.aspx?ContentID=assoc (accessed October 10, 2012).
70
Figures, Inc. president Robert Dorfman. When asked if his company would ever use
recycled content materials that passed an Oddy Test he replied,
[Our company uses] ETHAFOAM plank material to make our forms because it is
an accepted material by the museum community. I am not a professional
conservator or chemist, nor do I have one on my staff. I make no specific claims
about the suitability of ETHAFOAM for conservation issues that is based on my
own testing. I rely on the brand name of ETHAFOAM and Sealedair’s testing and
protection of their brand and the museum community’s belief and acceptance of the
brand. I would hesitate to use recycled content unless it was already universally
understood and accepted by the museum community.179
These factors, along with many others, are obstacles preventing sustainable
materials from being used in collections care. Neither customers nor suppliers are
pushing for more sustainability in storage materials since traditional materials are safe
and reliable. In the near future these obstacles will lessen as the availability and
awareness of sustainable materials increase.
179
Robert Dorfman, e-mailed message to author, June 1, 2012.
71
Chapter 11
Materials Testing
The primary goal of Part II is to find a sustainable museum-quality material.
When selecting materials to test there were two factors that influenced what would be
selected. First, the materials needed to be a practical test group that would be useful to the
broadest range of collections care professionals. The focus on storage materials was
chosen as an appropriate test group because they are fewer and more established than the
materials used for more invasive conservation or for non-storage collections care
practices. For example, in finding a sewing thread for use in invasive conservation there
are many factors to consider (e.g. weight, fiber, color, breaking strength), and a test group
of sewing threads represents only a small percentage of possible conservation threads. In
finding a sustainable alternative to the materials used in storage, a small thoughtfully
selected test group would represent a larger percentage of the available options. For
example, there is only a small group of foams widely perceived to be museum-quality,
and testing one or more alternatives would be significantly more impactful.
The second consideration was the number materials that could be tested under the
unique circumstances of this research. Due to the nature of Oddy Testing (described in
more depth below), the number of materials was limited to how many groups of three test
tubes could fit in the oven available, the number finally being nine materials along with
the control. Time was also a factor since each round of testing required thirty consecutive
days and tests could not be conducted simultaneously. Although multiple tests were
72
possible one after the other, it was best to retest the first group a second time to
corroborate the results rather than test an entire new group of materials. Furthermore time
had to be allotted for a possible contaminated test indicated by a failed control.
The testing comprised of an Oddy Test, the most common way of judging a
material for its suitability for use in collections. An Oddy Test is an accelerated aging test
conducted to detect the presence of volatile compounds through off-gassing. The test,
created by Andrew Oddy in 1973, has undergone many changes since its inception. The
test is so varied that in most of the literature on Oddy testing, the author will note that
their method differs from Andrew Oddy’s and is not the only version. Examples of this
include the 2010 IIC article “A Variant Oddy Test Procedure for Evaluating Materials
Used in Storage and Display Cases” by Joseph A. Bamberger, Ellen G. Howe and the
1994 article “Testing Materials for Use in the Storage and Display of Antiquities—A
Revised Methodology” by George Wheeler or as L.R. Green and D. Thickett.
The basic procedure of an Oddy Test involves the materials to be tested placed
inside an enclosed test tube where it is encouraged to degrade through prolonged
exposure to high heat and humidity. In aging, the material may give off volatile
compounds, detected through corrosion on one of the three small coupons of metal also
housed in this environment. Variations on this include how long to administer the test
(anywhere from 14 to 48 days); at what temperature (anywhere from 40 to 60 degrees
Celsius); in what kind of container (such as a glass test tube with stopper or glass jar with
lid); and whether the three coupons are together in one container or each in their own
enclosed environment with a sample of the material. Other variations include: how the
coupons are held in the container, whether the water is free or in a separate smaller test
73
tube, the amount of water present, the size of the metal coupon and the presence of a pH
strip. More advanced accelerated aging tests can combine the presence of ultraviolet light
and changes in temperature.
In addition to the variety of ways an Oddy Test can be done, it is fundamentally a
subjective test. Although the presence of a volatile compound of any sort is undesirable
the results only indicate how the tested material would react to metal, an inorganic
compound, but not to any organic materials such as cotton, leather or wood. Another
problem is the subjectivity of reading the results – one person’s temporary pass may be
another person’s fail. In the conservation world, where erring on the side of caution is
recommended, any noticeable corrosion, oxidation or alteration of the coupon would be
deemed a failing result. A temporary pass should only be given for convenience and
urgency sakes, exclusively for a short period of time such as an exhibition or
transportation, and only if minimal alteration of the coupon was noticed. Another
downside of the test is that there are many uncontrollable factors regarding the tested
materials such as unstated changes in manufacturing or sourcing, or poor storage
conditions. Additionally, ideally each new shipment of materials would be tested to
ensure its quality. A final obstacle is the possibility of a false fail or corrupted control due
to testing circumstances or contaminated samples.
Even with all the pitfalls, an Oddy test has many benefits. It is a non-specific test
and will detect many types of corrosive and volatile compounds which are not welcome
in a collection regardless of what they are, and can be carried out within institutions with
limited resources.180
Since it is not feasible to do every test available to test all forms of
180
Lorna Green and David Thickett, Testing Materials for the Storage and Display of Artefacts: A Course
at the British Museum, 14 September 1994 (London: British Museum, 1994), 145.
74
damaging qualities a material may have, especially considering the varied sensitivities of
a multi-media collection, an Oddy test is an inexpensive and relatively quick test which
largely answers the fundamental question, “Is this material safe to use for long-term use
with collections objects?”
For material testing the author decided that the oven would be at 60°C for 28
days, as was used by Thickett and Green in their article “Testing Materials for the
Storage and Display of Artefacts” due to their incredibly thorough and expansive
research into the standardization and repeatability of Oddy testing. The tests were
conducted in March and May 2012 at the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Graduate
Studies conservation labs. The testing procedure is described in order of operations
(Appendix 1: Blank Oddy Test Document) which was created to ensure repeatability.
75
Descriptions of Materials Tested
The nine materials tested compare three kinds of collections care materials181
:
Plastic foams: Ethafoam® 220 and possible sustainable alternatives Ethafoam
® HRC
(High Recycled Content), Ethafoam® MRC (Maximum Recycled Content) and
Stratocell® RC (Recycled Content).
Plastic board: Coroplast® Archival and possible sustainable alternative Corogreen™
Cellulose board: Talas’s Heritage Corrugated Board and Archivart®’s Multi-Use
Board and possible sustainable alternative CXD’s Superior Archival Millboard.
Ethafoam®
220182
The term Ethafoam® is often used as if it was the name of a single material, when
in fact Ethafoam® is the name of a family of polyethylene foams with similar technical
qualities, available in different colors, densities and with different additives such as those
making it anti-static or fireproof. The particular Ethafoam® often used in collections care
is Ethafoam®
220, which is a white foam commonly used for mount-making and storage.
Its main desirable qualities are its cushion, resilience, and the fact that it is available in a
variety of densities and pre-cut thicknesses. It is also desirable because it is easily cut
with a knife or hot-knife and shaped to any contour, allowing for customization.
According to a MasterPak press release, Ethafoam® is “archival quality… inert
and chemically stable, [and] meets all preservation standards.”183
All foams produced by
181
For photos of the tested materials see “Appendix 2: Scanned Images of Materials Tested.” 182
Product ID: N/A. Manufactured by Sealed Air Corporation. Sample available in lab purchased in 2011. 183
Masterpak®, “Ethafoam
® and CelluCushion
®,” http://www.masterpak-usa.com/cat_203_ethafoam.htm
(accessed April 14, 2012).
76
Sealed Air are “CFC [chlorofluorocarbon] and HCFC [hydrochlorofluorocarbon]-free as
well as recyclable.”184
CFC and HCFC compounds have been known to have negative
effects on the ozone layers.
Ethafoam® 220 has three published Oddy tests by Master-Pak, University
Products, and Sealed Air. In 2006 packaging material supplier Master-Pak released a
report stating Ethafoam® 220 is “safe for use in packing and the display of art objects.
There were no adverse reactions with the copper or lead coupons; no oxidation or change
due to the test material was found.”185
University Products also tested various kinds of
Ethafoam® with passing results and concluding “that on the basis of the test carried out
that the product is safe for direct contact with art objects for use in display, packaging,
transportation and storage.”186
Similarly Sealed Air, the manufacturer of Ethafoam®,
tested various densities of Ethafoam®
including 220 in September 2011 with results
“showing an overall result of ‘PASS’ [which] show that on the basis of the test carried
out that the product is safe for direct contact with art objects for use in display,
packaging, transportation and storage.”187
David A. Scott administered all three tests.188
For MasterPak he operated under
Artech Services, “specialists in the identification of pigments, corrosion products and the
testing of materials for display and storage” and was identified with a resume like
184
Sealed Air, “Determined and Innovative.” See Chapter 6 “Storage Materials” for more information on
recycling Ethafoam®.
185 David A. Scott, “Results of Off-Gassing Test (Oddy Test) - Dow Chemical Ethafoam™ & Sealed Air
®
CelluPlank® & CelluCushion
®,” MasterPak, http://www.masterpak-usa.com/oddy-test.pdf (accessed
August 15, 2011). 186
University Products, “Product Information Sheet – Sealed Air Technical Information Sheet,”
https://www.universityproducts.com/secure/resources/cat_54_2.pdf (accessed August 15, 2011). 187
Sealed Air, “Sealed Air Technical Information Oddy Test Results,”
http://www.sealedairspecialtymaterials.com/na/en/pdf/oddytest.pdf (accessed August 15, 2011). 188
In having the same person conduct all the tests the question arises whether the true ideal that a material
must be pass repeatedly was compromised.
77
description.189
For Sealed Air it was simply stated “Test Authority: Tests were conducted
and results certified by Dr. David A. Scott, 2054 Walpole Avenue, Los Angeles, CA
93637.”190
For University Products he was simply identified as “Dr. David A. Scott.”191
Ethafoam®
MRC®192
, Ethafoam®
HRC®193
, Stratocell®
RC®194
Three foams were tested as possible sustainable alternatives to Ethafoam® 220
and are also manufactured by Sealed Air. These foams are recycled-content polyethylene
foams with a guaranteed minimum recycled resin content of 65% for Ethafoam® HRC
®
and Stratocell® RC
® and 100% for Ethafoam
® MRC
®.195
All three samples of the foam were physically almost identical. All were dark
grey in color and two inches thick, with the Stratocell® RC
® sample being two inch-thick
planks laminated together.196
They were slightly less dense than the Ethafoam®220
sample tested, except the Stratocell® RC
® which was slightly less dense than both
recycled-content Ethafoam® samples. These three foams have the same working qualities
as Ethafoam®
220 with “minimal difference in the protective qualities and strength […]
189
David A. Scott, “Results of Off-Gassing Test.” David A. Scott’s description was: “David A. Scott, BA.
BSc. CChem. PhD. FRSC. FIIC. Chair-UCLA/Getty Program in Archaeological and Ethnographic
Conservation, and Professor in Art History and Archaeology at UCLA, 2003 to present BSc. in Chemistry,
University of Reading, 1971; BA in Archaeological Conservation, Institute of Archaeology, London 1979;
Ph.D. from University College London in 1982. Awarded FRSC in 1991 and FIIC in 1994. Lecturer in
conservation at University College, Institute of Archaeology, Department of Conservation and Materials
Science, from 1981-7. In 1987 he joined the GCI as Head of the Getty Museum Services Research
Laboratory, Getty Conservation Institute, 1987-2003; and Manager, Artech Services.” 190
Sealed Air, “Sealed Air Oddy Test Results.” 191
University Products, “Product Information Sheet.” 192
Product ID: 180 MRC. Manufactured by Sealed Air. Sample from Sealed Air Corporation received on
2/15/2012. 193
Product ID: 180 HRC. Manufactured by Sealed Air. Sample from Sealed Air Corporation received on
2/15/2012. 194
Product ID: NA. Manufactured by Sealed Air. Sample from Sealed Air Corporation received on
2/15/2012. 195
Sealed Air, “Infinite Usage, Infinite Uses.” 196
Sealed Air Specialty Materials, Ethafoam®
HRC®
– The Search is Over. According to this document no
colorants are added prior to or during the final plank extrusion, but speaking to a customer service
representative over the phone colorants are added for uniformity.
78
versus their virgin-resin counterparts. [Sealed Air’s] recycled foams should be considered
for applications where Ethafoam® and Stratocell
® PE foams are commonly used.”
197 The
similarity in dimensional stability between the virgin and recycled content PE foams
means that one can “maintain current design specifications, which means no need to
invest time redesigning.”198
By using recycled content PE foam, not only is new material
not needed, old material doesn’t enter the waste stream.
Sealed Air gathers the material to make its recycled content foams through a
“Closed Loop System” which, according to Sealed Air, allows them “to take back large
amounts of polyethylene foam to be reused to make our recycled PE foam products. We
work with our fabricator network and customers to take back the PE foam material
therefore diverting it from the landfill.”199
One of the sources of waste Ethafoam®
is
Dorfman Museum Figures, Inc., who has their scrap Ethafoam®
picked up by Sealed Air
on a regular basis.200
This recycling program has been ongoing for over two decades and
includes both their PE foams and other plastic products such as their bubble wraps.201
Much like Ethafoam® 220, these three foams are “CFC and HCFC-free as well as
recyclable.”202
These three foams have no published Oddy tests.
197
Sealed Air, “Infinite Usage, Infinite Uses.” The brochures for all materials list measureable qualities for
density, compressive strength, compressive set, compressive creep, tensile strength, tear resistance, cell
size, water absorption, thermal stability, static decay, surface resistivity, thermal conductivity and thermal
resistivity. 198
Sealed Air, “Sealed Air – Stratocell® R
®,” http://www.sealedairprotects.com/eu/EN/pdf/StratocellR.pdf
(accessed July 15, 2012); Sealed Air, “Infinite Usage, Infinite Uses.” 199
Sealed Air, “Infinite Usage, Infinite Uses.” 200
Robert Dorfman, e-mailed message to author, June 1, 2012. 201
Sealed Air, “Maximum Performance Minimal Environmental Impact.” 202
Sealed Air, “Determined and Innovative.”
79
Coroplast®
Archival203
Coroplast®
Archival, manufactured by Coroplast, is the brand name for “a
chemically inert, extremely durable polypropylene copolymer, extruded twinwall [sic]
fluted plastic sheet free from additives such as coloring agents, antistatic and ultraviolet
inhibitors.”204
It is a translucent, and available in gauges from 2mm to 6mm in a variety
of widths. 205
Coroplast®
is marketed as being suitable for backing, mounting,
boxmaking, and making supports and it is often used as an alternative to cellulose
corrugated board.206
Unlike cellulose boards it is easily sterilized with alcohol or wiped
with water.207
It is often believed that “not all Coroplast®
is archival. Coroplast®
not specifically
indicated as such have coatings on the surface for commercial applications such as
printing and make it unsuitable for archival use.” 208
Not only is Coroplast®
Archival
called Archival but it is also marketed as chemically resistant, inert and does not off-gas,
which are all qualities desirable for collections care professionals. 209
Additionally it is
free from additives that are present in the non-archival Coroplast® boards. The most
common treatment that is not is a corona treatment, which is “in short a high frequency
203
Product ID: NA. Manufactured by Coroplast Inc. Sample available in lab purchased in 2011. 204
Coroplast, “Coroplast® Archival,” http://www.coroplast.com/catalog/coroplast-archival/ (accessed
February 28, 2013). CAMEO describes Corplast as a “copolymer of polypropylene and polyethylene.” 205
Coroplast, “Coroplast® Archival.”
206 Coroplast, “Coroplast
® Archival”; Talas, “Coroplast,” http://www.coroplast.com/catalog/coroplast-
archival/ (accessed February 28, 2013). 207
Coroplast, “Sterilization of Coroplast®,” http://www.coroplast.com/technicalinfo/steril.htm (accessed
February 28, 2013). 208
Talas, “Coroplast”; Archivart®, “Coroplast
®,” http://s390435715.onlinehome.us/home/categories/13
(accessed February 28, 2013). 209
Coroplast, “Coroplast® Archival.” Talas, “Coroplast.”
80
electric discharge towards a surface” which results in a microscopic change in the texture
of the plastic and allows it to be more easily printed on.210
The lack of a corona treatment is often singled out as being the reason why
Coroplast®
Archival is so special but there is no evidence to substantiate that claim and it
is likely an idea that is widely accepted and not contradicted.211
“[The corona] treatment
neither reduced nor changes the strength and appearance of [Coroplast®
].”212
Corogreen™213
Corogreen™, also manufactured by Coroplast, is marketed as a “sustainable
corrugated plastic sheet” that is “recyclable, reusable [and] returnable” and an “eco-
friendly” alternative for the graphics, packaging and construction industries.214
Its
sustainable qualities include “the highest amount of post-consumer/post-industrial
material in the industry” as well as qualifying for U.S. Green Building Council LEED
Credit.215
Corogreen™ is 100% polypropylene with white surfaces and black core and
available in 4, 6, 8, 10 mm gauges, of which the 4 mm was tested for this research.216
Like Coroplast® but unlike Coroplast
® Archival it has a corona-treated surface for
printability and is available with custom colored faces.217
210
[Jan or Frank] Eisby, “Corona Treatment: Why is it Necessary?”
http://plasticsnetwork.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/corona-treatment.pdf (accessed February 28, 2013). 211
For a lively discussion about whether or not the corona treatment is actually non-museum-quality see
this discussion on the Picture Framers Grumble, http://thegrumble.com/archive/index.php/t-27648.html. 212
Eisby, “Corona Treatment.” 213
Product ID: NA. Manufactured by Coroplast Inc. Sample from Coroplast Inc. Received on 2/13/2012. 214
Coroplast, “It’s Easy Being Greener With New CoroGreen™ Corrugated Sheet,”
http://www.coroplast.com/news/corogreen-launch.htm (accessed July 14, 2012). 215
Coroplast, “It’s Easy Being Greener.” 216
Coroplast, “CoroGreen™ Sustainable Corrugated Plastic Sheet,”
http://www.coroplast.com/catalog/corogreen/(accessed July 14, 2012). 217
Coroplast, “CoroGreen™.”
81
Although there is little published information or testing on the material, it is
possible that much like Coroplast® Archival, it has the unintentional qualities that make it
suitable for use in collections care. Both Coroplast® Archival and Corogreen™ are
manufactured by Coroplast, “the leading manufacturer of corrugated plastic sheet for the
sign and returnable packaging markets in North America.”218
Heritage Corrugated Board219
Talas’ Heritage Corrugated Board is a simple corrugated board with a blue-grey
face and natural white coloring on the reverse and for the corrugation. According to the
product description, it is commonly used for framing or for box-making “where the
objects [need to] sit against a non-pigmented surface, while still maintaining the
traditional blue/gray color on the outside.”220
This board is described as “greatly exceeding the quality of other boards available
on the market today, and passing much more stringent testing for permanence than
simply the Photo Activity Test.”221
These include a lignin test (TAPPI T 236 om-99)
resulting in a Kappa level of 1-2, which indicates it is lignin-free and a pH cold extraction
test (TAPPI T 509 om-02) resulting in a reading of 8.0-9.5, likely due to its 3% calcium
carbonate buffering.222
Additionally it also has certification for “ANSI IT 9.16 / ISO
14523-1999 (PAT test): ISO 9706 - Permanency requirements for paper: ANSI / NISO
Z.39.48-1992 Permanence for paper in Library and Archives.”223
218
Coroplast, “About Coroplast.” 219
Product ID: 613-3040. Manufactured by NA. Sample available in lab purchased in 2011 from Talas. 220
Talas, “Heritage Corrugated B-Flute,” http://apps.webcreate.com/ecom/catalog/product_specific
.cfm?ClientID=15&ProductID=77429 (Accessed July 9, 2012). 221
Talas, “Heritage Corrugated B-Flute.” 222
Talas, “Heritage Corrugated B-Flute.” 223
Talas, “Heritage Corrugated B-Flute.”
82
The Heritage Corrugated Board is made from “100% bleached alpha cellulose
[…] without the use of recycled or wooden fibers” and is free of optical brighteners.224
This board is made with a potato starch adhesive, which is a sustainable, recyclable
alternative to PVA adhesives used in some boards.225
Archivart®
Multi-Use Board226
Archivart® Multi-Use Board is light blue-grey in color on both faces and
corrugation. Much like all similarly colored museum-quality boards this material is
commonly called grey board, blue board or museum board and is used for making boards,
trays, boxes and as a protective layer in situations such as framing and shelving.
Archivart® developed this board “to provide strong, rigid panels meeting archival quality
requirements at a moderate price level.”227
The sample tested is a single-wall corrugated board. As stated in the product
description on the Archivart® website, “… the paper used in the manufacture of these
panels is acid-free and lignin-free, featuring excellent strength characteristics and added
buffer to protect against acid migration. A waterresistant [sic], modified starch adhesive
of neutral pH is used for corrugating” with a pH value between 7.5 and 8.5.228
The starch
adhesive, as stated before, is a sustainable quality since it is more easily recyclable than
PVA adhesives sometimes used in boxboard production.
224
Talas, “Heritage Corrugated B-Flute.” 225
Talas, “Heritage Corrugated B-Flute.” 226
Product ID: 7-0010. Manufactured by Archivart®. Sample available in lab purchased in 2011 from
Archivart®.
227 Archivart
®, “Boards – Multi-Use Board,” http://www.archivart.com/ (accessed July 9, 2012).
228 Archivart
®, “Boards – Multi-Use Board.”
83
Superior Millboard™ Bookbinding/Boxmaking Board (tested)229
and EcopHant™ Recycled Archival Boxboard
CXD is a company based out of Bedford, England, that aims to provide “a
comprehensive range of high quality conservation storage and display products including
furniture, acid-free boxes, museum boards and specialist papers to Museums, Galleries,
Libraries and Archives worldwide.”230
CXD sells through Larson-Juhl in North America.
CXD manufactures two sustainable museum-quality boards: EcopHant™ and
Superior Archival Millboard™. Both boards are inherently similar, simply manufactured
at different thicknesses with EcopHant™ board being made less dense, for die-cutting
and creasing, than the Superior Millboard™, which is made to a higher density for
bookbinding and could also be used as a sturdier boxboard. Superior Millboard was
tested since the interior could be de-plied more. The boards are described as acid and
lignin-free, 100% chemically purified wood-free cotton cellulose fiber, pH 7-7.5, free of
optical brighteners, passes a Photographic Activity Test, buffered with calcium carbonate
and the color is bleed-proof and light-fast.
Both boards are “green in colour and by nature” a reference to the fact that they
are light green, or “elephant green” as described by CXD, in color and made from
recycled material.231
They are made exclusively of the waste material created during
manufacturing of CXD’s Premier™ Grade One archival quality paper and boxboard
which is then re-pulped using clean water, internally sized and formed “on an adhesive
free, intermittent cylinder board machine. This process and the quality of the Premier™
229
Product ID: BDSMBE1971. Manufactured by Conservation by Design Limited. Sample from
Conservation by Design Limited distributed by Larson-Juhl received on 2/13/2012. 230
Conservation By Design Limited, “About Us,” http://www.conservation-by-
design.co.uk/home.aspx?pagename=history (accessed July 9, 2012). 231
Conservation By Design Limited, “New Recycled Green Archival Storage Box.”
84
archival waste fiber used produces a board of great strength and unusual purity for a
recycled board.”232
The manufacturing process is CXD’s attempt to have “zero waste in
its box manufacturing by recycling its […] post-production paper and board waste.”233
Whereas many companies have similar product ranges, at the time of writing
CXD is the only company to produce a sustainable board designed specifically for
collections care. Manufacturing a sustainable board stems from “[CXD] founder, Stuart
Welch, [who] had the vision to establish an ethical company with a positive philosophy
dedicated to creative, open-minded design and products that would answer the needs of
all areas of cultural preservation.”234
232
Conservation By Design Limited, EcopHant™ and Superior Millboard™ [Bedford, England, Catalogue
Volume 1, 2011], 7. 233
Conservation By Design Limited, “New Recycled Green Archival Storage Box.” 234
Conservation By Design Limited, “About Us.”
85
Additional Observations about Selecting Materials
Many materials such as textiles, sewing threads, foams, boards, cardstocks,
papers, plastic films and adhesives were considered and not tested for a variety of
reasons, but they all had the potential to pass and be sustainable and museum-quality.
One of the materials strongly considered was Crescent® Recycled Mounting
Board. This material was one of the first materials found when the research began in the
summer of 2011, with a webpage describing it as follows, “the core and surface paper of
this 14-ply, eco-friendly mounting board from Crescent are both made from 100%
recycled paper fibers. Crescent® Recycled Mounting Board is white on both sides, with a
surface paper that is buffered and acid-free, ideal for backing, mounting, and presentation
of art, posters, photographs, and more.”235
Several months later the webpage was no
longer available and redistributors of the material listed it as out of stock or discontinued.
Since December 2011 a similar if not the same material appeared described as follows,
“Recycled Mounting Boards. White two sides. Buffered acid-free surface papers. pH 8.2
± .5.” available in sheets of 32” x 40” and single or double thicknesses.”236
Had it not
been apparently discontinued in late 2011 it would have been selected for testing.
Another group of materials that were investigated and considered for testing were
papers and cardstock. One option was a 100% Recycled Cardstock that purports to be
“100% recycled Acid and Lignin Free” and is available through Australian craft company
235
Crescent Cardboard Company, LLC, “Crescent Product Information Guide,”
http://www.crescentcardboard.com/pig0722.html (accessed August 9, 2011). 236
Crescent Cardboard Company, LLC, “Art and Illustration Products,”
http://www.crescentcardboard.com/artill10.html (accessed April 9, 2012).
86
The Happy Crafter. 237
Being shipped from such a distance the carbon footprint would
negate any positive aspects. Furthermore it does not appear to be available in a neutral
color or undyed and is only available in 12” square sheets, neither of which are desirable
for use in preventive conservation.238
Similarly from English craft site eco-craft.co.uk a
variety of cardstocks with 70-100% recycled content and purport to be pH neutral and
acid free were considered, but are still too distant and only available in standard A3, A4
and A5 sheet sizes.239
As research continued and a select group of preliminary materials
were chosen, desirable options for large size sheets of cardstock became available but
were not chosen due to time constraints.
Many textiles and sewing threads were also considered for testing however the
limited selection possible in an Oddy test would not have been representative of the wide
range of textiles and sewing threads used in conservation. Considering textiles used in
collections care are usually made for non-collections purposes, such as 3M’s Tyvek® and
plain cotton or muslin fabric, it was easy to find sustainable options but impossible to
find options specifically described with museum-quality aspects. The range of materials
included organic cotton, a high-quality fiber made from a low-grade beech wood called
Tencel or recycled polyester fabrics and threads made by companies such as Teijin and
Kayavlon which are leading the way in refining the production process so that recycled
polyester fibers are comparable in quality and purity to virgin polyester.
237
The Happy Crafter, “100% Recycled Cardstock (12x12),”
http://www.thehappycrafter.com.au/category.php?id_category=23 (accessed April 9, 2012). 238
The Happy Crafter, “100% Recycled Cardstock.” 239
Eco-Craft, “Bulk Recycled Card Stock (120g to 325g),” https://secure.eco-
craft.co.uk/acatalog/Bulk_Card_Stock.html (accessed April 9, 2012).
87
Materials Testing Results
The results from the tests were surprising. In the first test the control was
unaffected with no change in color or and no surface deposits, indicating an uncorrupted
testing procedure, and all the materials passed except for Superior Millboard.240
For the
Superior Millboard coupons, the copper coupon showed slight darkening, the lead
coupon showed white-colored surface deposits evenly over the coupon and the silver
coupon darkened significantly and also showed white surface deposits in concentrated
areas. Since Superior Millboard was the only material being sold as museum-quality, this
result was not expected. After discussing it with the manufacturer CXD, it was
discovered that the tested sample was from a corrupted batch where the manufacturing
mill mistakenly included excessive sulfur, which would explain the affected coupons.
This is an example of why the assumed quality of a material should be question, and why
every new batch of materials purchased should be tested.
In the second test, a new Superior Millboard sample was attained and tested along
with the original Superior Millboard, Corogreen™, Ethafoam®
MRC® and Aida cloth, a
material used in a peer’s thesis.241
The original Superior Millboard failed but the new
sample passed with unaffected coupons, along with all other tested materials.242
The
control was unaffected indicating an uncorrupted testing procedure. Like the first test the
original sample of Superior Millboard failed with similar results; a darkening of the
copper coupon more prominent than the first test, a lightening of the lead coupon caused
240
See Appendix 3A and 3B for the completed Oddy Test Document for Test 1. 241
See Appendix 4A and 4B for the completed Oddy Test Document for Test 1. 242
These results, which included an unaffected control along, passing and failing results and repeated
results can be considered in many ways an success to the procedure as a whole.
88
by white colored surface deposits and a significant darkening of the silver coupon with
concentrated white colored surface deposits. The new sample of Superior Millboard
passed with no change in color and no surface deposits.243
Proving that the results are
repeatable will be an important factor in changing the perceptions of sustainable
museum-quality materials.
These results, which indicate that there may very well be materials that are both
museum quality and sustainable contradict many ideas, beliefs and statements that are
preventing sustainable materials from being used in collections care. The belief that
sustainable materials are by default of a lower quality due to impurities or variances in
production is not substantiated by this Oddy test, or by literature describing technological
advances improving processing of recycled materials. Both the EcopHant and the
Ethafoam® foams are produced with known original source materials from a closed loop
system. These results also challenge the notion that the museum-quality materials
currently being used are good enough and innovation is not worth seeking. Although
these results cannot be taken as unquestionable proof that the materials are safe for use in
collections care, the fact that they passed two Oddy Tests indicates they meet the basic
standard most collections care professionals have when considering the use of a material.
Other tests could have been carried out to add to the Oddy Test results but were
not for a variety of reasons including cost, time, access to required supplies or equipment
and applicability. An acid-determinant test, conducted to detect off-gassing of volatile
compounds using A-D [acid-determinant] Strips manufactured by IPI, was the most notable
test of these because “[the A-D strips] can be used as a quick preliminary screening method
243
See Appendix 5 for detail photographs of the coupons for the controls, the tested Superior Millboards
and the Ethafoam® MRC
® for a comparison as a passing material.
89
before undertaking more time-consuming tests such as the Oddy test.”244
In researching
using A-D Strips to test non-photographic material the author spoke to Jean-Louis
Bigourdan, IPI’s Media Collection Products & Services Representative and contact
person for inquiries about A-D Strips, where he said that the tests would likely be
inconclusive as they were not designed to test non-photographic materials.245
The foams could be subjected to compression tests, and the boards to warping and
breaking point tests, but these tests would provide statistical information rather than any
indication as to whether or not they are suitable for use in collections care. Other tests,
such as gas chromatography/mass spectrometry are “only available to those with
sophisticated laboratory facilities and there is little information relating to the
concentrations of pollutants which can be harmful. Therefore identification of the species
present cannot easily be related to the corrosiveness of a particular material. There may
also be synergistic effects where combinations of various pollutants are more corrosive
than individual ones.”246
Similar tests such as Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy
would also give difficult to interpret results. As an indication of how complex materials
testing can be IPI, one of the leading organizations in the field, offers “testing services
[…] to manufacturers of imaging, framing, and archival storage and display materials
[…] include light-stability, air pollution, humidity-fastness, abrasion sensitivity, pH,
alkaline reserve, and photographic activity” through their many labs which research and
244
Catherine Nicholson & Elissa O'Loughlin, “The Use of A-D Strips for Screening Conservation and
Exhibit Materials,” American Institute for Conservation, http://cool.conservation-
us.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v15/bp15-11.html (accessed July 8, 2012).This web page is the online
publication of a poster presented at the Book and Paper specialty group poster session, AIC 24th Annual
Meeting, June 10-16, 1996, Norfolk Virginia. 245
As is indicated by the use of materials made for other industries, collections care professionals are not
deterred by a prescribed usage of materials. Many professionals have used A-D strips to test non-
photographic museum-quality materials as is indicated by Nicholson and O’Loughlin’s “The Use of A-D
Strips for Screening Conservation and Exhibit Materials.” 246
Green and Thickett, Testing Materials for Storage and Display, 145.
90
test, among other qualities, accelerated aging, humidity-fastness, the effects of various
elements contributing to air pollution, various forms of light-fastness, brittleness, folding
endurance, wet-scratching, alkaline reserves and pH testing.247
The IPI’s scientists offer
their services for a cost far beyond the reach of most collections, such as a photographic
activity for $850 for the “first two samples inclusive (minimum charge)”248
The difficulty in certifying a material’s appropriateness for use in collections care
is that it is near impossible to standardize which tests are needed for each material.
Furthermore due to the breadth of regulating organizations such as the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI), the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry
(TAPPI), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the American
Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), it is near impossible to standardize all
possible tests for all possible materials. For that reason other tests, such as a Belstein Test
to identify for the presence of chlorine in plastics (used to differentiate polyester films
such as Mylar from similar but unsafe clear films) or a Sodium Azide Test to identify the
presence of sulfur (which can tarnish silver if used in close proximity), can be used for
their practical pass-fail results.249
Considering there is no test to unconditionally certify that a material is safe for
use in collections care, the author concludes that this testing is an exploration to broaden
247
Image Permanence Institute, “Overview Statement – Quantifying Specific Properties of Products Using
Established Methods,” Rochester Institute of Technology,
https://www.imagepermanenceinstitute.org/testing/overview (accessed January 24, 2013). 248
Image Permanence Institute, “Photographic Activity Test (PAT),” Rochester Institute of Technology,
https://www.imagepermanenceinstitute.org/testing/pat (accessed January 24, 2013). 249
Sodium Azide Test in Conservation and Art Materials Encyclopedia Online,
http://cameo.mfa.org/browse/record.asp?key=2171&subkey=8653&materialname=s&browse=1&search_di
splaycount=10000&search_start=1 ; Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry , “Reducible
Sulphur in Paper and Paperboard,” http://www.tappi.org/Downloads/unsorted/UNTITLED---
0104T406pdf.aspx (accessed January 24, 213). In some cases there may be a standardized procedure and
results by governing bodies, an example of which is TAPPI’s T406:08 for the Sodium Azide Test.
91
the materials available and is also a concerted effort to innovate the static acceptance of
perceived acceptance toward storage materials. In the near future searching for
sustainable museum-quality materials will be easier and the obstacles explored in Part II
will lessen with continued research. Along with perseverance from those who believe that
sustainability is indeed a quality aspect of a material, testing will overcome the obstacles
preventing a sustainable museum-quality material from being widely accepted in
collections care.
92
CONCLUSION
Changing the idea that “we do not work in a sustainable industry” 250
Collections care is more than temperature readings, Oddy test results and keeping
untouched artifacts in unlit rooms; it is about making sure collections can be studied and used
as teaching tools now and in the future. “We care about saving beautiful and meaningful
places, plants, creatures and things because we are spiritual and cultural. To save them we
must value the systems that preserve them.”251
Museums, as holders of collections and places
of education, “need to take a much stronger leadership role in inspiring the public to make
changes in the way they live and operate. […] People come to our facilities for inspiration
and learning; they are ready for us to lead by example.”252
Before the general public can be
encouraged by a sustainable museum, museum professionals need to feel that sustainability is
an important part of what they do and important to the conservation process as a whole.
Discussions about sustainability are happening throughout cultural heritage – at
conferences and in blogs, silently behind the scenes and prominently through exhibitions.
Tim Johnson, NMAI Associate Director for Museum Programs, discussed the museum’s
interest in caring for the environment at the 2011 Living Earth Symposium and the museum
dedicated a multi-media exhibition, entitled “Conversations with the Earth,” to “documenting
indigenous responses to climate change around the world” which was then discussed on the
250
Meghan Grossman Hansen, e-mailed message to author, October 1, 2012. 251
Brophy and Wylie, “Saving Collections and the Planet,” 52-57 and 59-60. 252
Brophy and Wylie, “Saving Collections and the Planet,” 52-57 and 59-60.
93
museum’s blog by both staff and interns.253
It is this multi-faceted view of sustainability that
is becoming the norm.
While sustainable collections care is still a niche topic, the growing interest in it will
lead to a field where “those [professionals] coming along now will have been raised in the
culture where the three Rs don’t mean readin’, ritin’, and ‘rithmetic, they mean Reduce,
Reuse, Recycle.”254
In a culture where sustainability is a natural facet of heritage
preservation, it will be considered part of gauging the success of a museum. “Instead of just
being a single bottom line of profit, it is now a triple bottom line (TBL) for people, planet,
[and] profit. Your institution’s TBL should be able to show positive effects for people, the
environment, and your income.”255
Much as there are goals to meet a certain visitorship
number or to make a certain amount of profit, there should be goals for energy reduction or
use of sustainable materials in exhibitions. While there is no pre-set way of becoming more
sustainable, “true environmental support starts from the beginning” and that first step,
whatever it is, no matter how small, is a step in the right direction.256
“Sustainability doesn’t
have to be about building a building. Sustainability should run all through operations. Should
we turn off the faucet? Should we save energy?”257
For far too long the care of collections had the unintentional but justified expense of
negatively impacting the environment, but that attitude is beginning to change. People working
in heritage preservation today lay the groundwork for the future; the environment and the
collections left to them need to be taken care of by us. Much like our predecessors responded
253
National Museum of the American Indian, “Creating a Climate of Change: A Sustainable Future for the
Living Earth (live blogging the 2011 Living Earth Symposium)” http://blog.nmai.si.edu/main/2011/07/live-
blogging-creating-a-climate-of-change-a-sustainable-future-for-the-living-earth.html (Accessed March 1, 2012). 254
Anne Lane, e-mailed message to author, October 1, 2012. 255
Brophy and Wylie, The Green Museum, 8. 256
Sealed Air, “Maximum Performance Minimal Environmental Impact.” 257
Brophy and Wylie, “It’s Easy Being Green,” 38-39.
94
to tough situations like documenting large collections before digital photography, we need to
address sustainability the best we can now. Change is a constant and future advances in
science and technology will make it easier to be sustainable in collections care, but we cannot
wait for them to happen.258
As the MCI has listed “accountability” as a value of its
operations, we must be held accountable for our own work – “the international conservation
community should hold it [self] accountable for the integrity, applicability, and value of its
work.”259
The foundation of collections care is that both immediate and distant effects of our
actions are considered and that same thought process can be used to look at sustainability.
“Currently accepted practice is not static. […] All conservation professionals must continue
to review the literature, monitor and review past treatments, and share with colleagues their
experiences-both practical and experimental-through discussion and publication.”260
Museum
professionals are not ones to operate with their heads in the sand and it is up to us to fill in
the gaps in research when we see them. For that reason, this paper was written to combine
abstract concepts, theoretical possibilities and real-world perspectives. We can learn from our
collective experiences, and take what others have done to improve our own situations.
Sustainability within heritage preservation will not and cannot be an immediate change, but a
gradual one.
258
Nicholas Poole, "10 Challenges," slide 25. 259
Museum Conservation Institute, Our Next 10 Years, 6. 260
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http://talasonline.com/photos/msds/silicagel.pdf (accessed November 17, 2012).
The Happy Crafter. “100% Recycled Cardstock (12x12).” http://www.thehappycrafter.com
.au/category.php?id_category=23 (accessed April 9, 2012).
The International Magazine for Architectural Detail and Commercial Lighting.
“Study Wrongly Implies LED to Blame for van Gogh Masterpiece Damage.”
http://www.mondoarc.com/news/1766260/study_wrongly_implies_led_to_blame
_for_van_gogh_masterpiece_damage.html (accessed February 24, 2013).
Toledo Museum of Art. “Solar Panel Installation.”
http://www.toledomuseum.org/about/green/solar/ (accessed January 23, 2013).
U.S. Green Buildings Council. “LEED Green Building Rating Systems.”
http://new.usgbc.org/leed/rating-systems (accessed January 11, 2012).
University Products. “Product Information Sheet – Sealed Air Technical Information
Sheet.” https://www.universityproducts.com/secure/resources/cat_54_2.pdf
(accessed August 15, 2011).
Wellman, Howard. “Storage Environments: Packing & Labeling Materials.” http://
www.sha.org/documents/research/packing.pdf (accessed September 16, 2011).
White, Michael, Judith J. Bischoff, Chris Stavroudis, and Lisa Goldberg. “From Cradle to
Grave: Waste Management for Conservators.” American Institute for
Conservation’s Health and Safety Committee. http://www.conservation-
us.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewPage&PageID=817&d:%5CCFusion
MX7%5Cverity%5CData%5Cdummy.txt (Accessed 9/30/2012).
102
Appendix 1: Blank Oddy Test Document
Supply List
Oven: Blue M Stabil-Therm®
Bench Type Gravity Convection
Laboratory Oven Model OV-12A
Metal Foils at >99.5% purity: Lead, Copper, Silver
Glass Test Tubes: 3-50 mL + 3-1 mL vials per material + Control
Silicon Stoppers for each 50mL test tube.
Distilled Water: .5 mL / 1 mL vial. pH 7. pH strips, NaOH
Clean Surfaces: Cover surfaces with Mylar/Paper.
Equipment: Camera, Stereomicroscope, Scale
Documentation: Temperature log, Materials Log
Glass Bristle Brushes: 3. Label with what metal it is used with.
Materials to be tested: 6 gm/material + sample
Test Tube Tray(s)
Piece(s) Coroplast: Tray-Sized,
Velcro
Acetone/Alconox
Kim-Wipes/Cotton Swabs
2 Tweezers
Box of Powderless Nitrile Gloves
Small Transfer Pipette/Dropper
N-19 respirator
Scissors, Xacto-knife
Teflon Tape
Before beginning, select your materials and keep a sample for reference in the future. The first column
(ID#) will act as a reference for the Photo Record Sheet
ID
#
Name Product
ID
Manufacturer and/or Retailer Date
Purchased
Notes regarding
(finishes, colors etc.)
1. CONTROL N/A N/A N/A N/A
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
103
Procedure – Day 1 & 2
Note: Document all stages with photography. Wear gloves at all times.
Day 1 – Preparation
1. Gather all materials needed in advance. Make sure the distilled water is pH 7.
2. Label test tubes with the metal and material ID. Create a system for placement on trays if need be.
3. Treat all testing materials in the state they may be used (wash textiles, boards don’t need anything etc).
4. Wash the test tubes in warm water and then rinse in distilled water.
5. Preheat oven to 60 oC
6. Set prep areas (see below for materials needed)
Day 2 – Preparation
Processing Testing Materials: (this can be done the day before if left undisturbed)
Materials needed: acetone, Kimwipes, scale, scissors/Xacto knife, materials to be tested
1. Wipe tools before and between materials
2. Using a scale, measure out 3 – 2 gram amounts of materials to be tested (one for each metal)
3. Cut or delaminate each sample amount into small pieces to increase surface area exposed during test.
4. Store each sample in a sanitized location (a new polyethylene bag, or beaker, etc)
Test Tube Preparation:
Materials needed: acetone, Kimwipes, tweezers, test tubes, vials, silicon stoppers, Xacto knife,
pipette/dropper, distilled water
5. Wipe tools before and between materials.
6. Wipe test tubes, vials and silicon stoppers with acetone using a Kimwipe, tweezers.
7. Rinse inside of test tubes with acetone.
8. Place 2 g of materials to be tested into bottom of test tube
9. Using a pipette/dropper/syringe, place .5 mL of distilled water in vial
10. Gently lower vial into test tube making sure not to spill any water.
11. Cut a slit into silicon underside of stopper using Xacto knife (this is where the coupon will go).
Coupon Cleaning and Completing Test Prep:
Materials needed: acetone, Kimwipes, tweezers, Mylar, glass-bristle brushes, metal foils, scissors, gloves,
12. Wipe tools before and between materials. Use new gloves with each material and then dispose after.
13. Set three stations with clean Mylar for surface and correct glass-bristle brush.
14. Cut metals into .5 cm x 1 cm coupons (specific weight?).
15. Polish and degrease each coupon with glass bristle brushes. Wear respirator mask when working with
lead.
16. Wipe coupon with acetone and Kimwipe.
17. Coupons must not touch each other or any other surface. Immediately put coupons in slit in silicon
stoppers as vertical as possible to reduce condensation from forming on the coupon.
18. Place corresponding silicon stopper with marked test tube. (copper with copper etc)
19. Seal test tube with thread-seal tape.
20. Place Coroplast over filled test tube tray and.
21. Place filled test tube trays in oven and close door.
Additional Notes:
104
Day 3 – 31 – In the oven
For the following 28 days, the oven should be monitored and a daily log kept with the temperature noted. If
the temperature fluctuates drastically then the test may be corrupted.
Day – Date
(dd/mm/yy)
Time Temperature/Observations Observer
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 -
9 -
10 -
11 -
12 -
13 -
14 -
15 -
16 -
17 -
18 -
19 -
20 -
21 -
22 -
23 -
24 -
25 -
26 -
27 -
28 -
Day 31 – Gathering the results
Materials needed: clean work area, camera, tweezers,
1. Turn oven off and carefully open door. Note if any test tubes have broken or popped (rare).
2. Carefully remove test tube tray (may need piece of handling cloth, gloves) and place on work surface.
3. Keeping the test tubes vertical, inspect the materials for degradation and note observations.
4. Keeping the test tubes vertical remove the thread seal tape and the silicon stopper with the coupon
inside.
5. Remove the coupon stopper, record observations and repeat for all test tubes.
6. Assign a result (P, TP, U) and record on following page along with the attached coupons.
(Note: The test is corrupted if the control has corrosion.)
P - Pass: suitable for long-term use; no change compared with control. Red/orange iridescence may
appear on the copper control. Coupon should not have lost polished surface. Lead control coupon may
acquire a purple hue. Aqueous corrosion has occurred on lead control coupon on a few occasions.)
TP - Temporary Pass: suitable for indirect short term use; slight/questionable discoloration only, often
seen along lower edge and sides or as a few localized small spots.
U - Unsuitable for use: clearly visible corrosion or loss of polish, thin layer of corrosion over surface
7. SUGGESTION: Photograph both sides of the coupon and make sure to keep a log of photos as to not
get them confused. Suggestion: a bookmark photo with the name of each material. Alternative:
carefully scan both sides of the coupons.
105
Oddy Test Results – Photo Record Sheet
ID #
Material Name
Copper
(Cu)
Lead
(Pb)
Silver
(Ag)
Results
P – TP – U
1. Control
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Additional Notes:
106
Appendix 2: Scanned Images of Materials Tested
Ethafoam
® 220
Ethafoam
® HRC
®
Ethafoam
® MRC
®
Stratocell
® RC
®
Coroplast
Corogreen™
Heritage Corrugated Board
Archivart
® Multiuse Board
Superior Millboard (Original)
Superior Millboard (New)
107
Appendix 3A: Test 1 – Completed Page 1 of Oddy Test Document
Project Name: Thesis Part II: Materials Testing ____ Facilitators: Christian Hernandez/Janet Lee _________
Project Date Start: Saturday, March 10th
, 2012 _____ Project Date End: Sunday, April 11th
, 2012 _________
Supply List
Oven: Blue M Stabil-Therm®
Bench Type Gravity Convection
Laboratory Oven Model OV-12A
Metal Foils at >99.5% purity: Lead, Copper, Silver
Glass Test Tubes: 3-50 mL + 3-1 mL vials per material + Control
Silicon Stoppers for each 50mL test tube.
Distilled Water: .5 mL / 1 mL vial. pH 7. pH strips, NaOH
Clean Surfaces: Cover surfaces with Mylar/Paper.
Equipment: Camera, Stereomicroscope, Scale
Documentation: Temperature log, Materials Log
Glass Bristle Brushes: 3. Label with what metal it is used with.
Materials to be tested: 6 gm/material + sample
Test Tube Tray(s)
Piece(s) Coroplast: Tray-Sized,
Velcro
Acetone/Alconox
Kim-Wipes/Cotton Swabs
2 Tweezers
Box of Powderless Nitrile Gloves
Small Transfer Pipette/Dropper
N-19 respirator
Scissors, Xacto-knife
Teflon Tape
Before beginning, select your materials and keep a sample for reference in the future. The first column
(ID#) will act as a reference for the Photo Record Sheet
ID
#
Name Product
ID
Manufacturer and/or Retailer Date
Purchased
Notes regarding
(finishes, colors etc.)
1. CONTROL N/A N/A N/A N/A
2. Ethafoam® 220 Manufactured by Sealed Air Lab sample.
Purchased
2011
White, carved from
4” piece, cut off
exposed sides
3. Ethafoam® MRC
® Manufactured and sample
from Sealed Air
Sample
Received
Feb 2012
Black, 2” thick
4. Ethafoam® HRC
® Manufactured and sample
from Sealed Air
Sample
Received
Feb 2012
Black, 2” thick
5. Stratocell® RC
® Manufactured and sample
from Sealed Air
Sample
Received
Feb 2012
Black, 2-1” thick
pieces laminated
together
6. Coroplast® Archival Manufactured by Coroplast
Inc.
Lab sample.
Purchased
2011
Translucent, #-flute
7. Corogreen™ Manufactured and Sample
from Coroplast Inc.
Sample
Received
Feb 2012
White faces with
black flutes, #-flute
8. Heritage Corrugated
Board
Distributed by Talas Lab sample.
Purchased
2011
Light blue-grey face
with white flutes and
white face
9. Archivart® Multiuse
Board
Manufactured and
Distributed by Archivart®
Lab sample.
Purchased
2011
Light blue-grey,
single wall, #-flute
10. Superior Millboard Manufactured and Sample
from Conservation By
Design/Larson-Juhl
Sample
Received
Feb 2012
Dark green pressed
millboard
108
Appendix 3B: Test 1 – Completed Page 4 of Oddy Test Document
Oddy Test Results – Photo Record Sheet
Additional Notes:
109
Appendix 4A: Test 2 – Completed Page 1 of Oddy Test Document
Project Name: Thesis Part II: Materials Testing #2 __ Facilitators: Christian Hernandez/Julia Carlson ______
Project Date Start: Wednesday June 6, 2012 _______ Project Date End: Wednesday July 4, 2012 _________
Supply List
Oven: Blue M Stabil-Therm®
Bench Type Gravity Convection
Laboratory Oven Model OV-12A
Metal Foils at >99.5% purity: Lead, Copper, Silver
Glass Test Tubes: 3-50 mL + 3-1 mL vials per material + Control
Silicon Stoppers for each 50mL test tube.
Distilled Water: .5 mL / 1 mL vial. pH 7. pH strips, NaOH
Clean Surfaces: Cover surfaces with Mylar/Paper.
Equipment: Camera, Stereomicroscope, Scale
Documentation: Temperature log, Materials Log
Glass Bristle Brushes: 3. Label with what metal it is used with.
Materials to be tested: 6 gm/material + sample
Test Tube Tray(s)
Piece(s) Coroplast: Tray-Sized,
Velcro
Acetone/Alconox
Kim-Wipes/Cotton Swabs
2 Tweezers
Box of Powderless Nitrile Gloves
Small Transfer Pipette/Dropper
N-19 respirator
Scissors, Xacto-knife
Teflon Tape
Before beginning, select your materials and keep a sample for reference in the future. The first column
(ID#) will act as a reference for the Photo Record Sheet
ID
#
Name Product
ID
Manufacturer and/or Retailer Date
Purchased
Notes regarding
(finishes, colors etc.)
1. CONTROL N/A N/A N/A N/A
2. Aida Cloth N/A N/A N/A N/A
3. Superior Millboard
(Original Sample)
N/A Manufactured and Sample
from Conservation By
Design/Larson-Juhl
Sample
Received
Feb 2012
Dark green pressed
millboard
4. Superior Millboard
(New Sample)
N/A Manufactured and Sample
from Conservation By
Design/Larson-Juhl
Sample
Received
May 2012
Light green pressed
millboard
5. Ethafoam® MRC
® N/A Manufactured and sample
from Sealed Air
Sample
Received
Feb 2012
Black, 2” thick
6. Corogreen™ N/A Manufactured and Sample
from Coroplast Inc.
Sample
Received
Feb 2012
White faces with
black flutes, #-flute
7.
8.
9.
10.
110
Appendix 4B: Test 2 – Completed Page 4 of Oddy Test Document
Oddy Test Results – Photo Record Sheet
Additional Notes:
112
Appendix 6: Questionnaire Sent to Interviewees
Questionnaire for Collections Care Professionals
Regarding Sustainable Practices and Materials
Thank you in advance for responding to this questionnaire, which will add some much
appreciated practical information to my thesis research as a conservation graduate student
from the Fashion and Textile Studies program at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
You can email responses to (author’s email address) with “Questionnaire Response” in
the subject line.
The terms sustainable or sustainability used in this questionnaire refers to environmental
sustainability and the general sense of care and concern for the environment is what is
intended.
The following questions are geared to gather information about sustainability within
collections care and art conservation. Feel free to include as much or as little information
as you wish. The resulting answers may be used as part of my thesis, which will exist in
printed copies and through any lectures given on the topic. If you wish to remain
anonymous please let me know and I will not include any identifying information.
1. Is caring for the environment part of your institute’s mandate or mission?
2. Are sustainable practices or materials incorporated in any of the following areas
of collections care: Environmental Monitoring, Emergency Planning and
Mitigation, Integrated Pest Management, Documentation, Exhibition Design or in
the Storage Facility?
a. Examples of sustainable practices can include sealing windows in the
storage facility, using energy efficient equipment, unplugging rarely used
equipment, installing motion-sensors on lights, proofing disaster plans
digitally, paperless collections surveys, utilizing companies that promote
sustainable practices, recycling waste, creating reusable exhibition mounts
or broadening the acceptable temperature/relative humidity range to
alleviate pressure on the HVAC system.
3. The following questions pertain to materials used in housing artifacts in storage,
which is a large part of my research.
a. Do you incorporate sustainable practices into how you use museum-
quality materials? This can include prototyping in non-museum materials,
or recycling waste materials.
b. Do you use sustainable materials in storage? This can include the
furniture, flooring, or housing materials.
c. There are currently very few sustainable museum-quality materials on the
market. How willing would you be to switch from currently used materials
113
to sustainable museum-quality materials, such as a boxboard made from
recycled paper or foam made from recycled resin?
4. Is there anything else you would like me to know regarding collections care and
sustainability, either within your institution or your own personal thoughts?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Further examples of sustainable practices in collections care:
a. Environmental Monitoring (temperature, relative humidity, HVAC
systems)
i. Examples include broadening the acceptable temperature/relative
humidity range, sealing windows in the storage facility or using
energy efficient equipment.
b. Electricity and Lighting
i. Examples include unplugging rarely used equipment, utilizing
renewable energy sources or digitizing collections to minimize
energy use in the storage facility.
c. Emergency Planning and Mitigation
i. Examples include proofing disaster plans digitally, purchasing a
backup generator with renewably sourced energy or compiling
sustainable-alternative supplies.
d. Integrated Pest Management
i. Examples include utilizing companies that promote sustainable
practices when contracting out treatments.
e. Documentation
i. Examples include paperless collections surveys, using recycled-
content paper when possible, minimizing printing of extra
accession records and recycling any waste paper.
f. Exhibition Design or Renovations of Storage Facility
i. Examples include reusing walls created for exhibition design,
creating reusable exhibition mounts or placing motion-sensors on
lights.
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