The Reduced Gradient Approach (RGA): An Alternate Method to Optimizing Humidity Conditions in House Museums in Cold Climates
The modern approach to artifact preservation comprises an aggressive interior environment with high relative humidity levels. Maintaining high interior humidity coupled with typical interior temperatures in house museums has proved to be detrimental to their building envelopes. Such envelopes are typically un-insulated and often experience excessive, uncontrolled air leakage. Thus, the potential is high for interstitial condensation and the deleterious effects that typically accompany it. For house museums, solutions to mitigate this problem are limited because the degree of intrusiveness on original structure and associated costs are primary concerns. This article presents research on a simple, low-cost, non-destructive preservation control technique applicable to house museums and similar designated historical structures. The reduced gradient approach involves manipulation of the interior temperature regime to minimize the water vapor pressure differential across the building envelope throughout the yea...