Preserving Art and the Environment through Sustainable Museum Buildings
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Authors
Frantz, Sara L.
Issue Date
2007
Type
Capstone
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
The purpose of this Master's project is to focus on sustainable building practices and the special needs of art museums. In order to ascertain this information, I conducted an extensive literature review, and in-depth interviews. I also performed three site visits to three highly specialized sustainable buildings. Each building was chosen because of its physical site, purpose and usage, and the application of sustainable technology.
The following paper is divided into three main sections: a literature review, findings, and conclusions and recommendations. The first section, the extended literature review, focuses on several sub-themes: 1) global warming and the role of museums regarding sustainable architecture, 2) art conservation especially light and atmospheric needs, and 3) renewable energy, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design sustainable building guidelines, and sustainable building strategies.
The second section of this project describes my three site visits using five LEED guidelines to frame the results: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy & atmosphere, materials & resources, and indoor environmental quality. The sites are: Patagonia Incorporated, a warehouse facility located in the high desert of Reno Nevada; The Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences, a Sierra Nevada College campus building that houses classrooms, offices, science laboratories and an exhibition space, located in Tahoe alpine forest; and the California Academy of Sciences, located in San Francisco.
The final section offers conclusions and recommendations based upon the site findings. This research revealed that most sustainable building practices are applicable to art museum needs, but some practices do not currently fit within conservation needs as set forth by museums for maintaining collections. For example, natural ventilation, which encourages flushing non-filtered external air through the building via natural means, is not a viable practice for art museums. The use of natural ventilation also allows the building's internal temperature to fluctuate more widely than the accepted practice of 70° ± 2°. Overall, however, most sustainable building practices are applicable to art museum buildings and need not serve as an impediment to building sustainably.