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Heritage
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Microclimate in Heritage
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Microclimate in Heritage

A special issue of Heritage (ISSN 2571-9408).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 1903

Special Issue Editor

Dr. David Thickett

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Collections Conservation, English Heritage Trust, Rangers House, Chesterfield Wlk, London SE108QX, UK
Interests: preventive conservation research; degradation studies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microclimate is a major challenge for heritage conservation. Changes in environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, airspeed, solar radiation and pollution increase the risk of degradation and damage to cultural and natural heritage. In this context, an accurate and efficient access to microclimate information and monitoring of microclimate change, so as to understand the decay of heritage brought by microclimate, are of great significance for the sustainable conservation of heritage.

This Special Issue aims to collect studies on assessments of the microclimate-related risks and innovative conservation methods, monitoring and diagnostic techniques, and predictive models. In addition to the important role of microclimate in heritage decay, this Special Issue will also consider intentional microclimate manipulation through showcases, microclimate painting frames, print frames, daguerreotypes, etc. The goal is to effectively assess conservation conditions and propose appropriate conservation programs to ensure the sustainable preservation of heritage.

This Special Issue aims to collect high-quality papers addressing various issues related to microclimate in heritage.

Dr. David Thickett
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Heritage is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • microclimate
  • environmental conditions
  • temperature and humidity
  • solar radiation
  • pollution
  • heritage decay and conservation
  • showcases
  • microclimate painting frames

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 1967 KiB  
Article
Interrogating the Preservation Performance and Reuse of Sealed Frame Packages for Transit and Display
by Emma J. Richardson, Meredith Sharps Noyes, Marvin Cummings, Al Carver-Kubik and Jennifer Jae Gutierrez
Heritage 2025, 8(5), 151; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage8050151 - 26 Apr 2025
Viewed by 112
Abstract
Collecting institutions have a mandate to preserve and enable access to collections. Exhibition, which often involves object transit between cultural institutions, is an essential activity for many museums to achieve their missions. These activities introduce challenges for preservation, as objects are most susceptible [...] Read more.
Collecting institutions have a mandate to preserve and enable access to collections. Exhibition, which often involves object transit between cultural institutions, is an essential activity for many museums to achieve their missions. These activities introduce challenges for preservation, as objects are most susceptible to irreparable damage during these key time periods. Paper-based objects that are sensitive to changes in relative humidity (RH) are commonly enclosed in sealed frame packages (SFPs) to create microclimates. Twenty-six different SFP designs were investigated for their effectiveness at buffering against external RH changes. Following initial conditioning of paper-based objects and enclosure materials at 45% RH, data loggers were placed inside each SFP and exposed to 70% RH for 12 weeks. The internal responses of the SFPs to the external RH were quantitatively assessed, alongside qualitative assessments of material reusability. Results indicate that a polyethylene bag sealed around a frame package is a reusable alternative to SFPs. Bagging alone was capable of limiting the impact of high external RH from permeating to the object level for approximately three weeks. When exposure to elevated RH levels is expected to exceed three weeks, SFPs are effective microclimates under the proviso that they comprise glazing, a vapor-proof barrier, and a seal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microclimate in Heritage)
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17 pages, 11084 KiB  
Article
Microclimate of the Natural History Museum, Vienna
by Peter Brimblecombe, Alexander Bibl, Christian Fischer, Helmut Pristacz and Pascal Querner
Heritage 2025, 8(4), 124; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage8040124 - 31 Mar 2025
Viewed by 240
Abstract
Climate change increases the importance of maintaining environmental conditions suitable for preventive conservation within museums. The microclimates at the Natural History Museum of Vienna, a large national collection housed within a classical building, were studied using >200 data loggers placed from mid 2021 [...] Read more.
Climate change increases the importance of maintaining environmental conditions suitable for preventive conservation within museums. The microclimates at the Natural History Museum of Vienna, a large national collection housed within a classical building, were studied using >200 data loggers placed from mid 2021 to provide thermo-hygrometric measurements at 15 min intervals. Daily mean temperatures showed exhibition halls typically had the warmest rooms. This was due to the heating in winter and open windows on summer days. The halls can become even hotter than the outside temperature. In winter, most areas of the museum were very dry, as heating lowered the relative humidity, typically to 25–35% for the coldest season. Opening hours imposed daily and weekly cycles on the internal climate. There was little difference between sunny and shaded parts of the building or adjacent offices, corridors and depots. Similarly, the microclimate at the floor resembled that of the room air some ~2 m above. Mechanically controlled microclimates in cold storage areas maintained 10 °C and relative humidity ~50%, but this had become increasingly difficult in hot summers. While there was little apparent damage to the collection, at times, the museum had an extreme indoor climate: very hot in the summer and dry in the winter. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microclimate in Heritage)
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20 pages, 18853 KiB  
Article
Indexes for Estimating Outdoor and Indoor Microclimates: A Case Study at the San Panfilo Church in Tornimparte, Italy
by Eleonora Racca, Davide Bertoni and Silvia Ferrarese
Heritage 2024, 7(12), 6729-6748; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7120311 - 28 Nov 2024
Viewed by 895
Abstract
In this work, we consider the indoor and outdoor microclimatic conditions and the influence of the building on their relationship. Microclimatic indexes are a useful tool to characterize microclimatic environments, and they can be used to compare indoor and outdoor microclimate conditions and [...] Read more.
In this work, we consider the indoor and outdoor microclimatic conditions and the influence of the building on their relationship. Microclimatic indexes are a useful tool to characterize microclimatic environments, and they can be used to compare indoor and outdoor microclimate conditions and to evaluate the influence of the building itself on the microclimate. The case study refers to the ancient building of San Panfilo church in Tornimparte (Italy), preserving an important cycle of frescoes by depicted by Saturnino Gatti from 1491 to 1494. The microclimatic conditions were measured during a dedicated campaign at several sites in the church and two sites outside: one in a near-building position and one in an open-air site. In order to characterize the indoor and outdoor microclimatic conditions, some statistical indexes were applied. The results show the comparison in microclimatic conditions in the different sites in the church and between indoor and outdoor environments, allowing for the detection of the influence of the building in the microclimatic conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microclimate in Heritage)
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