Museums carefully monitor indoor temperature and humidity to protect their valuable collections. The goal is to keep conditions stable so that artworks and artifacts don’t deteriorate over time.

Traditionally, museums have set very strict temperature and humidity limits. However, these strict rules may not always be necessary and relaxing them slightly could save a lot of energy and money without harming the collections.

The problem is that many conservators hesitate to allow wider temperature and humidity ranges because there isn’t enough clear evidence of what changes produce actual damage in artworks. Without a simple way to assess the risks, they prefer to stay cautious.

Meanwhile, museums spend big amounts of energy and money on climate control systems. For example, research has shown that increasing the acceptable humidity range from ±2% to ±7% could cut energy costs by 55%. In large museums like the Louvre, energy expenses can reach €10 million per year. With energy prices rising,resources becoming scarcer and Climate Change having more acute effects in our environment, finding smarter ways to manage climate control is more important than ever.

In short, museums need better, science-backed guidelines to balance art preservation with energy efficiency, helping protect both cultural heritage and the planet.

This project has two main goals:
1. Characterize Past Climate Conditions – Collect historical data on temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) in museums to understand how these factors have affected artworks over time, and what type of fluctuations objects can actually resist.
2. Study Material Aging – Analyze (using analytical chemistry techniques) how T and RH actually impact different materials in artworks, helping us predict and prevent damage.

By combining this knowledge, we aim to help museums manage their energy use more efficiently while still protecting their collections—especially as climate change makes environmental control even more challenging.

In short, we want to find the best balance between preserving art and reducing energy costs, ensuring museums can adapt to a changing world.

This Project has as partners 4 Museums Gallery of Academia of Venice, Český Krumlov Castle , Historical Museum of Oslo and the Viking Museum of Oslo.

Expanding the Impact: Training Museum Professionals and Students
By the end of the project, we aim to broaden the use of our methodology by training museum professionals—not just those from our partner institutions but also experts from other museums. The goal is to help them optimize energy use while safeguarding their collections.

In short, we’re not just developing tools—we’re empowering museums to use them effectively, combining preservation with energy efficiency.