*MS211: Preservation Environments*
*Instructor: *Ernest A. Conrad*
Price: *$475*
Dates: *November 1 through 30, 2010*
Location: *online at www.museumclasses.org
*For more information and to sign up:*
http://www.collectioncare.org/training/trol_classes_ms211.html
*
Description:*
An insect infestation is flourishing. The museum's brick exterior wall
is crumbling. The powder coated metal storage shelves have active rust
under the foam padding. Objects in fur storage are covered in mold. It
is raining in the exhibit hall. This is the damage that occurs to museum
buildings or collections when staff do not understand preservation
environments. Preservation Environments is essential knowledge for any
collecting institution. The course covers climate control basics,
monitoring and psychrometrics, water, and preservation today and
tomorrow, including LEEDS.Everyone should understand how humidity and
temperature are controlled by a building and its mechanical system. For
museum staff considering a new building - and any institution planning
to expand or rebuild an existing one - Preservation Environments provide
important information for calculating whether the proposed improvements
will actually improve the environmental control of your protective
enclosure. Participants learn the advantages and disadvantages of
numerous methods of temperature and relative humidity control.
Preservation Environments does not try to turn museum professionals into
engineers. Rather, it arms them with the knowledge they need to work
with engineers and maintenance professionals. And helps explain why
damage occurred and how to keep it from happening again.
*Logistics:* Preservation Environments runs four weeks. Participants
work at their own pace through six sections and interact through online
chats. Instructor Ernest Conrad is available at scheduled times for
email support. Preservation Environments includes online literature,
slide lectures and student-teacher/group-teacher dialog.
*The Instructor:*
*Ernest A. Conrad's* greatest contribution to the preservation field was
the development of environmental guidelines for engineers who work on
museums, libraries and archives. For over 20 years, Mr. Conrad has
focused on environmental issues. He is president of Landmark Facilities
Group, Inc., an engineering firm specializing in environmental systems
for museums, libraries, archives and historic facilities. A licensed
mechanical engineer in several states, Mr. Conrad holds a bachelor's
degree in civil engineering and a master's in environmental engineering
from Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For more information
visit his web site Landmark Facilities Group, Inc. <http://www.lfginc.com/>
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning
Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE) publishes standards in the areas of HVAC and
refrigeration. Mr. Conrad co-authored the ASHRAE Applications Handbook
"Chapter 20: Museums, Libraries and Archives." For the first time, there
are guidelines specific to our needs in the engineering literature. Mr.
Conrad has studied environments and designed special climate control
systems throughout the United States for clients as well-known as the
National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, The Frick Collection,
Getty Conservation Institute, The Pierpont Morgan Library, National
Trust for Historic Preservation, and National Park Service. He has a
special interest in house museums and how climate affects structures and
collections housed within those structures.
