Conflicting needs of the thermal indoor environment of museums: In search of a practical compromise

Thermal indoor microclimate conditions in museums buildings refer to two important requirements: the preservation of works of art and the comfort of visitors to these buildings and/or those working inside them. Unfortunately, different works of art have different internal parameters which render the management and control of the indoor thermal microclimate difficult. In this work the values proposed by various standards for the thermal environment of museum buildings will be revised. Moreover, the indoor microclimatic conditions relating to people’s comfort will be described, with the aim of singling out possible common ranges for these parameters. With this aim, a useful simultaneousness index will also be introduced. Finally, the proposed approach will be applied to an old Italian building for purposes of clarification.