Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 39. (1986)
Archive Buildings and the Conservation of Archival Material. An Expert Meeting, held in Vienna, Austria October 30 - November 1, 1985 - STEWART, William J.: Summary of Discussions
270 William J. Stewart Ms Kamba: I also recall Mr Thomas that you touched on problems of air- conditioning in your paper, particularly in third world countries. We have encountered problems in Zimbabwe, equipment breakdown and exorbitant air- conditioning bills which we feel we can’t continue to pay. I am talking about an air handling system over twenty years old and showing it. What can we do? Thomas: The really important thing to do in an existing building is to measure the environment throughout the building, so you can prepare a map of environmental conditions in separate locations within the building. This will assist in pinpointing the problems. If you are in a humid, tropical zone then the only solution is full air conditioning. If you have a condition where certain areas of the building are excessively dry or excessively wet then you can employ individual dehumidifiers or humidifiers to solve localized problems. These devices are energy efficient, reasonably inexpensive, and nearly maintenance free. Look at your air circulation. Can you improve the movement of air if you discover places where the humidity is high? In and around mobile shelving you often find the humidity much higher than in other parts of the stacks. If so, you can look at the possibilities of improving air flow by using fans. Another possibility is to consider using the air outside the building, if it is not polluted, of course. You may find upon measuring the outside air that you have a source of cooler, drier air or humid air, if that is what you want. But the important first step is to map out the environmental conditions within the building over a period of weeks and do this during the night as well as the day. This will produce a precise map of your problems, then you can talk about localized control, localized ventilation, and localized humidification. In Zimbabwe that might be a possibility. In the Middle East, on the Arabian Gulf, dehumidifiers are not much help. The only solution in that climate is an air- conditioning system. Yu-Cheng: Mr Thomas, one additional question on your presentation. In your paper you state that electrostatic copy machines tend to produce ozone. Now, how dangerous is this in an office? Do one or two copiers pose a problem or would you have to have a number of machines before being concerned about pollution? Thomas: Electrostatic copiers certainly do produce ozone, usually you can smell it if you have a copier in a poorly ventilated room. Copy machines should not be in the same room with stored records. Ozone levels near the machine can be quite high. For that reason, copy machines should be in well vented areas, both for the safety of the operators and the sake of the records. In the United Kingdom there are venting regulations for photocopiers. If you are talking about the occasional use of one copier then the problem is minimal. If the machine(s) is (are) running continually and the area is poorly ventilated then you have an unhealthy environment.
