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
272 William J. Stewart I wonder how many of these physical complaints can be traced to a sense of claustrophobia. As long as I am in charge in France I shall forbid closed buildings. Buchmann: What do you mean exactly? I am in complete accord if you are talking about offices, laboratories, or any space where people work. In our new building the computer room is the only area with air conditioning, all other spaces contain windows which can be opened. If I understand you correctly, you have been talking about repositories too. According to our system, repositories are not a place where people remain for several hours. They go to the stacks only to remove records and return them. So I don’t see the argument that there have to be windows because of people working there. As far as records are concerned, I don’t see the need, and further, window areas by definition are a building’s least insulated spaces and where you will first encounter environmental problems. I am in favor of our system in the Bundesarchiv of massive walls without windows or openings of any kind. Ms Kamba: Mr Benoit, could you explain for our benefit, particularly those of us from not such wealthy countries, the technicalities of constructing an archival building in such a way that it becomes unnecessary to have air conditioning. Benoit: If you can build a room entirely isolated from external conditions then you need not worry about the temperature and humidity outside. To achieve this effect, however, you would need to construct a building of dense walls thoroughly reinforced with thick, well-fitted insulation. The air within can be circulated by means of ducts set in the masonry. It is relatively simple to filter the air at the intakes as well as provide for a control valve to shut off air movement in case of fire. Additionally, there are simple methods by which the incoming air can be cooled or heated and there are means of controlling the humidity also. This system will work in temperate zones and it should function in the tropics too. Thomas: I know this is an unfair question but would you care to make a guess on the economics in the following situation. The choice is between constructing a building with air conditioning and low insulation or a building such as you described, with thick, insulated masonry walls and no air conditioning. Benoit: Even if the cost is the same, I would prefer erecting a building substantial in all its parts because I know it will not require maintenance. I hold no favor with a sophisticated air handling system that will demand continuous and costly maintenance. Simply stated, put the money in the building not in upkeep. Yu-Cheng: When someone asks how best to preserve archival materials my
