As a professional conservator who was involved in the construction of
a very large collections and conservation building every step in the
process I can offer a couple of insights.

Involving a conservator to review materials as well as engineering
plans and many other details from the beginning is invaluable to
avoiding problems later.

Although there are general categories of building materials that are
better (the new "green" low VOC materials) most everything will need
to be reviewed and some tested. This is because what may test
acceptable in one year may not the next, because the manufactuers of
commercial products change formulations all the time. At a minimum
acquire MSDS sheets or technical data sheets for EVERYTHING and also
samples.

The kind of testing for organic acids and pollutants that could affect
museum collections involves enclosing a small sample in a test tube
with deionized water and a metal coupon and heating it at elevated
temperates in an oven for many days. This accelerated aging test for
right now is the simplest and least costly approach. If time is a
factor and cost is not (and wouldnlt we all like that!) you can have a
sample tested by a lab in a "headspace" (gas chromatograph mass spec)
test in which the small sample is incinerated and a spectrum is
produced that can reveal the presence of organic acids and compounds
of concerns such as chlorides and sulphides.

If you cannot test your building materials then at least hire a
conservator to review those MSDS sheets and help sort out the obvious
problems.

Again, in a building, so much depends on the volume of the spaces, how
the objects are stored, and such things such as the air exhange rate
and performance of the HVAC system (be very mindful of where the
supplies for the HVAC sytem are - I rember one instance where the main
HVAC supply for a gallery was located just outside the loadiing dock
where the truck fumes were sucked in and through the entire building).
Also even something as simple as the placement of windows and whether
sunlight coming through helps to accelerate the process of outgassing
within the building (the Getty did a fine study on indoor pollutants
that showed this, I think it came out in the early 1990's).

I am sorry that there are no instant answers for this, but the best
one is to simply try to get some sort of review and approval of
materials during the process.

Cheers,
Dave

David Harvey
Conservator
Los Angeles, California

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