Guidelines have been posted for the National Endowment for the
Humanities' Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections grants.  U.S.
nonprofit museums, libraries, archives, and educational institutions can
apply for grants to plan and implement preservation strategies that
pragmatically balance effectiveness, cost, and environmental impact.
Projects should be designed to be as cost effective, energy efficient,
and environmentally sensitive as possible, and they should aim to
mitigate the greatest risks to collections rather than to meet
prescriptive targets.
 
Apply for planning grants of up to $40,000 (with an option of up to
$50,000) to bring together interdisciplinary teams that might reevaluate
environmental parameters for collections and examine passive
(nonmechanical) and low-energy alternatives to conventional energy
sources and energy-intensive mechanized systems for managing collection
environments.  Testing, modeling, or project-specific research may help
applicants better understand collection environments and formulate
sustainable preservation strategies; therefore, with planning grants you
might measure energy consumption; use blower door tests to identify air
leaks in buildings; create mock-ups of lighting options; test natural
ventilation methods; conduct thermal imaging of buildings; test the
effect of buffered storage enclosures on moderating fluctuating
environmental conditions; re-commission small-scale climate control
systems; or adjust the operating protocols for climate control systems. 

Apply for implementation grants of up to $350,000 to manage interior
relative humidity and temperature by passive methods; install heating,
ventilating, and air conditioning systems; install storage systems and
rehouse collections; improve security and the protection of collections
from fire, flood, and other disasters; and upgrade lighting systems and
controls to achieve levels suitable for collections that are energy
efficient. Projects that seek to implement preventive conservation
measures in sustainable ways are especially encouraged.

Deadline: December 4, 2012
Guidelines: http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/SCHC.html
FAQs:
http://www.neh.gov/files/grants/sustaining-cultural-heritage-faqs_2012.p
df

Program officers are available to discuss project ideas and read draft
proposals. Please contact the division for more information by emailing
[log in to unmask] or calling 202-606-8570.

Laura Word
Senior Program Officer
Division of Preservation and Access
National Endowment for the Humanities
[log in to unmask]

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