Research project P4S/24E/REFRESH (Research action P4S)
In the context of collections in museum and built environment, cultural heritage represent a unique resource in socio-cultural and economic terms. The climate in Europe is changing more rapidly than in other regions, and goes hand-in-hand with extreme weather events leading to droughts and floods, severe storms as well as extensive heat waves, often triggering destructive wildfires. While the impact of climate change on society and ecosystems has garnered significant attention, the consequences for cultural heritage have largely been overlooked.
The key factor of the Climate Change’s strong impact on heritage sites (heritage buildings hosting collections, surrounded by natural environment ) is the water (in excess or under stress) and its transfer. In this context the project aims to understand the role of water cycle on the cultural heritage site conservation with an holistic approach considering the water transport within three scales :
- The liquid water in the natural environmental (soil and vegetations in gardens and parks)
- The liquid to vapor water transfer within the architectural building envelope (monument)
- The vapor to liquid water in interior and collections (indoor climate and condensation phenomena)
Our objective is to identify levers, on the water cycle at heritage site scale for optimal conservation of cultural heritage sites while improving water management and reduce the energy consumption. The correlation of water transfers within these three scales will be studied with respect to climate data (past current and future) on for case studies: Louvre Palace, Gruuthusmeseum, Blenheim Palace, Doge’s Palace. They are representative of different types of climate and context (urban and rural).
Using these adaptative measures, the project will establish how the nature-culture relationship (soil-vegetation-monument- collections) could be the source for cultural heritage resilience and climate mitigation.
