Fraunhofer Building Innovation Alliance
The research project dealt with designing and testing a concept for protecting outside exposed cultural objects, by application of transparent membrane materials to preserve the optical effect of protected objects. Controlled ventilation was installed to optimize climate conditions within the enclosure.
Different enclosure constructions and types of ventilation have been tested in a monitoring campaign during winter and compared with a conventional wooden enclosure.
The examination confirmed the favorable qualities of wooden enclosures –temperature amplitude damping, low temperature spread on the test objects as well as the reduction of freeze thaw cycling. At the same time, very advantageous properties have been identified for the transparent enclosures. Condensation is far lower and drying potential siginificantly higher compared to the wood enclosure. Furthermore, organic growth on cultural property can be completely avoided by using transparent enclosures. Especially by consideration of the year-round visibility of cultural objects, transparent protection systems can be a quite promising alternative to conservative wooden enclosures.