Concept of a New Airing Strategy and Simulation of the Expected Indoor Climate in Linderhof Palace

Within a research project of Fraunhofer-Institute for Building Physics IBP for preventive conservation of cultural heritage which has been conducted in close cooperation with the Bavarian State Administration of Castles, Lakes and Gardens (BSV) the influences on and the behavior of the room climate in Linderhof palace of the Bavarian King Ludwig II. have been investigated. The room climate is very important for the long-term preservation of art. Based on an already done building simulation with the software WUFI Plus^® of the king´s bedchamber in previous work, this part of the project aimed at a new airing concept for Linderhof palace. Alternative airing strategies have been investigated computationally and discussed regarding to climatic stability and energy consumption.

The formerly existing airing concept of the natural ventilated and completely unheated Linderhof palace had to be improved to reduce proceeding damage to artworks due to fluctuations of the inner climate caused by the ambient climate and visitors, and also to enhance the visitors comfort. In a valuable historic palace building there are specific restrictions for applying a typical HVAC system: Possible damage to artworks and building materials from condensation effects, high energy consumption and the need for an invisible, minimal invasive installation of technical devices. According to the agreement with the Bavarian state department for palaces, gardens and lakes the historic chimneys could be re-used for climatization. The new airing concept considers new and on-going discussed strategies of acceptable humidity ranges for the preservation of art. For low energy consumption only drying of the ambient air is considered in a cooling process with heat recovering. No humidification is foreseen in the air handling process. Heating of the supply air is planned only for very low temperature and in danger of dew-point. This concept is simulated with an existing WUFI^® Plus building simulation model of the king´s bedchamber. The results promise to accomplish all of the wanted objectives. A pilot HVAC system is recommended, based on the results shown, and foreseen in a follow-up project with the Bavarian state department for Castles, Gardens and Lakes (BSV).