Title: Impact of climate change on cultural heritage: a simulation study to assess the risks for conservation and thermal comfort

Authors: Guilherme B.A. Coelho; Hugo Entradas Silva; Fernando M.A. Henriques

Addresses: Departamento de Engenharia Civil, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Quinta da Torre, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal ' Departamento de Engenharia Civil, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Quinta da Torre, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal ' Departamento de Engenharia Civil, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Quinta da Torre, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal

Abstract: Artefacts are prone to various types of decay depending on the indoor conditions of the building in which they are kept. Moreover, due to climate changes, the indoor climate of these buildings may significantly change, which can endanger their preservation. Hence, this paper studies the effects of climate changes on the indoor climate of heritage buildings and on the conservation of artefacts and thermal comfort of visitors. For this purpose, a validated hygrothermal model of a naturally ventilated historic church - Saint Christopher's in Lisbon coupled with climate change weather files were used to obtain future indoor conditions. Additionally, four other climates were simulated using the building model: Seville (Mediterranean climate), Prague and Oslo (Continental climate), as well as London (Oceanic climate). The obtained indoor climates were assessed using a statistical analysis based in several known indices, a risk-based analysis and an adaptive thermal comfort model.

Keywords: climate change; preventive conservation; church; historic building; computational model; risk-based analysis; artefacts conservation; thermal comfort; hygrothermal behaviour; cultural heritage.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGW.2019.104268

International Journal of Global Warming, 2019 Vol.19 No.4, pp.382 - 406

Received: 20 May 2019
Accepted: 05 Aug 2019
Published online: 23 Dec 2019 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article