HERIe is a digital decision-supporting platform providing remote access to data manipulation tools and to quantitative assessment of risks to heritage assets. The platform is organised in the framework of ten independent modules corresponding to ten agents of deterioration. Risks from environmental conditions are assessed by analysing data prevailing in the space where an object is displayed or stored. The effect of moving an object from one environment to another, frequent when loans are made, can also be assessed.
A two-day workshop on a digital tool HERIe for decision-making support in the field of preventive conservation was organised in Rome for the collection managers, educators and heritage scientists. The tool developed within several projects, including IPERION HS and recently the GoGreen project, is used by more than 3000 users all over the world. The workshop demonstrated the need and impact of digital tools for the heritage community.
In particular, the concept and structure of the HERIe platform were presented following hands-on exercises:
- automatic ASHRAE classification and reporting,
- determination of the showcase parameters to keep the desired level of RH,
- evaluation of the risk to a vulnerable object due to gaseous pollution based on NOx levels from the nearby monitoring station, and designing the showcase to meet the required NOx level,
- developing a lighting policy for a light-sensitive object for the next 50 years on the example of a 19th-century Japanese print with crystal violet,
- assessing the risk of mechanical damage due to environmental variations for panel painting moved from the historic church to the conservation studio,
- evaluation of the risk of fire in energy-efficient storage in Vejle, Denmark, using a floor plan, information about collection, and the class of fire protection,
- evaluation of the lifetime of the books produced post-1850 and various preservation methods, i.e., active lowering of temperature, deacidification, and lowering temperature for winter without energy use,
- estimation of the ‘time to lining’ of Salvador Dali’s painting,
- evaluation of risk to paintings exposed to the highest light exposures and prediction of colour change in the collection, on the example of the Yale Centre of British Art,
- deciding about the optimal level of fire protection in the case of energy-efficient cool museum storage in central Poland,
- designing the climate control strategy in the museum/painting gallery.
The workshop took place at the Polish Academy of Sciences Scientific Centre in Rome and was led by Prof. Łukasz Bratasz, the head of the Cultural Heritage Research Group from the Jerzy Haber Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences.
For more info on HERIe visit the website https://herie.pl/
