Standards and management approach for the conservation environment of cultural heritage in China

Natural degradation is the primary cause of damage to cultural relics. Implementing preventive conservation measures to create a suitable and stable environment for cultural relics can prevent damage caused by erosion and minimize the risk of potential future deterioration.Temperature, humidity, light exposure, and air pollutants are the primary factors leading to the deterioration and degradation of cultural relics. These environmental factors can induce physical and chemical changes in the relics.Upon comparing the conservation environment standards for cultural relics in China with those of several major international countries, it is evident that the international consensus on the preservation environment for cultural relics emphasizes a clean environment with no ultraviolet radiation, low light levels, low concentrations of air pollutants, and stable temperature and humidity at low to moderate levels.In the Chinese museum architectural design specification JGJ 66-2015, detailed requirements and recommendations are provided regarding the temperature and humidity ranges, light intensity, pollutant gas concentrations, and particulate matter levels for the preservation of cultural relics made from different materials.However, there are still some deficiencies and issues in both the standards for cultural relic preservation environments and their practical management. These primarily include the lack of clear guidelines on the required fresh air volume for relic preservation, the significant energy consumption required to maintain relic preservation environments, and the absence of unified recommendations for the preservation of mixed-material relics and relics composed of multiple materials.In the future, it is possible to establish cultural relic preservation environment standards based on the principle of adapting to local conditions by dividing regions according to climatic zones. This can include increasing recommended fresh air volumes in storage facilities, optimizing indoor design parameters, adjusting the energy structure of air conditioning systems, implementing passive building technologies, enhancing the assessment system for cultural relic preservation environments, and other management methods to further refine the requirements for cultural relic preservation environments.