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Standards Development
The document specifies principles and requirements for the use of protective products for the conservation of cultural heritage objects, with particular attention to outdoor atmospheric conditions. It provides methodologies for the assessment of the performance of protective products applied on stone and other inorganic porous materials both in laboratory and on-site.
It provides measurements of several parameters for the assessment of the durability of the protective products performance over time in real conditions as well as in laboratory conditions by accelerated ageing test.
Cultural heritage materials exposed to atmospheric environment (both indoor and outdoor) are subject to alteration processes. In pre-industrial environment, weathering agents were mainly responsible for material alterations. The expansion of urban conglomerations and the concentration of adjoining industries have resulted in a formidable increase in the local levels of aggressive airborne pollutants.
The acceleration in the decay of cultural heritage objects (built heritage, outdoor sculptures, etc.) occurred in the last decades has been ascribed to the sharp increase in air pollutants. To mitigate or prevent deterioration processes it is necessary to investigate on the role of deterioration agents. Man-made pollutants are exponentially increasing the action of natural agents through chemical-physical attack mechanisms. The presence of water favours the action of many of these agents; in particular, it promotes the: a) solubilization of air pollutants, causing them to settle on stone surfaces as acidic solutions, b) transport of soluble salts, c) direct action during the freezing phase. To prevent or mitigate deterioration processes a series of conservation interventions, such as cleaning, consolidation and protection should be carried out. Most of these operations affect the surface of the heritage objects. Any such intervention requires the use of methodologies and products that shall be appropriately tested to meet a series of requirement, allowing the evaluation of their effectiveness, durability, and safety for the surface being treated.
Surface treatments, as part of the conservation process, should be carried out with the purpose to prevent or reduce the contact of water and chemical deterioration agents with the object surface by applying chemical substances, thus prolonging the service life of cultural heritage materials. The large number of products present on the market as water-repellents for stone surfaces has sometimes proven inadequate for protecting historic buildings, either due to a lack of the necessary requirements for built heritage or due to incorrect application. Only rarely these products have been conceived for cultural heritage objects, and even in fewer cases, their characteristics account for the specificity required by historical buildings; thus, they need appropriate experimentation before use. Today conservation science imposes those protective substances should be applied on the surface of heritage objects only after preliminary trials have been carried out in laboratory and in field. Actually, a wide diversity of test procedures is in use in different countries. Therefore, there is an urgency need to establish common criteria and test procedures to assess the performance of protective substances.
The surface protection of built heritage from deterioration threats is not a merely country’s/ regional concern, but it is also an urgent need on a global scale.
Surface protection involves various independent stakeholders such as consultants for protection of built heritage, producers of mitigation products, cultural heritage administrators, curators, conservators and technicians, conservation scientists as well as evaluators responsible for verifying the effectiveness of the mitigation measures. An integrated and comprehensive built heritage protection strategy is needed which considers risk treatment of cultural heritage objects.
At present, relevant regional standards were developed by CEN TC 346 Conservation of cultural heritage and relevant technical standards of various countries already have matured theoretical methods and technical regulations for surface protection of built heritage.
This new work item proposal of international standard provides the general principles and requirements for the surface protection of cultural heritage objects that can be universally applied. It aims to establish a comprehensive framework for the surface protection of cultural heritage objects, while it is intended for use by a wide range of stakeholders, including authorities responsible for the safeguard of cultural heritage, conservators, architect, conservation scientists, curators and policymakers, to ensure a unified approach to safeguarding cultural heritage.
The standard should provide long-term risk evaluation of trapping moisture in the treated object as well as would address to long-term monitoring of applied treatments. The standard would also be addressed to the evaluation of previous older treatments.
The standard should take care of the impact regarding the methodologies used for the evaluation of protective products as well as should comply in all aspects with sustainability requirements. The standard should also consider the need of retreatability.
Developed through the interdisciplinary scientific and technological field, this standard ensures scientific innovation and technical reliability. It provides an integrated working framework for the surface protection of built heritage, which would eliminate the technical barriers between different small and medium-sized restorer enterprises to adopt convenient and economical surface protection measures in a standardized manner. Therefore, the standard is aligned with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9 (Industry, innovation) and SDG10 (reduced inequality). At the same time, the technology of this standard is an integrated innovation based on general scientific theories, specifying requirements and effectiveness evaluation. Furthermore, this standard has technical integration, interoperability, and universal applicability on an international scale, providing a basis and support for public procurement and achieving the international standard - setting goal of establishing the best working order.
The promotion of this standard is also aligned with SDG3 on well-being and SGD4 on Education. The promotion of cultural study in terms stimulate the formation of a more peaceful and inclusive social and cultural attitudes, therefore meeting the SDG 16 on peace. Various cultural and creative enterprises with cultural heritage as the core element are suitable for development in different regions and countries around the world. This will be beneficial to all stakeholders, especially small and medium - sized enterprises, to invest in the field of cultural heritage surface protection, promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, responding to SDG8 and SDG 9, as well as SDG 11 on sustainable cities and communities. Generally, it would achieve the international standard - setting goal of promoting common benefits.
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