Environmental monitoring and control

Environmental monitoring captures independent scientific data on the measured parameters, e.g. temperature, humidity, dew point, vapour pressure, mortar sample analysis, UV, lux levels, and moisture content of timber and masonry. The analysis of the data provides scientific advice and a way forward for environmental risk assessment, and for conservation of historic and modern buildings – their structure, environments, decoration and contents.

Multidisciplinary experience in long term environmental monitoring of buildings after fire, flood and chronic water ingress due to general neglect provides information on stabilisation and control of environmental conditions to avoid the development of fungal infestation and decay.

Data from both short-term and long-term monitoring is analysed and can be used by environmental scientists, where necessary, to recommend a range of measures, which can be implemented to achieve optimum environmental conditions.

This is particularly applicable in historic buildings, museum and galleries, castles, libraries and archives. There are many case studies and projects, including:

• Cardiff Castle, Cardiff, Wales;
• Farmleigh House, Dublin, Ireland;
• Mont Orgueil Castle, Jersey, Channel Islands;
• National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland;
• Dover Castle, Dover;
• Crown Prosecution Services Head Quarters, London; and
• Royal William Yard, Plymouth.

Environmental monitoring allows for cost-effective, long-term holistic solutions to environmental stabilisation of the historic fabric and contents.

The dictionary meaning of the environment is the external conditions or surroundings, especially those in which people live or work, which tend to influence their development and behaviour. An environmentalist is a specialist in the maintenance of ecological balance and the conservation of the environment. The dictionary meaning of monitor is a person or a piece of equipment that warns, checks, controls, or keeps a continuous record of something.

Environmental monitoring of the built environment seeks to study the interrelationships of the internal environment created by the interactions of building architecture, materials, structures, services, contents, decorations and occupants with their external environments.

An Environmental monitoring consultant is a specialist in the holistic multidisciplinary understanding of the total environmental performance of the building and in the development of environmental monitoring and control programme for long-term sustainable conservation solutions.

Environmental monitoring falls into 2 broad categories: external and internal. The external and internal environmental monitoring can be carried out both for the health of the building fabric, contents, finishes, structures and for the health comfort and productivity of the occupants.

Figure 1: External environmental monitoring for mycoflora and environmental conditions

Figure 2: Internal environmental monitoring for mycoflora and environmental conditions

Buildings work as spatial environmental ecosystems and provide ecological niches and pockets of microclimates in their built environment for the development of building pathology, therefore they must be understood as a whole. Building biology encompasses holistic understanding of the interactions of life forms and the built environment. Building pathology seeks to understand the total performance of the building envelope through multidisciplinary scientific study of the causes and symptoms of failures (see Biodeterioration).

The primary focus for this section is to provide understandable information on the environmental monitoring of the following subject areas:

• monitoring historic buildings;
• monitoring biodeterioration of building materials; and
• monitoring indoor air pollution and health effects.

Pathology is the study of the disease by scientific methods and analysis. Disease may in turn be defined as abnormal variation in the structure and function of any parts of the body. Diseases have causes and pathology includes not only observation of the structural and functional changes throughout the course of the disease, but also elucidation of the factors that cause it. It is only by establishing the cause of the disease that logical methods can be sought and developed for its prevention and cure. So pathology can be defined as the study of the causes and effects of disease.