Comprehensive Preservation Environments: Site-wide Resource Management and Conservation Outcomes for ReCAP

Abstract

ReCAP is engaged in a multi-year project to improve its total preservation impact by providing an excellent preservation environment for library and archival collections in tandem with a reduction in total energy usage, a shift of power consumption towards sustainable sources, reduction of waste materials, and good stewardship of the land under its care. The presentation will review the outcomes of a first phase of work and the planning process underway for an ongoing program. Both efforts focus on the need for keeping costs low and predictable, and aim to achieve this through reduced peak-demand commodity power usage, solar power implementation, water management, soil remediation, and landscape management. This effort builds on the sustainable preservation environments research conducted by Image Permanence Institute and the University of Texas at Austin Gray Areas to Green Areas symposium.