Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna:  prof. Marco Pretelli (P.I.)

Politecnico di Milano: prof.ssa Cristina Tedeschi

Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”:prof.ssa Francesca Castanò

The aim of the project was to reconcile the comfort and health of operators and visitors of cultural sites with the needs of cultural heritage conservation, combining the fight against the pandemic risks with the improvement of the conditions of this heritage. These factors have been brought together in an original way, validating a research method investigating the indoor environment.
Monitoring the microclimatic parameters and air quality of an exceptionally important museum site, the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN), was the focus of the action: MANN hosts a unique collection that gathers together acquisition of finds from excavations in Campania and Southern Italy, as well as from private collections, for instance the Farnese collection. The project was based on the possibilities offered by sensor technology, which puts the researcher in a position to monitor the indoor microclimate of environments in real time, and subsequently to carry out simulation and modelling through the use of specific software for digital microclimate simulation. The ‘traditional’ microclimate monitoring, i.e., parameters of temperature and relative humidity, was combined with the monitoring of the presence of particulate matter, volatile organic compounds and carbon dioxide. The data collected following the relevant standards allowed us to investigate the interaction between the presence/passage of visitors and changes in microclimatic parameters associated with the content and size distribution of pollutants in the environment, already making assumptions about their interaction useful in conceiving the operation of a technological gateway, CapsulART.