Hello Angela!
My name is Beth, and I am serving as the C2C monitor this period. Thanks for your question. You've done prior research, and the Conserve-O-Gram was one of the resources I would have shared with you. If possible, I would try to inquire about the specific materials being used. The period of off-gassing may vary for different adhesives and carpet materials. However, if you want to present a plan, generally, I do think allowing for a longer time frame before installation and resourcing a HEPA unit would be good ideas. Anecdotally, at my own institution, we allowed a few months after a renovation in an exhibit area before installing. As you don't know what specific materials are in the carpet, I would err on the conservative side and follow the "at least four weeks" suggestion. I assume there may be painting, case installation, and other work that will need to be done in that area as well during which you'd want an empty gallery. Since you've looked around, I will share a few resources but know you may have already found them. Most indicate avoiding carpet, and so do not give off-gassing parameters, unfortunately.
https://www.conservation-wiki.com/wiki/Guideline_13.1
https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute/services/preventive-conservation/design-considerations.html -- This indicates at least four weeks four weeks within airtight spaces, which your room may be considered, depending on your HVAC. You might be able to discuss the turnover of the air within the room with your building manager, and see if that can be adjusted during the time the space is waiting for installation. In the resource, the recommendation is for painting and sealants, not carpet and related adhesives.
As for the question regarding raising the temperature to help evacuate VOCs, I do not see this information readily, though the sources above state to control humidity during off-gassing.
I wanted to respond to you quickly, but I also will check a few other resources tomorrow.
Best,
Beth
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Elizabeth Stone
Connecting to Collections Care Monitor
University of Iowa Libraries
Collections Conservator
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-02-2025 12:36
From: Angela Linn
Subject: Carpeting in new construction + exhibits
Greetings!
Our museum is in the process of finalizing a new planetarium attached to our existing building. There will be exhibit space in the lobby outside of the planetarium and the entire space will be carpeted (not totally sure what kind but assuming it's some synthetic fiber put down with commercial-grade carpet mastic).When our whole building underwent a massive renovation & expansion in 2005 we advised the contractors that we needed to help the carpet off-gas the various volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that would be emitted from the carpet glue before people or collections could be placed in those spaces. At that time our recommendation was to slightly increase the temperature from the standard 70-degrees F to 75 and increase the air exchanges thru the HVAC system to help evacuate the contaminants.
I'm curious if the same recommendations hold true today with standard commercial carpets & glues? Is that temperature increase adequate? Anyone have a suggested total time for this process? AI is telling me that the first 48-72 hours is when the highest rate of VOCs are present. Should we also request portable HEPA filters be installed during this process or is the standard HVAC air exchange with filters enough to do the job?
I was not involved in the selection of products (unfortunately no one from the collections departments were) so its too late to request low-VOC or "green" products to be used (maybe they already made this choice, but I have no idea) so I'm trying to provide the best advice at the last minute.
I see from the Conserve O Gram on "Selecting Carpets and Floor Coverings for Exhibit Galleries and Visitor Centers" (
June 2001, Number 1/11) they recommend waiting at least
four weeks between the installation of the floor coverings and the installation of collections… I'm not sure what our construction period will allow but I'll certainly forward that as a recommendation to our team if it is still accurate.
Looking forward to hearing input from others who have gone through this process recently.
Thanks in advance!
Angela
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Angela J. Linn, Ph.D.
she/her
Senior Collections Manager, Ethnology & History
University of Alaska Museum of the North
1962 Yukon Drive
Fairbanks, AK 99775-6960
Office: (907) 474-1828
Mobile: (907) 460-2387
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