Papyrus Spring 2015

PAPYRUS
I N T E R N AT I O N A L A S S O C I AT I O N O F M U S E U M F A C I L I T Y A D M I N I S T R AT O R SI N T E R N AT I O N A L A S S O C I AT I O N O F M U S E U M F A C I L I T Y A D M I N I S T R AT O R S
Message from
IAMFA’s VP of
Administration
LED Adoptionby Museums
New Continuous
ImprovementSeries
A Practical Guide for
Sustainable Climate
Control and Lighting
VOL. 16, NO. 1 SPRING 2015VOL. 16, NO. 1 SPRING 2015
Schedule for the
25th IAMFA Conference
in Chicago

Atlanta, U.S.A. — Kevin Streiter
High Museum of Art
kevin.streiter@woodruffcenter.org
Australia — Shaun Woodhouse
Australian Centre for the
Moving Image
Shaun.Woodhouse@acmi.net.au
Chicago, USA — William Caddick
Art Institute of Chicago
wcaddick@artic.edu
Los Angeles, USA — David Cervantes
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
dcervant@lacma.org
New England, USA —
Jim Moisson
Harvard Art Museums
james_moisson@harvard.edu
New York, USA — Mark Demairo
Neue Galerie
markdemairo@neuegalerie.org
New Zealand — Cliff Heywood
Royal New Zealand Navy
clifford.heywood@nzdf.mil.nz
Ottawa-Gatineau, Canada —
Ed Richard
National Gallery of Canada
ERichard@Gallery.ca
Philadelphia, USA — Rich Reinert
Philadelphia Museum of Art
RReinert@philamuseum.org
Northern California, USA —
Jennifer Fragomeni
Exploratorium
jfrago@exploratorium.edu
United Kingdom — Jack Plumb
National Library of Scotland
j.plumb@nls.uk
Washington/Baltimore, USA —
John Bixler
Smithsonian Institution
bixlerj@si.edu
Denis Smalley
Library of Congress
dsmalley@loc.gov
REGIONAL CHAPTERSIAMFA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Message from the Vice-President
of Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Letter from the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Message from the President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
LED Adoption by Museums—Survey Results and
Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Within These Walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
A Practical Guide for Sustainable Climate Control
and Lighting in Museums and Galleries. . . . . . . . . . 9
Benchmarking Utility Best Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Historic Building Information Management:
Mount Vernon 3-D Model Underway. . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Ownership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2015 IAFMA Conference Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
A Visit to The Mary Rose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Best Practices Feature Article:
Continuous Improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Communication Within the National Library
of Scotland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Regional Updates and Member News . . . . . . . . . . . 29
IAMFA Members—Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
For more information on becoming
a member of IAMFA, please visit
www.NewIAMFA.org
Cover photo: The two bronze lions in front of the Art Institute of Chicago were a gift from Mrs. Henry Field for the Institute’s opening in 1893.
The Art Institute is hosting the 25th IAMFA Annual Conference in September 2015.
CONTENTS
Statements of fact and opinion
are made on the responsibility of
authors alone and do not imply an
opinion on the part of the editors,
officers, or members of IAMFA. The
editors of IAMFA Papyrus reserve
the right to accept or to reject any
article or advertisement submitted
for publication.
While we have made every attempt to
ensure that reproduction rights have
been acquired for the illustrations
used in this newsletter, please let us
know if we have inadvertently over-
looked your copyright, and we will
rectify the matter in a future issue.
IAMFA/Papyrus
Volume 16, Number 1
Spring 2015
Editor
Jack Plumb
Contributors
Nancy Bechtol
John Bixler
Robert Fink
Jennifer Fragomeni
Neal Graham
Joe Hernandez-Kolski
Joe May
Keith McClanahan
Randy Murphy
Jack Plumb
John Smalley
Alyson Steele
Allan Tyrrell
U.S. Department of Energy
Emrah Baki Ulas
Thomas A. Westerkamp
Jay Yelen
Design and Layout
Phredd Grafix
Editing
Artistic License
Printed in the U.S.A. by
Knight Printing
ISSN 1682-5241
Past issues of Papyrus can be found on
IAMFA's website: www.NewIAMFA.org
President
Nancy Bechtol
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC, USA
bechtna@si.edu
V.P., Administration
Randy Murphy
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles, CA, USA
RMurphy@lacma.org
V.P., Regional Affairs
Brian Coleman
Museum Victoria
Melbourne, Australia
bcoleman@museum.vic.gov.au
Treasurer
Alan Dirican
Dumbarton Oaks
Washington, DC, USA
DiricanA@doaks.org
Secretary
David Sanders
Natural History Museum (Retired)
London, UK
d.sanders@bham.ac.uk
Editor
Jack Plumb
Edinburgh, Scotland
j.plumb@nls.uk
2015 Conference Chair
Bill Caddick
Chicago, Illinois, USA
wcaddick@artic.edu
2016 Conference Chair
James Moisson
Harvard Art Museums
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
james_moisson@harvard.edu
For additional contact information,
please visit our website at www.NewIAMFA.org

Randy Murphy
Vice-President of Administration
2 PAPYRUS SPRING 2015
MESSAGE FROM THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF ADMINISTRATION
collections. We have also benefited from
the input and dedication of IAMFA
members, who have led our all-volunteer
association to the outstanding
organization it is today.
It is my pleasure to announce that,
as we turn 25, IAMFA is launching an
exciting new Corporate Sponsorship
Program, in addition to our highly
successful Conference Sponsorship
Program, to ensure that the educational
opportunities and support IAMFA
provides will continue for the next
25 years and beyond. For new Corporate
Sponsors, this is a unique and one-time-
only opportunity to become Founding
Corporate Sponsors, ensuring the
ongoing success of IAMFA and the
work it does.
Corporate Sponsorship of IAMFA
provides unequalled, ongoing and
meaningful connections to IAMFA
Member Organizations in Australia,
New Zealand, Canada, Europe and
the United States—in other words, to
many of the world’s top cultural orga-
nizations. We at IAMFA are keen to
Dear IAMFA Members and
Sponsors,
T
This year, we reach an important
milestone in IAMFA’s history—
our 25th Anniversary. It will be
celebrated, aptly enough, in Chicago,
where it all began with our first con-
ference in 1990. This will be a great
opportunity to celebrate the past
25 years, which have taken us from
a small group of museums with big
dreams of creating a professional
organization of museum facilities
administrators—originally led by
George Preston of the Art Institute
of Chicago—to the IAMFA of today.
Much has happened over these past
25 years, but one constant has been
the continuing development and
growth of IAMFA, and its lasting value
to our cultural and corporate member-
ship, our sponsors, and the international
cultural community.
While we take a moment this year
to acknowledge the past, it is really the
opportunities and promise of IAMFA’s
very bright future—and our next
25 years—that we are celebrating.
This is, of course, made possible in
large part through the dedication and
contributions of our members, but also
through the consistent and ongoing
support of our sponsors.
Throughout its first 25 years, IAMFA
has been lucky to have Conference
Sponsors who have shared in our goal of
providing outstanding facility manage-
ment of the buildings and operations
dedicated to the preservation and pre-
sentation of the world’s most important
explore ways in which our Corporate
Sponsors can achieve their goals
through sponsorship and through the
introduction of products and services
to our Member Organizations. It is
through this process that our members
will learn of new and existing solutions
that support our various missions,
while also helping us to achieve our
mutual objectives.
Our existing sponsors and Corporate
Members are among the most creative
companies in their respective industries,
and are a perfect match for our equally
creative cultural organizations. It is
going to be exciting, and great fun, to
see how we can work together to make
important connections, and help each
other solve issues, prosper and, quite
simply, operate our institutions in the
best and most efficient ways possible.
IAMFA offers Corporate Sponsors
an opportunity to reach an influential
market of nearly 300 international
Member Organizations in the cultural
sector through the triannual publica-
tion Papyrus, which features technical
articles, full-page sponsorship recog-
nition, and sponsor listings. Digital
media is also available to sponsors
through our website newiamfa.org,
with recognition on the homepage,
archives of educational presentations by
Corporate Sponsors, and the Papyrus
electronic archive.
IAMFA’s LinkedIn group provides
sponsors with direct social-media access
to 850 members from 54 countries
through ongoing communication,
personal messages, announcements to
the LinkedIn group, an annual listing
of Corporate Sponsors, along with
the possibility of targeted promotions
and contests.
In addition, Corporate Sponsors
will enjoy an opportunity to meet and
connect with members during IAMFA’s
annual multi-day conference, at which
the latest technologies and products
are shared. Sponsors also receive
Help us Celebrate our
25th Anniversary!
It is my pleasure to
announce . . . IAMFA is
launching an exciting new
Corporate Sponsorship
Program, in addition to our
highly successful Conference
Sponsorship Program, to
ensure that the educational
opportunities and support
IAMFA provides will
continue for the next
25 years and beyond.

PAPYRUS SPRING 2015 3
value your support, and look forward
to talking with you about this new
program and how we might be able
to help one another.
If you are not currently a sponsor,
but would like to become one, please let
us know. If you are already a sponsor
and know of another company of
which we should be aware, we want
to hear from you as well. If you’re a
Cultural Organization member, we
need your assistance, too.
Please let us know if you are aware
of a company that is interested in
sponsoring IAMFA, or one with which
you work that you think other IAMFA
members should know about. IAMFA
Members can also help by remembering
to consider our sponsors when mak-
ing purchasing decisions—when
you support our sponsors, you are
supporting IAMFA.
We will be reaching out to all of you
as the program grows, but please don’t
wait for us—we would be pleased to hear
your ideas at any time. You can contact
me via email at rmurphy@lacma.org
or iamfa1990@gmail.com, and by
phone at 001.323.857.4725.
I would also like to take this oppor-
tunity to acknowledge and thank
Nancy Bechtol, my Co-Chair, and our
Corporate Sponsorship Committee
members, Rich Reinert, Stacey Wittig
and Shaun Woodhouse, for their
leadership and contributions. If you
would like to serve on the Corporate
Sponsorship Committee, please let us
know; we welcome your participation.
A special thank you as well to Bill
Caddick and Patrick Jones, our hosts for
the 2015 IAMFA Annual Conference.
They have been great partners in
coordinating our Corporate and
Conference Sponsorship programs
during this Founding Corporate
Sponsorship launch. I would also like
to thank and recognize Members of
the IAMFA Board for their wisdom
and support.
In closing, I hope that you will join
us for our 25th Annual Conference
in Chicago from September 20–24,
where we are expecting more than
100 museum facility administrators
and sponsors from around the world.
It will be an excellent opportunity to
network with peers, and to learn about
new trends and technologies from
industry leaders and technical experts.
It should be quite a party—we look
forward to sharing in the celebration
with you.
Randy Murphy is Director of Operations at
the Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
and has served on the IAMFA Board of
Directors in numerous roles for many years,
spanning much of IAMFA’s history. Randy
can be reached at rmurphy@lacma.org or
iamfa1990@gmail.com, and by phone at
001.323.857.4725.
recognition at the conference for
their contributions and participation.
IAMFA conferences provide excellent
networking opportunities, allowing
members and sponsors to build lasting
professional relationships.
The IAMFA Diplomat Award,
periodically presented at the Annual
Conference, is another way in which
we recognize corporations that have
significantly advanced IAMFA’s mission
by making exceptional contributions
to the state of design, construction,
operation and maintenance of cultural
facilities. There is also a Lifetime
Achievement Award that recognizes out-
standing career achievements or contri-
butions to IAMFA’s mission. Corporate
Sponsors can also connect with the
many IAMFA Chapters across the globe
through Regional Chapter meetings.
So, how can you help us celebrate
our 25th Anniversary? We are in the
process of reaching out to all of our
past and current Conference Sponsors
and, if you haven’t yet heard from us,
you will very soon. Of course, please
feel free to reach out to us as well. We
IAMFA offers Corporate
Sponsors an opportunity to
reach an influential market
of nearly 300 international
Member Organizations in
the cultural sector through
the triannual publication
Papyrus, which features
technical articles, full-page
sponsorship recognition,
and sponsor listings.

So, with a new editor, what changes
can you expect? Well, my first task will
be to try and maintain the quality and
standards that Joe has achieved over
the years: a massive undertaking in
its own right. In trying to reach that
goal, I have a few ideas on how we
can perhaps expand the educational
content by asking learned colleagues—
especially suppliers of specialist plant
and equipment that we as estate/facility
managers employ—to provide technical
articles. To all our specialist suppliers,
then, please get in touch, as we would
like to both tap into your specialist
knowledge, and learn more about
your products.
In the interests of improving com-
munication between the IAMFA Board
and you, the IAMFA membership,
we will also be asking Board Members
to provide short résumés of their
progress in their individual areas
of responsibility. This month, we
are pleased to include a piece from
Randy Murphy, VP Administration,
regarding his work on the new
Corporate Sponsorship strategy.
In addition to these initiatives, of
course, we still want to hear from you,
our members, as often as possible. This
is your magazine, and should reflect
your knowledge and experiences, so I
would ask for your continued support
in providing your stories. I am sure we
all have experiences that would be of
interest to our colleagues. As I have
often said, if I can write an article, so can
you, so please get those keyboards going.
Moving on, I know that Bill Caddick
and Patrick Jones are hard at work
preparing for our next international
conference, which will be held in
Chicago from Sunday, September 20
(the Benchmarking workshop) to
Wednesday, September 23, with an
F
or regular visitors to the IAMFA
website, (newiamfa.org), yes, the
rumour is true: Joe May has finally
hung up his pen, and I have taken over
as editor of Papyrus. The good news is
that, whilst Joe has stepped down as a
Member of the IAMFA Board, he is
still working away in the background
in his role as IAMFA webmaster and
manager of the IAMFA LinkedIn site,
while also supporting the regular
publication of Papyrus.
Those of you with longer memories
will remember Papyrus as rather thin
monochrome magazine. Under Joe’s
editorial leadership, the magazine is
now produced in full glorious colour,
sometimes with well over 50 pages.
What I have noticed most is an increase
in the number and quality of technical
articles, which I know have been of great
value, and do contribute to our continual
professional development (CPD).
What may not be so obvious to
fellow IAMFA members is that Joe has
also almost singlehandedly renewed
the IAMFA website from top to bottom,
while also setting up the LinkedIn site
for IAMFA members. At last count,
the LinkedIn site had 848 members in
54 countries—a magnificent achieve-
ment by anybody’s standard. I am sure
that IAMFA’s membership will be with
me when I say that we owe a great debt
of gratitude to Joe May for all his work
on the IAMFA board, and his tireless
efforts in promoting the IAMFA cause.
So, on behalf of all IAMFA members,
thank you, Joe May!
optional extra day on Thursday,
September 24. For details of the
conference, please visit the website,
where details of the conference
venues are displayed, including a
link to the Hyatt Regency Chicago,
our conference hotel.
This particular international con-
ference in Chicago celebrates a very
important anniversary in the history of
IAMFA. It is fitting that we are returning
to Chicago, where it all began in 1990,
when George Preston, Director of
Physical Plant at the Art Institute of
Chicago, recognized the importance of
sharing knowledge and experience with
fellow professionals. Along with other
likeminded colleagues, he accordingly
laid the groundwork for the organisa-
tion we know today. To honour that
vision, this important 25th anniversary
is being celebrated in George Preston’s
hometown of Chicago.
From previous experience I know
that, once we get into July and August,
things really start to pick up with the
sheer number of last-minute details
that need to be resolved as the start of
the conference draws ever nearer. To
help, please go to the website’s Payment
page as soon as you can to sign up and
confirm your conference attendance.
Please remember that the Thursday trip
is an addition to the main conference
booking, and needs to booked and paid
for on the Payment page. Nothing
makes management of the conference
easier than by knowing just how many
colleagues have signed up as delegates,
guests, and for the additional day.
Whilst we are on the subject of
payments, if you have not already paid,
please remember that your 2015 IAMFA
membership fee was due on January 1,
so please remember to pay before the
last date, which is July 15, 2015.
Jack Plumb
Editor, Papyrus
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

this extra day to visit cultural facilities
in towns outside of the host city. We
are all going to be in for a real treat
in September as we celebrate our
25th year in the same town as our
very first meeting.
In January, we welcomed Jack Plumb
back onto the IAMFA Board, to take the
place of Joe May as the Board Member
responsible for editorial work. We
were all so very sorry to lose Joe on
the Board; he has worked tirelessly for
IAMFA for years, but needed to take a
break to concentrate on his day job.
For many weeks during the year, Joe
would clock nearly 20 hours a week
handling our IAMFA workload. His
dedication to IAMFA was truly a part-
time job, and we will likely never replace
that level of effort with another volun-
teer Board Member. We all work hard,
but Joe set a bar no one else has yet
been able to match!
Joe is still managing our Papyrus
magazine, and serves as editor of
our website and LinkedIn group.
This work still requires a minimum
of 10 hours per week, but it is better
than the 20-plus hours he used to
put in for us. We are most fortunate,
however, that Jack is willing to join
up with us again. The transition
has also been seamless because of
how well these two work together.
There are other members of IAMFA
whose volunteer efforts are absolutely
critical to our association. Our Regional
Chapter Chairs come immediately to
mind, because we would only come
together once a year without this
group of dedicated members. The
UK Chapter actually organizes a two-day
conference for each of their regional
chapter meetings. The Washington
Metro chapter organizes excellent
lectures and tours around a specific
theme at various cultural institutions
in their region. Two different chapters
in California have continued a tradi-
tion, for more than a decade, of solid
scheduled meetings and tours. Their
California best practice is actually
helping to advise a group from the
northwestern USA and Canada, as
they organize their first meeting as
a new chapter of IAMFA.
These jobs are not easy, but our
Chapter Chairs make them look just
that. We have gathered this group of
Chapter Chairs at the past two Annual
Meetings and will do so again in
Chicago, as it helps to get them all
together to share experiences, ideas and
practices. IAMFA is all about networking
and sharing our professional expe-
riences with one another, and our
Chapter Chairs are key to our success
in reaching that goal.
One of my goals is to encourage
every member of IAMFA to do a little
bit more for our association. If we
each got involved in making this a
better organization, we would be able
to do everything we have outlined in
our Strategic Plan. Each of us could
contribute an article to Papyrus, post a
facilities question within the LinkedIn
group, organize a tour or presentation
for their local Chapter, or consider
hosting an Annual Conference in 2018,
2019 or 2020.
I am a firm believer that your
career will benefit if you do decide
to take a step forward and help just a
bit more than you already do, because
we are an organization of volunteers,
and we need you. I can’t thank our
existing volunteers enough for all
they do, and I look forward to working
with each and every one of you in
the future!
R
unning an association of our size
with volunteers is not an easy task.
I am reminded every month
during our Board meetings just how
challenging it is to oversee a member-
ship of hundreds of professionals from
all over the world, utilizing folks who
already have very busy day jobs!
We also organize our annual
meetings with volunteers—this year,
Bill Caddick and Patrick Jones are
key. I have watched them slowly but
surely organize this year’s conference.
One month they handle sponsorship;
another month, the museum sites we
will see; and yet another month, the
logistics of transportation and educa-
tional programming. I marvel at how
it all comes together, one month at
a time, proving that an annual con-
ference of our size and quality can
indeed be pulled together by a
dedicated membership.
I hope you have already gone to
our website and registered for the
25th Annual IAMFA conference in
Chicago this coming September. We
have provided a detailed schedule for
this year’s program in this edition of
Papyrus. Each day has been programmed
from morning till night, starting on
Sunday with our Benchmarking Work-
shop, and ending on Thursday with
an extra day trip by bus to Milwaukee
to tour museums in that part of the
country. Some of us just can’t see
enough during the official three days
of the conference, and truly appreciate
Nancy Bechtol
President, IAMFA
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

T
he recent switch to LEDs to
illuminate Michelangelo’s
masterpiece on the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel is just one of the latest
in a series of high-profile installations
that show how far the technology has
come—not only in terms of its accep-
tance and adoption, but also in terms
of its performance. But solid-state
lighting (SSL) is a long way from
being a slam-dunk in such settings,
where the heightened stakes can
magnify the importance of some of
SSL’s remaining issues.
To shed light on the matter (pun
intended), in June 2014, Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory con-
ducted a survey of museums on behalf
of the Department of Energy (DOE),
the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI),
and the Canadian Conservation
Institute (CCI). The responses and
recommendations—which are pre-
sented in a new GATEWAY report,
SSL Adoption by Museums: Survey Results,
Analysis, and Recommendations—offer
valuable insights for manufacturers,
as well as for specifiers and museums.
The report analyzes the survey
responses of 46 members of the
museum community, who had requested
a copy of the document Guidelines for
Assessing Solid-State Lighting (SSL) for
Museums, a pivotal resource written in
2011 by Jim Druzik of GCI and Stefan
Michalski of CCI. Most of those who
responded to the survey were museum
directors, designers, conservators,
curators, as well as those involved in
collections care and registration; about
a third were international.
More than two-thirds (68%) of
respondents placed a high priority on
energy efficiency. Respondents also
indicated, however, that they wouldn’t
sacrifice potential damage or light
quality/aesthetics to achieve it. At the
same time, they acknowledged that
lighting quality is not necessarily
diminished by higher-source efficacy,
and that it’s possible to achieve
both high lm/W and high-quality
LED performance.
More than half (51%) identified
incandescent as their principal lighting
type, with LED at 40% (compared to
almost none in 2009); CFL at 13%;
linear fluorescent at 11%; and others
(including metal halide, halogen, and
daylight) at 22%. Color, spectral power
distribution (SPD), and damage poten-
tial were the main considerations in
lamp selection, with affordable, high-
performing, attractive products that
won’t become obsolete considered key.
When evaluating potential damage,
the majority considered ultraviolet
and infrared content, and about half
considered short-wavelength emissions
in the SPD.
Although 75% of respondents expe-
rienced early LED product failures,
the maximum reported failure rate
was only 2.5% of the installed lamps
or fixtures. The most-noted sources of
failure were electronic components
(drivers, power supplies), rather than
the LED sources themselves. Respon-
dents indicated that they’re looking for
warranties that cover LED chips and
electronics, lumen depreciation, and
color shift, and some are even looking
for warranties that are longer than
their return-on-investment period.
When asked whether they would
consider and implement another LED
installation, 71% indicated yes; 6%, no;
and 32% of respondents said they
already had. When evaluating the
success of the installed LED lighting,
respondents solicited feedback from
groups of observers: unanimously
favorable from the public, and 97%
favorable from museum staff.
Dimming was generally deemed
important to achieve required low-light
levels, down to 5 fc (50 lux). Nearly
two-thirds (over 65%) of respondents
would use lighting controls if they
worked with their existing lamp-based
infrastructure and afforded lamp-by-
lamp control of light intensity (and, if
possible, chromaticity). They would
also like the ability to monitor lux levels
on an object-by-object basis. Dimming
incompatibilities still exist and, due to
the added challenge, older systems of
mechanical controls (e.g., screens)
are still being used to modify the light
output of lamps, because they are
simple, inexpensive, and effective.
LED Adoption by Museums
Survey Results and Recommendations
By the U.S. Department of Energy

It was clear from the survey that
museums would use controls if they
were user-friendly and not prohibi-
tively expensive. Wireless controls
would be easier to retrofit, because
no additional control wires need be
run between the dimmer and the
load, and luminaires equipped with a
wireless receiver could be individually
dimmed to customize light output for
a specific object. This would allow for
setting and maintaining illuminances
within conservation parameters (thus
more easily tracking lux-hours on an
object-by-object basis) and provide
additional energy savings, as compared
to using screens to reduce output.
However, survey respondents indicated
that, at this point in time, controls are
too complicated; this is likely to change
in the coming years.
Respondents were skeptical about
the predicted life of LED lighting
products, due to the lack of “real”
proof. Although L70 (the point at
which lumen depreciation reaches
30%) is often accepted as the typical
failing criterion, this is not always
adopted by the museum community;
significantly shorter lifespans, such as
5,000 hours, are frequently used in
economic analysis.
Overall, questionnaire responses
and comments showed that there is
still confusion about different LED
products and what museum staff
should be asking for, as well as con-
cerns about maintenance. It was clear
from the responses that education
and experience are needed at
multiple levels.
A link to the complete GATEWAY report,
SSL Adoption by Museums: Survey Results,
Analysis, and Recommendations can be
found on IAMFA Education page at
www.newiamfa.org.
For more information on becoming a member of the
International Association of Museum Facility Administrators, please visit
www.NewIAMFA.org
Become a Member of IAMFA

I’m in my car once again
I wouldn’t be doing this if Jess wasn’t my best friend
It’s her birthday
And she wants to see the Urs Fischer exhibit today
And the voice inside my head is screaming
Are you crazy?
Why did you click “going” instead of “maybe?”
Now you have no choice
You’re driving downtown on a Friday
Did you even think about parking?
Well, there goes your whole day!
As I pull a U-Turn and grab a meter
The voice is getting even louder
Haven’t you been paying attention
You know the score
You’ve got way too much to do
You don’t have time for fun anymore
You’ve gotta keep posting, liking and tweeting
You’ve gotta keep up
Keep your head down 24-7
A 9 to 5 is no longer enough!
I buy my ticket
Attach my button
And the voice inside my head
It just keeps comin’
China is beating us at math and science!
And your college roommate just made a funny video about the rebel
alliance!
Why go to a museum?
You’ve got to go viral!
I step in the doors and
I am greeted by the sweetest elderly woman in the history
of elderly women
Her smile says
Say goodbye to that voice
It’s about to disappear
Cuz fortunately that voice doesn’t have a membership here
And now all I hear
Is nothing
No, it’s something
A studying
A surveying
A calmness breached occasionally by a child crying
I see my friends
“Oh my god, I haven’t seen you in forever, how’ve
you been?”
And we do what our ancestors did before freeways
We walk
We read
We talk
We breathe
Wow
I have to take a step forward
To really notice the details
Imagine the process
Look at that
I have to take a step back
To really enjoy what’s in front of me
The pure artistry that has been preserved for all
of us to see
Including these high school kids all around me
I see the lights going on inside their eyes
They are not snap chatting
These are memories that will survive
And the voice inside my head whispers
It’s pretty cool, right?
This is what you are meant to do with your life
See the world differently
Create something with meaning
In a world where human life is fragile
Where loved ones come and go
Within these walls
It is our collective creative energy
We together uphold
Like a dot on a canvas
I feel smaller than I’ve ever felt
Yet a part of something more important than me
One giant connected line of history
I am reminded of everything and everyone
Who existed before me
So I can share this experience with those who are
born from me
And on and on and on we go
Into infinity.
© Joe Hernandez-Kolski
Within These Walls
By Joe Hernandez-Kolski
Joe Hernández-Kolski is a two-time HBO Def Poet and Emmy
Award-Winner, actor/poet/comedian. Visit his website at
www.pochojoe.com.

M
useums and galleries engage audiences across
generations, contributing long-term value to our
communities through the preservation, research,
interpretation and exhibition of historical and contemporary
art, objects and stories. As such, they are well placed to
advocate sustainable practices, foster a culture of environ-
mental stewardship, and champion green issues. By enhancing
their own sustainability, museums and galleries are able
to set a positive example, demonstrate leadership to their
communities, and effect positive change.
The changing and evolving nature of museums and
galleries has, on the other hand, resulted in a wide spectrum
of exhibition and spatial typologies over time. The objects
these institutions house range from historical manuscripts
and ancient objects, to organic specimens and fossils, and
from Renaissance paintings to contemporary art and digital
media, and much more.
They are stored or exhibited, temporarily or permanently,
in spaces that range from small to large, private to publicly
owned, within building types of different complexities that
accordingly require varying systems for climate control
and lighting. As a result, the capital, operational and
maintenance budgets of these facilities also present very
diverse typologies that serve different objectives, priorities,
organisational structures and processes.
All of these factors make a sustainable approach to climate
control and lighting in museums and galleries a non-
prescriptive task. With such a widely variant spatial and con-
textual range, establishing common criteria and methodologies
is not only challenging, but also may not adequately respond
to the specific needs that will best serve these facilities.
Moreover, in this era of sustainability and energy use,
best-practice expectations for building systems are also
rapidly evolving. Museum and gallery facilities are under
increasing pressure to reduce their environmental impact and
become more efficiently run, whilst maintaining an optimal
environment for exhibition display remains the key concern.
A Practical Guide for Sustainable Climate Control and
Lighting in Museums and Galleries is a study developed by
Steensen Varming and International Conservation Services.
This work was commissioned by Museums and Galleries
Queensland, in partnership with the Museums & Galleries
of New South Wales, the Regional and Public Galleries
Association of New South Wales, and the Regional Galleries
Association of Queensland.
The Guide has been informed by national and interna-
tional theory and practice, and aims to contribute to the ability
of museums and galleries across the globe to strike a balance
when it comes to providing a well-rounded background and
practical approaches for complex issues. While the technical
A Practical Guide for Sustainable
Climate Control and Lighting in
Museums and Galleries
By Emrah Baki Ulas, Steensen Varming
Cover Image from The Practical Guide for Sustainable Climate
Control and Lighting in Museums and Galleries; Art Gallery of
New South Wales Asian Gallery Image © 2005, Steensen Varming
issues discussed are of regular debate, and should always be
considered with specific regard to the local environment,
the Guide provides principles that are largely applicable,
or at least informative, for most facilities around the world.
This initiative received funding from the Australian
Government’s Department of Industry and Science as a
part of the Energy Efficiency Information Grants Program,
and is supported by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an
initiative of the Australian, state and territorial governments.
A link to The Practical Guide for Sustainable Climate Control
and Lighting in Museums and Galleries can be found on the
IAMFA website’s Education page at newiamfa.org.
Emrah Baki Ulas is an Associate with Steensen Varming,
and is based in Sydney, Australia. Emrah can be reached at
EmrahBaki.Ulas@steensenvarming.com

U
tility costs always seem to be on the lists of hot topics
or top issues among IAMFA members. When you
look at the overall spending pie chart for the IAMFA
Benchmarks Survey, it’s easy to understand why. The median
spending for utilities, maintenance, and security costs are
about equal for the group, and represent nearly ninety
percent of total operating costs. IAMFA members who
are working to improve their budget performance and
focusing on utilities are working on one of the critical
components of their costs.
At the last Benchmarking Practices and Learning
Workshop, many participants were using benchmarking to
reduce their utility expenses or consumption. Some were
focused on specific issues or problems they were experi-
encing with extreme weather or rate hikes, while others
were looking at their overall performance. Benchmarking
can help with both issues and more.
Most IAMFA members are familiar with the bench-
marking concepts. There are web-based forms to enter
regarding a given institution’s demographics, such as gross
area, visitor counts, age, etc. This demographic information
is needed so that the costs and consumption can be norma-
lized among all benchmarking participants. For continuing
participants, we carry over the prior year’s data, so that
they need only enter the information that has changed.
Then there are the specific forms for the various major cost
components. One example of a portion of the utility-cost
section is shown in Figure 1.
From this data, the IAMFA Benchmarking Survey
provides normalized charts to compare the following:
• Electrical cost per KWH
• Electrical consumption per GSF or GSM
• Electrical cost per GSF or GSM
• Total utility cost per GSF or GSM
All of the cost charts are available in the participant’s
currency. Figure 2 shows how participants compare to their
benchmarked peers for total utility costs. Note that each
vertical bar represents an institution, and that each insti-
tution is coded so that only the participants can identify
one another. The cost (US dollars in this example) ranges
BENCHMARKING
Benchmarking Utility Best
Practices
By Keith McClanahan, Facility Issues
Participants in the Benchmarking and Learning Workshop
held during the 2014 IAMFA Annual Conference in Edinburgh,
Scotland.
Figure 1: Annual Utilities Costs—IAMFA 2014 Benchmarking
Survey—Facility Issues

from a low of $1.23 to $19.44 per GSF (gross square foot),
with a median cost of $3.39.
A question many of the participants asked at the Bench-
marking Practices and Learning Workshop in Edinburgh was,
“What can I do to move to the left on this chart, without
affecting our collections?” To improve your institution’s per-
formance, you need to know what to change in your facility.
One way to do that is to compare what others are doing.
The IAMFA Benchmarking Survey can help with that by
analyzing which best practices have been implemented by
quartile of performance. Over the past several years, the
Steering Committee and Facility Issues have been identifying
“Best Practices.” The Utility Best Practices are organized
into nine sections, and Benchmarking participants indicate
which of these best practices have been implemented.
Fgure 3 is a screenshot showing the Utility Best Practices;
the details of the “Commissioning” section (UB2) have
been expanded to show all the questions.
Next we will review implementation results, to see if these
best practices affect the utility-cost performance. The results
for the same section highlighted above are shown in the
table below (Figure 4) with the implementation rate shown
for the overall group and by quartile. This is enlightening
for several reasons:
1. The first-quartile participants have the highest
implementation rates.
2.. The fourth-quartile participants have the lowest
implementation rates.
3.. The second and third quartiles show mixed results, so
there are clearly other factors affecting utility perfor-
mance. After all, this is only one of the nine Best Practices
sections in the utility section of the report. Other best
practices will have an impact on performance.
4.. The results offer good analytical data that could
help support a recommendation to implement
more commissioning at a given institution.
Facilities managers should carefully analyze all of the
Best Practices to determine which would offer the highest
return on investment and the highest benefit in reducing
utility costs. By applying these, you are sure to improve your
performance. For a little bit of your time, you will receive
quite a bit of valuable feedback on which Best Practices
would have the most benefit in improving your performance.
The Benchmarking Survey is endorsed by IAMFA,
and registration for the 2015 survey is open. To register,
please go to: www.facilityissues.com or email
keithmcc@facilityissues.com.
Keith McClanahan is Principle with Facility Issues Inc., and is
the coordinator of IAMFA’s Annual Benchmarking Exercise.
Figure 3: Utilities Best Practices—IAMFA 2014 Benchmarking
Survey—Facility Issues
Figure 2: Annual Utilities Costs per Area—IAMFA 2014
Benchmarking Survey—Facility Issues
Figure 4: Utilities Best Practices Implementation Results by
Quartile—IAMFA 2014 Benchmarking Survey—Facility Issues

G
eorge Washington was a
meticulous record-keeper.
Among the documents and
artifacts maintained today by the
Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association are
many of the first President’s extensive
notes regarding the design and con-
struction of his stately mansion along
the Potomac River. After acquiring
the property in 1754, Washington
carefully documented the evolution
of the circa-1735 farmhouse over the
next 45 years, as he oversaw Mount
Vernon’s expansion to a 21-room
mansion with numerous outbuildings,
gardens, and landscaped grounds.
Today, in keeping with Washington’s
tradition of detailed record-keeping
and vigilant stewardship of the property,
the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association
(MVLA) is developing a state-of-the-art
3-D model and database that will provide
access to an unprecedented amount
of information regarding the mansion
and site. This Historic Building Infor-
mation Management (HBIM) tool will
serve as a “virtual file cabinet,” enabling
scholars, curators, and facility managers
to explore, utilize, and update layers
of historical documentation, records,
images, and as-built conditions for
the property.
Revealing the Layers
of History
To refine the HBIM concept, and carry
out a pilot project to prove the concept’s
viability, MVLA turned to Quinn Evans
Architects, a firm that has completed
several projects at Mount Vernon,
including restoration of the 16-sided
treading barn, greenhouse, and whiskey
distillery. The four-person MVLA-Quinn
Evans working group began with the
north end of the mansion, which
includes the saloon room, or “New
Room,” as a pilot area. Based on the
success of this first phase, the team is
now proceeding with documentation
of the entire mansion.
The process began with a review
of decades of relevant documentation,
including the plantation’s Historic
Structures Report (HSR) and Cultural
Landscape Report (CLR), drawings cre-
ated by archaeologist Morley Williams
in the 1930s, and new records from
MVLA’s recent restoration of the New
Room. Quinn Evans team members
also toured the structure, including
crawling through difficult-to-reach
areas with Thomas Reinhart, MVLA’s
deputy director for architecture, in
order to access the house’s framing.
A series of laser scans provided
another critical layer of information,
revealing the complexity of the framing
above the New Room in particular.
Working closely with Reinhart, Quinn
Evans incorporated the information
from this array of sources into a detailed
model of the building, carefully repre-
senting the construction logic as well
as spatial organization of the mansion.
The initial effort documented some
interesting aspects of the framing of
the New Room. In a crawlspace above,
wooden hangers made of scrap lumber
support the room’s beautifully curved
ceiling. In one instance, scans depicted
a piece of crown molding reused as a
hanger. Close inspection of the element
indicated that it was likely repurposed
from another part of the house affected
by the building of the New Room.
Installation of an air-conditioning
system in the 1990s had damaged this
fragment of historical crown molding—
an example of the type of inadvertent
harm to historical fabric the team hopes
the HBIM will prevent in the future.
Historic Building Information
Management
Mount Vernon 3-D Model Underway
By Alyson Steele and Robert Fink
Mount Vernon mansion along the Potomac River in Virginia.

Customizing to MVLA
Requirements
As Quinn Evans began to model the
structure, team members worked
closely with MVLA to establish clear
naming conventions that would build
upon and integrate conventions of the
extensive MVLA documentation for the
database. For example, all historical
buildings on the estate have a three-
letter prefix, such as MAN for mansion
or STA for Stable, and each room has
an identifying number. As a multi-
dimensional visual record, the HBIM
uses these MVLA conventions, and
builds upon them to create unique
identifiers for walls, doors, fixtures,
The New Room.
Quinn Evans Architects mock-up of a graphic user interface for the Mount Vernon HBIM.
framing members, and other compo-
nents, to allow for straightforward
queries. Users will be able to find
information spatially, or by searching
the database.
The model integrates two basic types
of information about building elements:
essential and cultural. Essential infor-
mation, or the inherent properties of
the building elements, will be embedded
into the system as custom parameters
of the model elements themselves. This
includes the date of original installation,
material properties and data, crafts-
men, manufacturers, products, repairs,
and maintenance dates. These cus-
tom parameters incorporate informa-
tion from Washington’s era to the
present day.
Cultural information will be provided
by linking reference documents to the
building elements, and will supplement
that information with rich detail, includ-
ing photographs; analytical documents;
historical references; stories regarding
design, construction and conservation;
information about people and events;
and myths and legends. In this way,
users can either quickly access basic
information on the history and main-
tenance of an element, or go deeper
and retrieve its complete archival
record. All of the information will
serve to guide future restorations
and support ongoing stewardship at
Mount Vernon.
A User-Friendly Model
Quinn Evans created the 3-D model
using Autodesk’s Revit® software.
Through a custom-designed workflow,
the model was then imported into Esri’s
ArcGIS platform. The 3-D capability
of CityEngine, and the user-friendly
accessibility of Web Scene, will enable
users to access information about both
the buildings and the landscape from
desktops or mobile devices, retrieving
details ranging from nails and door-
knobs to the location of the property’s
honey locust trees. Searches will take
users through different eras of construc-
tion, and detail all aspects of facility
management, including timetables for
maintenance. The database will soon be
put to good use, for example, in guiding
the installation of a new fire-suppression

system, ensuring that the incorporation
of the new system’s equipment,
piping, and sprinkler heads will not
damage the historic structure.
“With 280 years of history to preserve
and reference, while accommodating
approximately one million visitors a
year, the MVLA will rely heavily on the
HBIM to guide many aspects of our
stewardship,” Reinhart notes. Ongoing
restoration and preservation efforts,
including maintenance, will clearly
benefit from this dynamic tool. And
George Washington’s 45 years of
detailed records—now in the process
of being captured in the database—
can be routinely accessed, as well as
safely preserved, among the estate’s
historical artifacts.
Alyson Steele, AIA, LEED AP, is a principal,
and Robert Fink, AIA, is an associate with
Quinn Evans Architects.
Web Scene screenshot of the overall mansion.
Revit model with a filter applied, indicating
the dates of construction. Revit model showing properties of a wall in the user interface.
Past issues of Papyrus
can be found on IAMFA’s website
www.NewIAMFA.org

L
et’s face it: who of us working in
facilities management doesn’t take
ownership? When something goes
wrong, you take it personally. After all,
we virtually live in our museums, don’t
we? We collectively and individually
look to build a better mousetrap.
For some of us, that statement can be
taken quite literally. I started working
as the Director of Properties at the
Chicago History Museum in March
2010. With five years under my belt
here, you would think I’d be used to
it. But something manages to surprise
me about once a week at these facilities.
It stays on my mind until I close my eyes
for the night, and forces them open
in the early hours of the morning. I’m
just like you. My museum might be
considered somewhat on the smaller
side, but it can be plenty to handle
throughout the course of the day.
The Chicago History Museum comes
in at about 265,000 square feet. I handle
day-to-day operations for the Museum’s
support staff, which includes our engi-
neer (that’s right, I have only one); the
A/V technician; an offsite custodian;
and the chief of security. I also oversee
our outsourced housekeeping depart-
ment, which tends to get accidentally
blended into the building maintenance
department.
Being a smaller museum, the theory
often called upon is “All hands on
deck.” One minute I will find myself
working on a budget report or speaking
at a staff meeting; the next I might be
rodding a clogged toilet. That is just how
it is. My job description was originally
three pages long. I ruin a lot of neckties.
The person who had the job before
me was here quite a long time. He had
his own filing system, which I would
consider controlled chaos. I was work-
ing in his old office for a week before
I discovered that it was carpeted. The
number of artifacts and documents in
the main building alone could total
over 23 million. But honestly, we have
never attempted to count them. We
have been at this location, (our fifth)
since 1931. Our original name was the
Chicago Historical Society.
We went through a re-branding/
remodeling in 2006. At that time, we
opened a permanent gallery, com-
plete with Chicago’s first L-car, on
loan from the CTA. It is one of the
oldest historical artifacts that you can
still touch and walk through. Every
time I go through it, I still can’t get
over just how small people used to be.
In the 1970s, a structure was added to
the building, doubling its footprint
and relocating its entrance to face
Clark Street, instead of the park at
the east side. An HVAC system was
installed that was locally controlled
by pneumatics.
In the mid-1980s, the museum once
again got a major renovation, giving it
the look it has today from the outside.
It was around that time that some of
the areas were given electronic controls
and linked with a building automation
system. Then, again in 2006, when we
added our Crossroads Gallery, more
HVAC upgrades were added, and
another building automation system
was put in place to handle the new areas.
This gave the CHM three independent
HVAC systems. Each does not know
what the other is doing. I am quite
certain that the original plan was to
eliminate the old systems when the
new ones were installed, but budgets
had to be maintained and, since the
old systems were limping along, they
were still considered “working.” The
result is a complicated array of systems,
tubes and wires that only a seasoned
engineer could love. It was what I
consider a “Franken-VAC.”
Ownership
By Jay Yelen
The Chicago History Museum.

We have two offsite storage facilities
for which I am responsible as well.
One is 20,000 sq. ft. and the other is
100,000 sq. ft. I’m sure you’re wonder-
ing why we have such a small storage
site at 20,000. To the best of my knowl-
edge, the site was sold to us by the First
National Bank of Chicago for a dollar
in the 1980s. It was once a bomb
shelter, built above ground, and buried
into the side of a man-made hill. Being
inside it is as bone-chilling as it sounds.
The concrete ceiling is 18 inches thick,
and the front door is almost a thousand
pounds. It will take a 3-megaton blast
from 3 miles away.
Just inside the entrance, there are
decontamination showers and disabled
horns and lights to warn of high
radiation. There are two generators in
the machine room that were discon-
nected long ago. Their 30,000-gallon
fuel tank is now a sump basin for access
rainwater. Since the building is under-
ground, it manages to stay at 62 degrees
all year round. There is an air-handler
and a boiler, but the air-cooling system
hasn’t worked in years. We would only
run it to dry the place out.
The custodian there has a system of
portable dehumidifiers he uses around
the building. He has the humility locked
in at 45% almost all year, as well. If
you can picture painted concrete and
cinderblock walls that return into a
beige vinyl composition 1960s floor
tile, complete with a white metal galley
kitchen, then you would have a pretty
clear vision of that place. All of that,
lit by cool-white fluorescent lights,
running from one end of the space
to the other.
The most dank items are the dig-out
exits. Positioned in the far opposite
corners of the space, there are two
3 ¥ 3-foot metal doors. Opening them
exposes a wood-slat array that holds
back fine gravel. Bolted to the door
inside is an army-type shovel. The idea
is to remove the slats and dig the gravel
out, exposing a tunnel and ladder to
the surface for evacuation, in the event
that the doors could not be opened in
the front. I was told that the chamber
holding the gravel was three feet square,
and over 20 feet to the surface. It
would be an awful procedure to dig
out and, after all these years, I’m not
even sure that the gravel would con-
tinue to flow out of the hatch. Another
exit has since been installed nearby,
but the dig-outs remain as a reminder
of what we were willing to do to protect
ourselves from a threat that almost
happened not too many years ago.
For five years I have maintained
these properties. I would like to say
that I have been able to make moderate
improvements. We have reduced our
pneumatic-controlled areas by 30%,
and added another stacked cooling
module on to our staged cooling
system. In the summer, we switch our
system to a centrifugal chiller. This
will give us time to clean and maintain
the staged system. In the winter, we
clean the centrifugal.
We have an array of solar panels that
produce 45 kw of power that feeds back
into our grid. We now have two working
low-pressure boilers that have a linkage-
less control system to dial them down.
We use heating in the summer to
balance our humidity and temperature,
as well as provide hot domestic water.
As much as I would like to, I find it
difficult to take in outside air, due to
pollution and high humidity here in
the city. Being next to the lake, we tend
to stay around a high 70% humidity,
although we require between 40 and
50%. We are always reacting to the
aging systems, which I consider to be
the true nature of this beast.
It has all given me some gray hair,
which I will accept in place of losing
more of it than I already have. I am
called upon day and night. I am the
person cringing next to the large
breaker that is tripped as I throw it
back on. The people here have turned
into my one big dysfunctional family,
and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I’d love to write more, but my
phone just rang, and I have to drive
down to the Museum tonight, since
there was another power glitch by our
electric supplier. It’s 8˚F out, and the
chiller tower probably has two hours
before it will freeze over.
I hope to meet you in September at
the IAMFA Conference, and we can
talk about the CHM as well as the city
itself. If it happened in Chicago, we
have it here at the Chicago History
Museum. We are Chicago!
Jay Yelen is Director of Properties at the
Chicago History Museum, and can be
reached at Yelen@chicagohistory.org.
The IAMFA LinkedIn Group now has over
850 members from 54 countries. Join the
Group and see what everyone is talking about,
and PLEASE...join in the discussions;
we'd like to hear what you have to say.
linkedin.com

2015 IAMFA CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Spirit of Chicago
Field Museum of Natural History
Harley-Davidson Museum
Milwaukee Public Museum
DELEGATE PROGRAM
SUNDAY,
09:00–16:00 Benchmarking and Learning Workshop
Separate registration required for those who did not participate in the
2014 Annual Benchmarking Exercise — please see Payment Page at
www.newiamfa.org
Hyatt Regency Chicago
18:00–21:00 Travel to Tommy Gun’s Garage for Opening Reception Tommy Gun’s Garage
MONDAY,
09:00–10:00 Travel to Field Museum of Natural History—Introductions Field Museum of Natural History
10:00–10:30 Presentation No. 1: Roger Machin/Methods and Materials
10:30–11:00 Coffee Break
11:00–11:30 Presentation No. 2: Steensen Varming
11:30–12:00 Presentation No. 3: Camfil Farr
12:00–13:00 Lunch for Delegates and Guests
13:00–15:00 Facility and Exhibition Tours: Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium Field Museum of Natural History and
Shedd Aquarium
15:00–15:30 Return to Hyatt Regency Chicago Hyatt Regency Chicago
18:00–21:00 Lake Michigan Dinner Cruise on the Spirit of Chicago Spirit of Chicago
TUESDAY,
09:00–10:00 Travel to Museum of Science and Industry—Introductions Museum of Science and Industry
10:00–10:30 Presentation No. 4: McGuire Engineers
10:30–11:00 Coffee Break
11:00–11:30 Presentation No. 5: Lighting Services Inc.
11:30–12:00 Presentation No. 6: Ed McDonald
12:00–12:30 Tour of the U-505 and Exhibitions
12:30–13:30 Lunch
13:30–14:00 Benchmarking Discussion
14:00–15:30 IAMFA AGM
Camfil Farr Drinks Reception (Tentative)
WEDNESDAY,
09:00–09:30 Travel to the Art Institute of Chicago Art Institute of Chicago
09:30–10:00 Presentation No. 7: Vibration Management in Museum Construction
10:00–10:30 Presentation No. 8: Building the Modern Wing—Turner Construction
10:30–11:00 Coffee Break for Delegates and Guests
11:00–11:30 Presentation No. 9: Security Benchmarking Survey Results—
Doug Hall/Smithsonian
11:30–12:00 Presentation No. 10: Best Practices in Understanding Mechanical Systems—
John Bixler/Smithsonian
12:00–13:00 Lunch
13:00–13:30 Presentation No. 11: Pepper Construction
13:30–14:00 Presentation No. 12: Fan Wall Technology—Nortek and Hill Mechanicals
14:00–15:00 Facility Tour: Art Institute of Chicago
17:30–18:30 Travel to the Art Institute of Chicago—Group Photo Art Institute of Chicago
18:30–21:30 Gala: Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago
THURSDAY,
09:00–11:00 Travel to Milwaukee
11:00–12:00 Tour of the Milwaukee Public Museum Milwaukee Public Museum
12:00–12:30 Travel to the Harley Davidson Museum Harley Davidson Museum
12:30–14:30 Lunch and Tour of the Harley Davidson Museum
14:30–16:30 Return to Chicago Hyatt Regency Chicago

Lincoln Park Zoo
The Peggy Notebaert Nature
Museum—The Museum of the
Chicago Academy of Sciences
Shedd Aquarium
Museum of Science and Industry
Adler Planetarium
GUEST PROGRAM
20 SEPTEMBER 2015
15:00–17:00 Registration Hyatt Regency Chicago
18:00–21:00 Travel to Tommy Gun’s Garage for Opening Reception Tommy Gun’s Garage
21 SEPTEMBER 2015
09:00–10:00 Travel to the Adler Planetarium—Introductions Adler Planetarium
10:00–10:30 Sky Show
10:30–11:30 Coffee Break—Self-guided exhibition tour
11:30–12:00 Walk to Field Museum
12:00–13:00 Lunch for Delegates and Guests Field Museum
13:30–13:45 Self-Guided Tour—Field Museum
13:45–15:00 Walk to Shedd Aquarium and Programming Shedd Aquarium
18:00–21:00 Lake Michigan Dinner Cruise on the Spirit of Chicago Spirit of Chicago
22 SEPTEMBER 2015
10:00–10:30 Bus to Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
10:30–11:30 Welcome and Tour
11:30–12:30 Lunch for Guests
12:30–12:45 Introduction to the Lincoln Park Zoo
12:45–13:00 Walk to Lincoln Park Zoo
13:00–14:30 Tour of Lincoln Park Zoo Lincoln Park Zoo
Camfil Farr Drinks Reception (Tentative)
23 SEPTEMBER 2015
09:00–09:30 Travel to the Art Institute of Chicago Art Institute of Chicago
09:30–10:30 Docent-Led Tours
10:30–11:00 Coffee Break for Delegates and Guests
11:00–12:00 Docent-Led Tours
12:00–12:30 Walk to Union League Club
12:30–14:00 Lunch at Union League Club and Tour Union League Club
17:30–18:30 Travel to the Art Institute of Chicago—Group Photo Art Institute of Chicago
18:30–21:30 Gala: Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago
24 SEPTEMBER 2015
09:00–11:00 Travel to Milwaukee
11:00–12:00 Tour of the Milwaukee Public Museum Milwaukee Public Museum
12:00–12:30 Travel to the Harley Davidson Museum Harley Davidson Museum
12:30–14:30 Lunch and Tour of the Harley Davidson Museum
14:30–16:30 Return to Chicago Hyatt Regency Chicago

be think innovate
Scan the QR code for a video introduction
to MAGNA3 or contact us via:
Tel: 01525 850000
e-mail: uk-sales@grundfos.com
web: www.grundfos.co.uk
DEMAND MOREDEMAND MORE
DEMAND GRUNDFOS MAGNA3 Demand More Efficiency
Since 2013 all glandless circulator
pumps are required to have an
Energy Efficiency Index (EEI) of
less ≤0.27 and from 2015 this
is reduced to ≤ 0.23. Grundfos
MAGNA3 has an EEI of 0.18,
making it the most energy
efficient circulator on the market.
Demand More Convenience
Complementing the MAGNA3,
Grundfos GO enables
easy pump configuration,
monitoring and diagnostics
using iPhone, iPod Touch or
Android mobile devices.
Grundfos GO enables
Grundfos GO enables
BUILDING FOR MUSEUMS
www.gardiner.com
@gt_llp
INDEPENDENT CONSTRUCTION AND PROPERTY CONSULTANTS
CONTACT
David Logue
Gardiner & Theobald LLP
G1 Building
5 George Square
Glasgow, G2 1DY
T: +44 (0)141 568 7300
d.logue@gardiner.com
COST MANAGEMENT · PROJECT MANAGEMENT
CDM CO-ORDINATOR · CONSTRUCTION AND PROPERTY TAX
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT · DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT
DEVELOPMENT MONITORING · DISPUTE MANAGEMENT
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY · PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT
RISK MANAGEMENT · SUSTAINABILITY · WHOLE LIFE COSTING
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND
United Kingdom, Americas and the Caribbean, Asia, Europe, Middle East

O
n December 4, 2014, a group a of 12 engineers
and facility mangers from the UK Chapter of
IAMFA were treated by Dr. Eleanor Scholfield
and her team to a tremendous day out at Portsmouth
Naval Dockyard, where we visited the Mary Rose exhibition
(http://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/).
A presentation at the IAMFA Scotland Annual
Conference in September had whetted my appetite for
more information about the flagship of Henry VIII, the
Mary Rose. After I contacted the Museum, Eleanor arranged
for us to have a group visit to view the new £27-million
building and learn about the conservation processes that
are ongoing to preserve the Mary Rose and its artefacts for
the public.
The Historic Naval Dockyard itself houses some other
remarkable ships and displays. Nelson’s 1765 ship, HMS
Victory, upon the decks of which he died at Trafalgar, is
also on display.
The Dockyard features Great Britain’s first iron-hulled,
steam-powered warship as well: HMS Warrior, built in 1860.
We were also treated to the sight of HMS Alliance, a
British submarine from the Second World War, which has
recently undergone a £7-million refit. In addition, there
were a number of other exhibition spaces that we did not
have time to visit.
The Dockyard is still a working dock, and shares space
with modern warships of the Royal Navy—some of which
were in port when we visited.
Back to the Mary Rose and the Museum. She was built at
Portsmouth in 1510, primarily of English oak. Launched in
1511, she served for 34 years in the English Navy, but sank
in 1545 in the Solent, off Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.
It is not clear exactly why she sank, although there are a
number of different theories. She went down with all hands
(up to 450 men), and only 25 escaped.
Unsuccessful attempts were made to raise her, and then
she was lost until 1836, when she was rediscovered. Soon
after, she was forgotten again until 1965, when a team led by
Alexander McKee set out to find her a second time. There
is a series of images called the Cowdray Engravings
showing the loss of the Mary Rose, made around 1547. The
wreck was found very near this spot. She was finally raised
in 1982, and the conservation story starts there.
The ship had been partially covered in silt at the bottom
of the estuary, which had helped to preserve her. The exposed
part had rotted away, but the silt had prevented considerable
deterioration to what remained. A great deal of time was
spent in the preparation to lift her. I certainly remember
watching on television—along with up to 60 million people—
A Visit to The Mary Rose
By Allan Tyrrell
The Mary Rose Museum.
MIKEPEEL(WWW.MIKEPEEL.NET)
HMS Victory. HMS Warrior.

as the remains of the ship were lifted from the seabed,
attached to a steel frame, and lifted onto a nearby barge.
The frame was then bought to Portsmouth Dock, where
the conservation process began. The team at Portsmouth
explained to us how they went about this, along with the
intriguing technicalities involved in preserving an artefact
like a Tudor ship. Only one other ship of similar age
had ever been raised—the Vasa, a 17th-century Swedish
warship—and they had to get the systems right, otherwise
they could have lost everything.
Once ashore, the Mary Rose was wrapped in protective
foam and polythene and constantly sprayed to keep her
wet. She was housed just behind HMS Victory, and a hall
was built around her. She was sprayed with chilled and
recycled fresh water 24 hours a day for 19 years. This
prevented the wood from drying out, removed salt, and
stopped bacteria from growing on the timbers.
Members of the public could come and view the ship
from a viewing bridge. In 1985, she was turned upright, and
titanium supports were installed to support her. Meanwhile,
archaeological work was going on inside the ship itself,
with the first priority being to clean out as much of the
sediment as possible.
Once the ship had been turned upright, the team was
able to replace the deck timbers. Any missing timbers were
replaced with specially manufactured titanium beams. All
the timbers and features were photographed and documented
before being reinstalled.
The last timber was put into place in 1993. In 1994, the
conservation spray was changed to Polyethylene Glycol
(PEG), a wax that gradually replaces water in the timbers.
Since 2004, they have been using a more concentrated
form of PEG, which coats the outer layers of the timbers
to seal them.
The sprays were switched off during the first half of
2013. The hull is now being dried out in environmentally
controlled conditions in a sealed hot box where, over the
next three years, they will be removing an estimated 100
tons of water from the timbers: dehumidification on a
mammoth scale!
The Museum is housed in a Grade 1-listed dry dock. We
were taken into the base of the dock, which was sealed off
from the sea, then used to house the Mary Rose and the
plant needed to carry out maintenance of the hull. The
sight of the remains of this great ship; the way the Museum
opens up to enable you to gaze inside of the hulk; and the
presentation of the artefacts on display (as many as 19,000
were raised during the retrieval process, including many
skeletons) are things that stay with you long after you have
left Portsmouth.
The Mary Rose, with her distinct carrack profile and high “castles”
fore and aft. Although the number of guns and gun ports is not
entirely correct, the picture is generally an accurate illustration of
the ship.
The Mary Rose turned upright during restoration.

The Mary Rose hull and her artefacts are housed in a build-
ing that was designed and built specifically for that purpose.
The architect envisaged the building as an oyster housing a
pearl, and it is certainly a striking addition—and a surprisingly
effective contrast to HMS Victory, which is immediately adjacent.
The building sits in Number 3 dock, which is itself a
listed monument. It is supported by four main structural
piles driven 16.5 metres into the substrate, with additional
foundations for subsidiary support within the dock. The
building took just short of three years to build. During the
whole of this time, the PEG spraying of the hull and fine-
tolerance environmental conditions had to be maintained
within the hot box, in addition to the need to physically
protect the hull—while the original Wemyss building was
dismantled, and the new building erected around it.
The strikingly streamlined building gives no indication
of the state-of-the-art systems and equipment within. These
supply the hull, artefacts and visitors with the finely tuned
environmental conditions required to maintain conserva-
tion of the hull and artefacts, while also ensuring visitor
comfort. This is achieved via three plant rooms containing
boilers, air-handling units, circulating pumps, dehumidifiers,
humidifiers, and sensing equipment that is controlled and
monitored by a Building Management System. They provide
environmentally controlled, monitored air to the ship hall,
galleries and artefacts inside the Museum.
The building measures 74 ¥ 29 ¥ 17 metres, with three
gallery floors, and a lower working and plant level within
the dock itself. The structure of the building comprises a
steel portal frame, incorporating nearly 500 tons of steel,
with insulated walls and a uniquely insulated roof, which
together lead to a thermally efficient building. The com-
plexity of the systems within can be illustrated by the fact
that the systems incorporate 400,000 metres of electrical
cabling; 1,500 metres of steel piping; and 8,000 metres of
copper piping!
Our group of IAMFA UK Chapter members were amazed
by the efforts that have gone into the presentation of this
amazing ship, and the buildings and systems that house
her. We had a great day at Portsmouth—the Museum was
very interesting, and we all agreed that we would be going
back soon.
The link at the beginning of this article provides
additional information on this interesting museum, and
the dedication of the team of conservators, engineers and
other staff who look after her. We are hoping that Eleanor
Schofield and others from the Mary Rose Museum will
join IAMFA and become regular participants in the UK
Chapter; they will be a great asset. Visit the Education page
of newiamfa.org and select the IAMFA Annual Conference
Presentations button to view a half-hour video presentation
on the Mary Rose Museum.
Allan Tyrrell is Chief Engineer at the National Portrait Gallery
at Trafalgar Square in London. Allan can be reached at
atyrrell@npg.org.ukCannon from the Mary Rose.

M
aintaining the status quo just
doesn’t help you compete,
so if you like being at the
top of your game, you need to look
continuously for ways to improve.
For years now, most facility managers
at cultural institutions haven’t had to
make an actual decision about whether
they should look for better ways to
accomplish work, or ways to reduce
consumption of energy and water. Cuts
in operating budgets have forced this
upon us. So continuous improvement
is important; in fact, it is a necessity,
and almost everyone tries to do it in
one way or another. The question is:
how can we do a better job of it?
With this article, Papyrus is beginning
a series on Continuous Improvement,
and we’d like to invite everyone to
contribute to future articles.
Prior to my [Joe’s] days working at
the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, I
spent 20 years with an industrial engi-
neering firm that focused on improving
work methods and worker productivity.
I worked with clients ranging from pro-
ducers of teabags to the Space Shuttle,
to everything in between, and industries
from coal mining to meat packing,
banking to infant vaccination, and
even museums!
They all had one thing in common
when it came to their efforts to improve
operations. Every improvement in
method or process they ever made
began with an idea and ended in
implementation. Most liked to cal-
culate the savings also, but not always;
sometimes they didn’t want anyone to
know that there had even been room
for improvement.
So, a very good place to start for those
trying to implement a continuous
improvement program is to create a
structure that includes a way to generate
lots of improvement ideas, along with
a way to manage those ideas through
further. Auditing maintenance
operations allows you to:
• Identify high-potential areas of
improvement
• Calculate potential savings based
on these improvements
• Know how to quickly find specific
improvements
• Start a continuous-improvement
program
• Justify improvement costs based
on realistic program savings and
a known return on investment
Maintenance audits can be per-
formed annually to reveal further
important ideas for improvements
and savings. You can do a Pareto
analysis of the budget accounts. Rank
accounts from the highest dollar
amount to the lowest. Apply the 80/20
rule: 80% of the dollars expended are
in 20% of the accounts. While all
the accounts can offer some potential
for improvement, these high-dollar
accounts are a good place to start
to find substantial and immediate
cost savings.
Some data is already available, and
if we do it a little at a time, we can
avoid a last-minute rush. What follows
is some information that we can all
use to make it easier.
Start with your annual operating and
capital budgets. Whether the facility
has 200,000 square feet or 2,000,000,
there are certain items that come up
year after year that the facility has to
budget for. You will already have a
pretty good idea of the annual costs of
items such as preventive maintenance,
minor routine maintenance, utilities
and much more. Other items, such as
snow removal, emergency repairs, and
the like are variable, but can be gener-
ally accounted for in a well-prepared
BEST PRACTICES FEATURE ARTICLE
Continuous Improvement
If You’re not Getting Better, You’re Probably Getting Worse!
By Thomas A. Westerkamp and Joseph E. May
to implementation. It sounds simple,
and it can be. It doesn’t need to involve
a lot of sigmas or control charts; it
just needs to get everyone looking
for waste, and generating ideas for
how to eliminate (or at least reduce)
that waste.
And, when anyone does get an idea
for a way to improve operations, it’s
very important to document the idea,
so that it doesn’t slip between the
cracks. If you are one of those seeking
to get better at continuous improve-
ment, one of the first steps is to have a
procedure in place that is going to keep
the pipeline filled with improvement
ideas, along with a way to track them
through to completion.
In the next issue of Papyrus, we’ll
continue with an example of how you
can implement a simple tracking system
for continuous improvement ideas,
which will help you get started quickly.
But first, let’s talk a little more
about how to generate ideas for
improvement. It shouldn’t come as
a big surprise that many, if not most,
ideas for improvement come from the
people who are closest to the work.
That’s right: the people who manage
the work, and the people who actually
perform the work. It is surprising what
you can learn when you just ask a tech-
nician, “What could be done to make
this job easier for you?” At the Getty, we
implemented more than 200 improve-
ments over a period of a few years by
meeting with supervisors, then with
technicians, to help generate ideas
for improvement and help get them
implemented.
There are other ways to identify
opportunities to improve the way
in which work is accomplished. A
Maintenance Process Audit at budget-
preparation time is an excellent way to
uncover cost-improvement ideas that
can result in stretching budget dollars

budget. Finally, contributions to the
capital fund for those big-ticket items
that are going to appear in a few years
need to be accounted for as well.
Another source of savings oppor-
tunities that can contribute to the
process is the Work Order System.
Using the Work Order System and
Equipment History, you can search
for repetitive repairs that are high-
maintenance when it comes to both
frequency and hours. Using the repair
history, you can determine the average
interval between repair occurrences, and
average repair time per occurrence. In
most report modules in the Computer-
ized Maintenance Management System,
there are Pareto reports that can be
automatically generated using a metric
such as descending total labor and
material cost by Equipment Number.
Again, after ranking the items, you
will find that the 80/20 rule applies:
that is, a disproportionally large number
of dollars are spent on a small number
of equipment items. You can then focus
on two ways to reduce costs: (1) design
out the cause of the high cost using
root-cause analysis, or (2) re-analyze
the preventive maintenance frequency
and method. For example, frequent
bearing failure may be due to the wrong
lube or wrong frequency—too much
lube at a time, or too often, blows
seals and allows dirt or moisture to
destroy the metal; too seldom, or not
enough, allows the bearing to dry out:
same result—or both.
Using troubleshooting results can
reveal still more ideas for improvement.
You may have noticed an increase in
water use by comparing water and sewer
bills from one period to another. By
using sub-metering, or checking for
leaks in fixtures, or listening for water
flow when or where none should be
flowing, you can isolate the cause and
lower water consumption. You can
often feel water flowing simply by
placing a hand on the drain line in
the basement.
Other non-destructive testing
equipment can identify ideas for
improvement: vibration analysis to
detect excessive vibration on rotating
equipment; ultrasonic testing on
mechanical or electrical equipment;
infrared testing for excessive heat; oil
analysis for oil deterioration or metal
particles; power-actor meters to detect
high kilovolt amp reactive power losses.
These are just a few examples of using
predictive maintenance to find ideas
for improvement.
Using improvements in technology
offers a very fertile field for cost im-
provement. Everything from lighting
to paints to HVAC, to electrical dis-
tribution, roofing, security, and all
building systems, have undergone
continuous design improvement due
to the need for manufacturers to gain
competitive advantage.
Other factors driving these improve-
ments in technology are government
mandates and changes to building
codes. For example, certain fluorescent
tubes can no longer be manufactured
in the U.S. or imported from other
countries. When the current inventory
runs out, alternative lighting such
as newer fluorescent or LED light
fixtures will have to be installed. Such
upgrades not only save a great deal of
energy, but can also result in rebates
from the power company to offset the
capital cost of the installation.
HVAC systems have undergone
major design improvements as a result
of government efforts to reduce ozone
depletion. A whole array of new air-
conditioning refrigerants is in use
today, replacing R22, the standard for
many years. Another example is roofing.
The standard building material used
to be multi-ply asphalt, with or without
stone ballast. Today, many new single-
ply options are available, such as TPO
and EPDM.
Continuous improvement is an
important goal, and we’d like to tap
into the expertise of IAMFA members
and others who have been successful
in running efforts aimed at achieving
it. Please join in if you feel that you
have something to contribute, and
help everyone to benefit from your
successes. We will have more on this
topic in the next issue of Papyrus.
Tom Westerkamp is one of the leading
experts in the field of Maintenance
Management, with a career spanning five
decades, helping countless companies
around the world. He’s given back by
contributing nearly 200 articles to various
publications, including Papyrus. Tom can be
reached at tawest@comcast.net. Joe May
has worked in the field of Industrial
Engineering his entire career, and served
on the IAMFA Board of Directors for
ten years. Joe can be reached at
joemay001@hotmail.com.
For more information on becoming a member of the
International Association of Museum Facility Administrators,
please visit
www.NewIAMFA.org
Become a Member of IAMFA

T
his article will chart the progress
of radio communication within
the estate of the National Library
of Scotland. At the recent IAMFA
conference in Scotland, some of you
will have enjoyed the Benchmarking,
Registration and Opening reception
in the Library’s main building on
George IV Bridge. The bulk of the
Library’s work is carried out in this
building, and in two other facilities
located within Edinburgh City centre:
the Causewayside and Lawnmarket
buildings.
When I first joined the Library in
1995, we communicated primarily
via pagers, some of which supported
voice communication. The actual use
of these devices was very limited, how-
ever—due, we assumed, to the fact that
the buildings were heavily reinforced
steel structures. Two-way radios were
also introduced, mainly for the use
of fire marshals. The same problem
occurred here as well, with very limited
reception for these radios and a lack of
communications between buildings.
The next problem was identified
when the Library invited the local fire
brigade—Scottish Fire and Rescue
Service (SFRS)—into the building
for familiarisation with our sprinkler
installation. We met to discuss ways in
which the SFRS would tackle a fire
within the building, incorporating use
of the sprinkler installation. At that
first meeting, it was quickly noted that
reception for their radios was also
severely limited by the structure of
the building. As a result, the SFRS set
down a desirable operational (radio
frequency) signal level that they thought
achievable throughout the building.
Faced with this requirement, I set
about trying to find a way to introduce
an aerial system to the Library that
would allow improved reception for
radios/pagers, while also addressing
SFRS requirements. I had read an
article about this type of communication
utilising the fibre-optic cable network
recently installed between the three
central Edinburgh buildings.
• The communications network had to
allow the existing pager system to
work throughout George IV Bridge,
Causewayside and Lawnmarket,
utilising the fibre-optic network
recently installed between the three
central Edinburgh buildings.
• The communications network had
to be able to address health and
safety issues such as man down and
lone working, as well other desir-
able features such as text messaging,
and even support for wireless LANs.
To meet these requirements, a
thorough search of the market was
carried out. Whilst there were plenty
of “box” suppliers in the market that
could just about meet one of the
objectives, nothing we found gave
us confidence that any specification
requirement could be fully achieved.
Various systems to provide mobile
communications were considered,
including:
• Cordless telephone technology,
especially DECT (digitally enhanced
cordless telephones). This tech-
nology would have required a large
number of transmitter positions to
be carefully distributed throughout
the building, and would have meant
Communication Within the
By Jack Plumb
problem during construction of the
Mont Blanc tunnel, which was solved
using a “leaky feeder”. A leaky feeder
or radiating cable, as the name suggests,
is a communication system used in
underground mining and other tunnel
environments, and is designed to
radiate a signal down the length of
the cable.
Once I had decided that this
radiating cable could be a part of a
possible solution to my communi-
cations problem, my next task was
to identify a supplier with sufficient
technical knowledge. We needed them
to design a system for a multi-storey
building, half of which was effectively
underground. Most importantly, we
needed the system to meet SFRS
requirements and demonstrate that their
RF specification was being achieved.
These assorted challenges could
accordingly be used as the specification
requirements for a new communica-
tions network, and can be summed
up as follows:
• The communications network had
to allow fire-brigade radios to operate
throughout George IV Bridge and
Causewayside, while meeting the
SFRS’s desired specification for
communications networks.
• The communications network had to
allow two-way radios to operate with-
in and between George IV Bridge,
Causewayside and Lawnmarket,

complete replacement of all existing
equipment within the Library, in-
cluding existing two-way radios and
pager equipment. A further drawback
was that a separate network would
still have been required to support
the fire-brigade radio system, which
was the main reason for these
considerations in the first place.
• Standard mobile telephones.
These were not really considered,
as they lacked the necessary pene-
tration into the building, and would
have incurred costly running fees.
In addition, a separate network
would still have been required to
support the fire-brigade radio system.
This where a big slice of luck came
along—the kind that we all experience
at some point in our careers. When
talking to my boss at the time about
my frustrations in trying to find some-
one I could trust to design a commu-
nications system for the Library, he
suggested that I should meet a friend
of his. This friend was in the radio
communications industry, and had
been running his own comminica-
tions company since March 1994,
utilising CT2, DECT and low-power
radio solutiions.
Jack Hood and I first met in 1996.
He explained that, after working for
many years for two well-known radio
manufacturers, he had set up his own
company—Integrated Services—
to design bespoke communications
systems. Jack suggested that we should
start by asking the SFRS for specific
radio requirements that would allow
their radios to work in a fire situation,
anywhere in the building.
The SFRS determined that the signal
strength they required was a minimum
of about minus 93dBm. We suspect
this may have been the first time they
had ever been asked this question with
the intent of actually delivering an
installation that included a verifiable
way of demonstrating that this signal
strength was, in fact, being delivered
to any location within the building.
After considering these alternatives,
the Library decided to proceed with
an evolutionary process based on the
leaky-feeder technology.
Jack’s first task was to design equip-
ment that could be transported through
the Library’s restricted access to mea-
sure various attentuations created by
the building’s structure. From these
results, he would then need to design
an aerial system based on leaky-feeder
technology, in order to provide radio
communication that would support
both the fire brigade and the Library’s
two-way radio installations.
A master plan was agreed as follows:
• Install a new radio communications
feeder network within Causewayside
which, with suitably designed filters
and access points, would meet the
fire brigade’s operational require-
ments within the complex. This new
communications network would
also integrate the Library’s two-way
radios and pagers. As an added
bonus, a connection to the Causeway-
side pager system was designed to
work over the existing Library-owned
inter-building fibre-optic cabling.
• Install a new communications feeder
network within George IV Bridge
which, with suitably designed filters
and base stations, would provide the
same capabilities as Causewayside.
In addition to this installation,
further enhancements were made to
include installation of a telephone
handset in each control room,
allowing any radio in Causewayside
to talk over the network to the
security suite in George IV Bridge,
and vice-versa.
• Install a new radio communications
system within Lawnmarket which,
with suitably designed filters and
base stations, would provide com-
prehensive radio communication to
George IV Bridge over the network.
In addition to this installation, extra
radios were purchased with lone-
working and man-down capability,
which considerably reduced the
risks when a lone security guard
was touring Causewayside at night.
The biggest drawback to this system
was that each of the manned buildings
could only communicate with the tele-
phone handset in each security suite.
This meant that the lone-working and
man-down capabilities of the radios
were useless when either security suite
was not manned. To address this
weakness, the next step was to source
an audio “routing” switch, which would
allow any radio in any building to com-
municate with any radio in any other
building. Ideally, this switch would
have a connection to a computer, thus
allowing full control, monitoring and
investigation of the radio communica-
tions network. The final requirement
of this switch was that it support two
separate frequencies, which would
allow future replacement of the
Library’s antiquated pager installation
with radio-based communications.
Once this switch was installed and
commissioned, the final stage of the
plan involved replacing the pager instal-
lation with a radio-based communica-
tions system. This would mean trading
in the existing pager frequencies—one
for transmission and one for receiving—
and replacing them with a new fre-
quency for the operation of a new radio
installation. This meant that security
would have sole use of one frequency
and the rest—porters, estates, contrac-
tors and book fetchers—would have
use of the second frequency.
To ensure that each of these differ-
ent groups would not have to listen to
the chatter of other groups, each set
of radios would be programmed with
sub audio-tones, so that only radios in
that group could send and receive
messages. Certain key individuals had
radios that could operate on both
channels for use in emergencies.
Implementation of this plan was
carried out, starting in Causewayside in
1998. The Causewayside array consists
of some 14 dual-band (VHF/UHF)
tuned in situ “Hot-Spot” dipoles,
installed beneath the false floors on
Levels 2, 4 and 6 in Phases I and II of
the building. All services are combined
into the array via a VHF/UHF combiner.
The installation in George IV Bridge
was completed in 2000, with a network
that consisted of a mix of leaky feeder,
19 dual-band “Hot Spot” whips, and a
dual-band collinear aerial. Like Cause-
wayside, all services are combined into
the network. The final phase of the
plan occurred in 2001, with the instal-
lation of a combiner fed into a single
dual-band collinear aerial.

SFRS access to the networks in both
George IV Bridge and Causewayside is
provided by externally mounted boxes,
which have lids that open to switch the
RF feed from the box via the RF switch
direct into the network. This allows
the SFRS to connect their base station
directly into this box, which facilitates
direct communication via their radios
over the building networks. This gives
firefighters solid communication
anywhere within these two buildings.
No SFRS access was provided for the
Lawnmarket building, as it can be
adequately covered using existing
SFRS communications arrangements.
Security control is provided via
Motorola Centro Plus controllers
located within the Causewayside and
George IV Bridge security suites. These,
in turn, control Motorola Eurobase
repeaters located at each of the sites.
Battery back-up secures eight hours’
operation for George IV bridge and
four hours’ operation for Causewayside.
The repeater panels have an extra
advantage over a simplex base by
allowing users intercommunication
over the network.
To allow Causewayside and George
IV Bridge to work either autonomously
or as one, a line switch has been pro-
vided in the George IV Bridge security
suite. This utilises the Library’s existing
inter-building fibre-optic network,
installed between the three sites,
which provides video, data and
speech interconectivity.
In 2014, following a check to deter-
mine whether or not the existing net-
works would support digital signals, the
three existing anaologue base stations
were replaced with digital base stations.
This allows the bases to communicate
with one another, and their users, over
the Library’s IT Network. As a conse-
quence, the handheld radios also had
to be changed to digital ones.
The Library now has a solid, control-
lable radio installation, allowing com-
munication to be carried out between
every location in every building, to
every location in any other building,
whilst retaining SFRS access as before.
With the change to a digital service, all
radios can be programmed to provide
different capabilities—the most obvious
being that, with a change of channel
on the handheld radio, that radio
becomes a man-down/lone-worker
radio that is in regular communication
with either security suite, (usually
programmed to the George IV Bridge
security suite). This means just a little
more safety for the lone security opera-
tive carrying out nighttime tours of
the Causewayside building.
Finally, at the beginning of 2015, it
was decided to follow the more modern
practice adopted by large building
complexes of truly integrating the Fire
Service into the networks “full time”
by installing a dedicated repeater at
George IV Bridge and Causewayside
for the sole use of the SFRS. These
stations are live, but their transmission
capability is restricted and controlled
from override switches located at two
specific locations at both sites. This
now allows the Fire Service to turn
up should there be a call, and imme-
diately begin using our network for
“fireground” communications with a
minimum of fuss.
Jack Plumb is Head of Estates at the National
Library of Scotland, and serves on the IAMFA
Board of Directors as Editor.
New digital base station installation
installed within Lawnmarket Building.
Past issues of
Papyrus
can be found on
IAMFA’s website
www.NewIAMFA.org
A N I N D E X O F
Papyrus
TECHNICAL AND
HISTORICAL ARTICLES
CAN BE FOUND AT
www.NewIAMFA.org
A N I N D E X O F
Papyrus
TECHNICAL AND
HISTORICAL ARTICLES
CAN BE FOUND AT
www.NewIAMFA.org

Washington, D.C.–Baltimore
Regional Chapter
By John Bixler and John Smalley
The Washington-Baltimore Chapter meeting was held on
February 11, 2015 at the Folger Shakespeare Library in
Washington, D.C., and was hosted by IAMFA member
David Conine. The meeting was sponsored by Mueller
Associates, which made a presentation and generously
provided lunch for the 44 attendees.
Jessica Reid from Mueller Associates began by introducing
Mueller, and gave us bios for herself, Bob Marino and
Todd Garing.
Todd Garing made a presentation on Building Infor-
mation Modeling (BIM) and Revit 3-D modeling. A lot of
great questions were asked by our members, and questions
were posed to us as facility managers. We discussed how a
facility manager can use this technology. Todd explained
that submittals could be tied in, and that maintenance
and preventive maintenance can be incorporated with
numerous options.
Next, Todd and David made a presentation on over-
coming various obstacles in order to provide temperature
and humidity control in the Rare Collections and exhibit
spaces associated with the Folger Shakespeare Library. This
was followed by a tour of the boiler room.
I’d like to say a special thank you to Muller Associates; it
was great having their team take part in our Chapter meeting.
Northern California Regional Chapter
By Jennifer Fragomeni
The Northern California Chapter has had a very active
winter. Instead of our usual single meeting, we met twice:
on December 17 and February 17. Both meetings were well
attended and included tours of very interesting facilities:
one historical and one new construction.
In December, we had an opportunity to meet at The
Old Mint. The Old Mint is the site of the San Francisco
Museum and Historical Society, which has plans for a
major renovation. We were hosted at this historical site by
our friend and colleague, IAMFA member Tamara Hayes,
before she departed from her role as Sales and Event
Manager to pursue a Masters degree in Museum Studies.
We enjoyed a fascinating presentation about the renovation
plans from architect Belinda Young of HOK, followed by
an entertaining historical tour led by Historical Society
docent, Jason. It was a fun and fitting way for us to bid
“adieu” to Tamara.
After the holidays, Charlie Booth of ABM Facility Services
offered to coordinate a tour of San Francisco’s new Transbay
Transit Center. This is an important civic construction
project for the San Francisco Bay Area. Even though the
Northern California Chapter had already had its winter
quarter meeting, this opportunity was too good to pass up!
REGIONAL UPDATES AND MEMBER NEWS
Jessica Reid from Mueller Associates addresses attendees.
Host David Conine making a presentation to the group. Stonework damaged by 19th-century acid fog at The Old Mint.

Papyrus Spring 2015

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Papyrus Spring 2015

Similar to Papyrus Spring 2015 (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Papyrus Spring 2015