Green Archives: Applications of Green Construction to Archival Facilities

The primary mission of archives as cultural and administrative institutions is to preserve and make available society’s collective memories captured in archival materials for future generations. The development and long-term operation of archives in a sustainable manner are critical to accomplish this mission. Applying green or sustainable construction to archival facilities is one way to increase the sustainability of archives. Green construction methods provide various environmental, social and economic benefits to improve the serviceability of a building during its lifetime after the construction is completed at the site. The Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA) defines sustainable construction as “the creation and responsible management of a healthy built environment based on resource efficient and ecological principles.” Applying green construction to buildings means more than adding a couple of green elements to save on energy bills. Green construction reflects consideration of the impact of buildings on occupants and on the future of our global environment. Through building green archival structures, archives can respond to social concerns about climate change, global warming and harmoniously living with nature. In November 2007, the School of Information's Kilgarlin Center for Preservation of the Cultural Record at the University of Texas at Austin hosted the From Gray Areas to Green Areas: Developing Sustainable Practices in Preservation Environments (GAGA) symposium. This twoday symposium aimed to examine sustainable practices in cultural heritage preservation environments. Professionals in the fields of library and information science, architecture, engineering, historic conservation, and preservation administration were invited and shared their experiences and thoughts of sustainable practices in preservation environments. This symposium opened up the floor for preservation professionals to discuss and develop “green” approaches for cultural preservation facilities. I participated in this symposium as one of the symposium organizing committee members. This study was inspired by my experience in this symposium. In this paper, I focus on archival facilities. The purpose of this paper is to address general ideas about how to build green archives. I will review benefits as well as risks of certain types of green construction in terms of archival preservation. I will also consider how archivists can collaborate with architects, designers and engineers to apply green construction to archival facilities.