I'd like to develop a client base of museums.   These buildings are often quite large, have stringent climate control requirements (temperature & humidity), and significant energy costs.  Museums will usually have small compressors, a variety of motors, hydraulic equipment, and machine shops somewhere in the building.  In addition, the significant lighting load will require numerous junction boxes and conduit, all prime targets for inspection.

Museums housing art and delicate/rare specimens will often have vacuum systems.  Some will have nitrogen or argon gas purge lines.  It may also be useful to document whether the lighting is resulting in unusual (or uneven) heating of a specimen.  I'd like to utilize ultrasonic detection and thermal imaging to provide a full service preventative diagnostic audit to Museums.

I'd appreciate any comments or insight.

Comments, comments, jeepers bud, you just blew my mind. WOW!

 Mic

Good stuff. We had the head of maintenance at the Smithsonian Museums speak at our conference several years ago and I was impressed with the many critical needs they had to deal with, in both old and new buildings. I'm sure this could easily become a very useful and profitable specialty niche. Keep us posted and let us know how we can support your efforts.

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Thermally Yours,

John
ASNT NDT Level III #48166
The Snell Group
www.thesnellgroup.com
www.thermalsolutions.org
800-636-9820

Nova,

Not sure about Illinois but in Indiana you can contact the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and give them your demographics and they can put together a print out of all the businesses in the state that fit.

I used them for realtors with less than 1 year experience for using ir in inspections. They are not set in their ways and willing to try new technology.

 

Hope this helps

 

Dave Cochran 

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Dave Cochran

I have done a few.

the best avenue that I have found is through the Mech Cont.

I have a slight advantage - I 'm in the trade, and know the systems well.

I would go through the people servicing the hi tech equipment. after all you are most likley going to help trouble shoot an issue related to HVAC so why not be on their side to begin with. If you make their job easier they will use you.if you are pointing fingers they will not be to happy to see you.

just my thoughts

Museums are very particular but will pay to preserve their stuff.....I have  involve with the mint museum in Charlotte, many times and all related to HVAC

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John Cannamela
ASNT II Vibration/ Level II Thermographer
HVAC Journeyman
Owner ISC Building Diagnostics
http://www.infraredsurvey.com www.iscbuildingdiagnostics.com
jc@iscbuildingdiagnostics.com

Thanks for the replies.  I know that most museums would be nervous about hiring some new guy to snoop around their facility and find their flaws.  I could understand them wanting to keep potential problems under wraps, avoiding costly repairs and alarming the owners/benefactors of the art.

Since art museums and private collectors are constantly lending each other their art pieces for special exhibits, there should be some type of uniform standard for insuring the proper environmental conditions in a gallery.  Most museums have paper hygrothermographs to document temperature and relative humidity, but how often are they calibrated? (not very often at some places I know).  I'd like to help develop some type of protocol for evaluating museum climate control and lighting. It should make everyone happy, especially the insurance companies.

If a museum is able to detect a moisture problem or lighting/heating anomalies early, then potentially devastating consequences could be avoided.

I think, if you dig in a bit, you'll find many such standards already exist, even if they don't pertain specifically to thermography. Here is one example:

http://www.culture.gov.on.ca/english/heritage/museums/mustand.htm 

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Thermally Yours,

John
ASNT NDT Level III #48166
The Snell Group
www.thesnellgroup.com
www.thermalsolutions.org
800-636-9820