Browsing by Author "Han, Bo"

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    Applying ANN technology to determine acceptable control parameters for the National Library of Scotland’s collections to inform energy efficiency improvements in the UK heritage sector
    (Heriot-Watt University, 2024-12) Han, Bo; Wang, Doctor Fan; Taylor, Professor Nick
    The National Library of Scotland (NLS) uses purpose-built storage enclosures to protect their heritage collections. These enclosures can moderate micro-environmental temperature and humidity fluctuations inside. This study aims to determine an acceptable macro-environment in storage room to inform energy efficiency improvements based on a relaxing macro-environmental control. There are four objectives: 1) to assess the feasibility of using the enclosure’s buffering capacity and to obtain its hygrothermal properties; 2) to determine an acceptable macro-environment; 3) to achieve real-time micro-environment predictions; and 4) to assess potential energy savings from the relaxed control strategy. Correspondingly, the methodology comprises four parts: 1) using laboratory measures to quantify the buffering capacity of an enclosure and associated hygrothermal properties; 2) using a heat, air, and moisture (HAM) transfer model to simulate the hygrothermal interaction between macro- and micro-environments, and using a trial-and-error method with this model simulation to determine the acceptable macro-environment; 3) training a long short-term memory neural network; and 4) using a transform function to create the energy consumption model. The results show that 1) The enclosure’s buffering capacity is feasible to moderate the short-term micro-environmental temperature and RH fluctuations. 2) The acceptable macro-environment was determined to be 33%~65% RH and 15-25 °C control bands with ±16% RH and 5 °C 24 h fluctuations while there is no any detrimental effect on collections. 3) The trained Long Short-term Memory (LSTM) neural network can is robust for real-time prediction of micro-environment. 4) Implementing the relaxed control strategy presents a promising way to achieve the NLS's targeted annual reduction rate of 7.6% over the next decade. In conclusion, this study confirms that relaxed macro-environmental controls, enabled by the enclosure’s buffering capacity, ensure collection safety while achieving significant energy savings. Additionally, this control strategy advances the NLS’s building management toward smarter, energy-efficient control and offers scalable solutions for other heritage institutions.