More LED

Date: 18 May 2010
From: Patricia Silence <psilence [at] cwf__org>
Subject: LED lighting

Conservators are asked to provide clearly defined answers to complex
preservation questions so often that they may actually start to
believe that it is possible to give them. The Green Task Force
(GTF), created by AIC to tie sustainability to our conservation
profession, has repeatedly confronted this expectation.

Recent postings regarding the use of LED lights for display of
museum collections prompted the GTF to dig deeper into the question
of whether this developing technology is ready for us to implement
and promote. This presents a timely opportunity to educate ourselves
on yet another complex and developing area impacting our profession.
The lighting industry will address our requests for safe, efficient
illumination with improved products but only if we are forthcoming
with the details of what we require, and are willing to engage in an
informed exchange. For this reason, a healthy, open discussion is
important, and that isn't possible without a solid understanding of
the issues and the science.

We are most grateful to Steven Weintraub, who has pulled together
information on this topic in a way that should be directly relevant
to conservators and other collections professionals. It is our hope
that this will put us on track to talk with industry experts as we
work to solve our small scale preservation problems in concert with
the world's big environmental problems.

Visit this link to AIC's Green resources page, where you will find
information on LEDs and other topics pertaining to sustainability
and conservation:

<URL:http://www.conservation-us.org/
index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.ViewPage&PageID=943>