Pratt Research Talks: Sustainability Tools in Cultural Heritage: Life Cycle Assessment for Heritage Preservation

Life cycle assessment has been a valuable tool for architects, engineers, and industry in evaluating the environmental impact of materials and actions from cradle to gate and cradle to grave. In 2019 the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works was awarded a National Endowment for Humanities grant to develop an LCA tool populated with materials used by custodians of cultural heritage and a library of case studies examining actions carried out in cultural heritage preservation. The grant team is composed of Northeastern University engineering students led by professor Matthew Eckelman; Pratt Institute communication design graduate students and professor, Eric O’Toole; and conservation students and professors from graduate programs at NYU, UCLA, University of Delaware, and State University of Buffalo. This talk will summarize the goals of the project and describe the work carried out to date.

Bio:
Sarah has been working in private practice as an objects conservator in Brooklyn NY since 2006. Starting in 2012 Sarah began to research sustainable practices and life cycle assessment through her work with the American Institute for Conservation Sustainability Committee. In January 2020 she and her co-Principal Investigators from Foundation for American Institute for Conservation, Northeastern University, and Sustainable Museums were awarded a Tier II Research and Development Grant to fully develop a life cycle assessment ( LCA) Tool and Library. As a visiting professor at Pratt Institute she teaches an undergraduate course on in the Math and Science Department on material degradation and an Art History Master’s course in the ethics of conservation. Sarah received her advanced certificate in conservation and her MA in Art History from the Institute of Fine Arts Conservation Center at New York University in 1994 and her MA in Archaeology from Yale University in 1990.

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Meeting ID: 994 4598 0029 Passcode: 966119