The ongoing challenges of sustainability, energy consumption, and cost-effectiveness in the archival sector compel us to seek more sustainable ways forward. In 2022, I launched an experimental sustainability-focused program that involved partially shutting down the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system in the environmentally controlled storage of the University of Brighton Design Archives. This complex issue brought together a small group of records management professionals aiming to address the effects of the shutdown on our collections, systems, and spaces.
From that initial conversation, a more established group organically emerged and has continued to grow to meet a grassroots need. It attracts members from organizations of all sizes and across various professional disciplines. This group seeks to explore and address our individual challenges through mutual support and empowerment, creating a space for peer dialogue and knowledge exchange.
This presentation will summarize the trials and challenges resulting from the partial HVAC shutdown experiments at the University of Brighton Design Archives. It will also discuss how a group of people who lacked information, support, or —in many cases— both, came together through shared experiences and created a support network to face the situation. It will explain how, together with co-lead Amy Sampson (The National Archives, England), we have tackled the challenges of providing organized support, understood members’ needs, and pursued our ambitions to continue growing the HVAC Shutdown Group, while forging connections that are transformative for future change.