Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 35 (2021) 102735

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Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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An AI-based DSS for preventive conservation of museum collections in

historic buildings
Federico Mario La Russa *, Cettina Santagati
Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture (DICAR), University of Catania, Catania, Italy

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The study deals with the experimentation of innovative and advanced preservation methodologies for museum
DSS collections in historical buildings. In particular, this work shows the development of an algorithm, based on
Preventive conservation Machine Learning techniques, that suggests which actions to undertake in relation to thermo-hygrometric
H-BIM
conditions. The aim is to guarantee microclimate conditions that are favorable both for collections and
VPL
Artificial intelligence
architecture.
Museum collections In order to boost the time required to gather the needed dataset a possibility is to train the decision-making
Architectural survey model based on machine learning through the use of a synthetic dataset created via plugins connected to VPL
(Visual Programming Languages) that allow the simulation of different scenarios starting from open source data.
The training of the machine learning mechanism will be supervised and each solution will be “an experience” for
the building from which to learn. Along the time thanks to experience and background data the decision-making
system will improve the quality of his work.

1. Introduction conservation and museum architecture.

1.1. Museums in historic buildings

Museums are institutions in the service of society and its develop­
ment that play a pivotal role in the transmission of knowledge, the
creation of cultural identities and the provision of educational services.
Usually the location of a museum is determined according to its objec­
tives and mission. Although most of the existing museums are hosted in
buildings that were built for the purpose of housing them, it is not un­
common to see many historical or historical-listed buildings adapted to
house museums or art galleries. Indeed, the use of a historic building as a
museum can ensure the future viability of the building itself and can
contribute to social and economic development.
However, this transformation raises several issues that need to be
taken into account: the design of display and exhibition spaces have to
be conceived to preserve the character of architecturally significative
spaces and to guarantee a proper conservation of the collections; the
environmental conditions have to ensure the preservation and the value
of the building as well as of the exhibited items; the accessibility and
safety issues must comply with the essence of the places. Therefore, this
peculiar historical architecture will respond to both architectural
1.2. Problem analysis
The preservation of the hosting architecture and museum collections
cannot be pursued with traditional restoration approaches but with the
‘preventive conservation’ approach (Cassar, 1994; ICCROM, 2004;
Carbonara, 2012). According to the definition given by ICOM-CC (In­
ternational Council of Museums - Committee for Conservation), pre­
ventive conservation is defined as “all measures and actions aimed at
avoiding and minimizing future deterioration or loss. They are carried
out within the context or on the surroundings of an item, but more often
a group of items, whatever their age and condition. These measures and
actions are indirect – they do not interfere with the materials and
structures of the items. They do not modify their appearance.” This
method refuses to wait for clear signs of deterioration and encourage to
undertake long-term action and measures to guarantee a set of standards
that can avoid, as much as possible, any form of deterioration.
This definition, set for Cultural Heritage, can be extended to the
preservation instances of the historical building itself. Furthermore,
dealing with an historical building adapted to a museum, in addition to
these instances we have to consider many other parameters (such as the

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: federico.larussa@phd.unict.it (F.M. La Russa), cettina.santagati@unict.it (C. Santagati).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102735
Received 18 July 2020; Received in revised form 14 November 2020; Accepted 6 December 2020
Available online 24 December 2020
2352-409X/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
F.M. La Russa and C. Santagati
presence of visitors) that alterate the environmental equilibrium in the
system “Building - Museums”.
Understanding, managing and acting through this complexity is the
key to find the balance that can assure the respect of all the preservation
instances, both of architecture and museum. This task is extremely
complex and requires resources and competences that not all museums
can afford. For this reason in last years, several semi-automatic methods,
such as Decision Support System (DSS), have been designed to help
curators and building managers to achieve this goal (Section 2.2).
1.3. Research questions
Independent from museum collections, the Artificial Intelligence (AI)
applications in AEC industry is becoming a worldwide trend especially
in optimization and management task linked to design and maintenance
phases (Section 2.3). Nevertheless, even if AI seems to solve many
problems in this sector, it is important to highlight that successful
application are linked to a large amount of collected data.
The main research question in this article is therefore whether a DSS,
based on artificial intelligence algorithms, can be capable of suggesting a
combination of procedures for the use and management of the museum that
improve the conditions for the preventive conservation of the collections and
the building.
In order to answer this, the following sub-questions will be
considered:
1. Can a workflow be devised to develop an H-BIM model, of a museum
in an historical building, linked to a DSS for preventive actions?
2. Is it possible to develop an affordable and easy to manage DSS based
on AI mechanisms?
3. What if there are not previously collected data to use for the training
of the AI framework?
With the triangulation between H-BIM, DSS and AI methods, we will
address these questions in this paper. In order to do this, we will broaden
H-BIM concept to HS-BIM (Section 3.1) adapted for museums hosted in
historical buildings. The H-BIM model will constitute the ’digital foun­
dations’ for the subsequent creation of the DSS. To address the second
research question we will test and operate in a VPL environment to
guarantee characteristics such as responsiveness, flexibility and easy use
of the tool. As for the third question, the training of AI systems requires a
lot of initial data, in a museum it would need a series of direct mea­
surements for at least one solar year. In order to boost the times required
for the measurements or to lower the costs for the monitoring, it is
possible to create a synthetic dataset based on numerical simulations. In
this work we will test such approach to conduct our analysis.
1.4. Article structure
In the following section, a brief outline is given about digital
surveying techniques and H-BIM process (Section 2.1), along with a brief
discussion on the current research state regarding DSS applications for
museums (Section 2.2). Then, an introduction to Artificial Intelligence
in AEC industry (Section 2.3). Section 3 discusses the proposed HS-BIM
methodology (Section 3.1) and exploits the procedure adopted to
develop a DSS for preventive actions (Section 3.2). The process is then
demonstrated with the application on a case study, the Museo della
Rappresentazione (MuRa) in Catania (Italy) (Section 4.1) and the results
are shown (Section 4.2). In Section 5 general findings are discussed
(Section 5.1) and further researches are suggested (Section 5.2). The
paper concludes with Section 6, summarizing the significance of the
work.
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Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 35 (2021) 102735
2. Background and related works
2.1. Digital surveying and H-BIM
Current digital technologies for the 3D documentation of Cultural
Heritage allow for an adequate and comprehensive geometric descrip­
tion of complex architectures, sites and artifacts with a known mea­
surement accuracy and in short time. The two main techniques refer to
active (laser scanning) and passive (photogrammetry) sensors (Guidi et
al, 2010). There still are some differences that make us prefer one
technology in place of another. Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) is based
on TOF (Time of Flight) or Phase Shift technology and is usually used in
surveying campaigns for documenting buildings, archaeological sites,
civil infrastructures. For smaller items, other technologies are used such
as optical triangulation or structured light laser scanners.
Photogrammetry, instead, is a technique that allows to create a 3D
model starting from a set of images. Specifically, Structure from Motion
(SFM) techniques allow to obtain a 3D textured model starting from a set
of images with affordable costs and are dramatically useful for inspec­
tion and conservation purposes (Remondino et al., 2014). However, the
obtained numerical model has no intelligence (Hichri et al., 2013) until
it is semantically interpreted and geometrically parameterized. The
modeling process in a BIM environment applied to cultural heritage can
follow different procedures: some take advantage of the availability of
existing metric drawings, others refer to the so called scan-to-BIM
approach where the surveyed point cloud becomes the basis on which
to model the building. In both cases, one of the main the issue is the lack
of libraries of architectural components and decorations that have to be
created. The methods used to create such libraries foresee the use of
architectural treatises (Lo Buglio and De Luca, 2012; Apollonio et al.,
2013; Giovannini, 2018), the creation of the libraries using surveying
data (Murphy et al., 2013, Quattrini et al., 2015) or the creation of the
libraries in 3D modeling tools and the subsequent import in the BIM
authoring tool (Barazzetti et al., 2015; Diara and Rinaudo, 2019; Tom­
masi et al., 2016).
2.2. DSS for museums
Applications using DSS in museums have become increasingly
common in recent years. These technologies are often used together with
WSN (Wireless Sensor Network), which allow a real-time monitoring of
all the parameters that are significant for the needs of museum displays
and the rooms. The application in the Sala dei Cinquecento in Palazzo
Vecchio in Florence is significative (Viani et al., 2014) with the devel­
opment of the E-MUSEUM which provides advanced services that
exploit the distributed information collected in a museum space through
a WSN infrastructure. Real time data help curators with the management
of museum activities.
At the Egyptian Museum of Turin it has been tested a DSS for the
optimization of visitors flows functional to the design of future exhibi­
tions. In this work the researchers have recreated a museum environ­
ment by analysing the behaviour of the flows according to different
layouts (Calvano et al., 2020). Whilst a tool for supporting environ­
mental risk management has been developed at the Pinacoteca di Brera
in Milan (Lucchi, 2020). This study demonstrates that conservation and
human comfort can be obtained at the same time when based on an
exhaustive knowledge of the building and the museum activities.
There are other cases in which DSS are developed within integrated
environments where the architecture is digitally represented and stud­
ied through simulations conducted with numerical analysis. An example
is the DSS developed for the town of Frigento (Gigliarelli et al., 2017).
The methodology foresaw the realization of an H-BIM model repre­
senting the historical centre used to collect data and perform energy
analyses. The results of these ones were used to create a DSS.
Another possibility is to develop a BEMS (Building Energy Manage­
ment System) with the main objective the management of the HVAC
F.M. La Russa and C. Santagati
Fig. 1. HS-BIM methodology conceptual schema.
system (environmental conditions and assess comfort inside and outside
the facility, ventilation, air conditioning) as well as the mechanical and
electrical devices inside a building. One example is proposed by Wu
et al. (2012) who highlighted how building management systems
consume more energy than necessary and propose an AI based system to
predict energy usage values starting from interior and exterior temper­
ature and wet-bulb humidity data.
2.3. AI for architecture
Machine Learning (ML) is a branch of Artificial Intelligence. It is also
known as “Automatic Learning” (Bishop, 2006) since it involves the
development of algorithms and a mathematical model that allow com­
puters to “learn” in order to make predictions or decisions without being
explicitly programmed to do so. This is realized by using statistical and
computational methodologies (Flach, 2012).
ML applications in AEC field dates back to the first CAD applications
in the 1960s. Industry experts such as Christopher Alexander, Richard
Saul Wurman, Cedric Price and Nicholas Negroponte have sought
methods to develop a direct collaborative relationship with computers
to facilitate, optimize and develop the design process (Steenson Wright,
2017). Thanks to technological improvements of last decades, it’s now
possible for researchers to undertake experiments that once were only
understandable on a theoretical level but not feasible in the practice
(Miller and Stasiuk, 2019; Tono et al., 2019).
ML applications foresee supervised or unsupervised learning pro­
cesses. In contrast to the descriptive capabilities of unsupervised
learning, supervised learning models are predictive by nature. They are
employed when a user has a collection of data already labelled, and
plans to predict the results of an unlabelled data set. The ML algorithm is
“trained” to most effectively assign labels to new data and give the user a
prediction on the most likely outcome condition for the unlabeled data
set. However, to date, in the construction sector there is a clear preva­
lence of supervised versus unsupervised applications (Miller and
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Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 35 (2021) 102735
Stasiuk, 2019).
ML algorithms can interest three different fields: tasks and processes,
cognitive simulation and theoretical analysis. Currently, in the AEC
sector there is a prevalence in task-oriented ML algorithms on the
grounds that they can rely on statistics data (Bishop, 2006) and are used
both in unsupervised and supervised learning modes (Miller and Stasiuk,
2019). These algorithms focus on the classification of data points within
the feature domains of discrete data types, such as numerical, boolean or
categorical values (Michalski et al., 2013; Flach, 2012). These tech­
niques have proven their effectiveness in helping in production and
manufacturing optimization processes (Miller and Stasiuk, 2019). This
success is partly due to the fact that the problems addressed have been
defined effectively and partly due to the existence of large usable
datasets.
In summary, the main obstacles to the use of ML are the availability
of large amounts of data and the difficulty in defining the design
problem.
3. Material and methods
3.1. HS-BIm
In this work we define a new methodology that integrates H-BIM
approach with a DSS based on AI giving a cohesive explanation about
the role and the significance of AI for H-BIM models. The proposed
methodology draws on concepts close to restoration’s schools and in
particular on the paradigma of the building as a whole living organism
(Marconi, 1993) that in our case thanks to AI evolves into a ‘sentient
being’. For this reason it is named ‘Historical Sentient - Building Infor­
mation Modeling’.
HS-BIM (La Russa, 2019) can be defined as a BIM model that per­
ceives the external and internal inputs of the historical building it rep­
resents, recognizes the manifestations of degradation and reports them,
elaborates the inputs thanks to learning mechanisms and autonomously
F.M. La Russa and C. Santagati
makes choices related to its preservation strategies (Fig. 1).
Similarities can be found between the physical and behavioural as­
pects typical of living beings and the methods and tools used in BIM
environments (Tono, 2018). For instance, the possibility to collect
nearly real-time data from sensors located in strategic places can be seen
as a peripheral nervous system that receives external inputs. Therefore,
it is possible to compare the building to the corpus (as it is often called in
the medical approach) while the H-BIM models to the animus (nervous
system). However, the H-BIM model does not already have an active
behaviour. A DSS based on Machine Learning mechanisms linked to the
H-BIM model gives the anima to the model that assumes a synthetic
behaviour in the processing of inputs, thus becoming Sentient.
3.2. A DSS for preventive actions
3.2.1. Pipeline
Below are illustrated the main steps of the HS-BIM method for mu­
seums. This specific pipeline refers to those cases where there aren’t any
data collected useful to train the AI mechanisms.
Phase 1. 3D acquisition and modeling
• Geometrical and technological survey by means of digital surveying
techniques of the building, furniture and collections;
• H - BIM modelling of the architecture with high LOD for the museum
rooms under analysis;
• Creation of a simplified version of the H-BIM model for the subse­
quent numerical analysis (energy simulations) in VPL environment.
Phase 2. Creation of synthetic dataset in absence of collected
data
• Retrieval of meteorological data collected by the climatic station
closest to the building;
• Treatment of meteorological data in order to perform an UHI (Urban
Heat Island) analysis;
• Indication of the thermo-technical data of all building components
within the energy simulation engine;
• Definition of several scenarios for the use and management of
museum rooms;
• Definition of the thermo-hygrometric parameters required for the
conservation of the museum heritage;
• Running of energy simulations for each scenario.
Phase 3. ML application
• Data labeling for the definition of the synthetic training dataset
(supervised learning);
• ML-DSS system development;
• test and results analysis.
Phase 2 and 3 have been developed using the Visual Programming
Language (VPL) Grasshopper: a programming language that allows
through a graphical manipulation of components (graphic elements
corresponding to algorithms of various nature) the definition of an
automated and flexible workflow. This language, easily manageable, is
equipped with elements related to geometry and data processing. Its
easiness of use and the ’visual’ approach make it usable even by people
who have no programming skills but experts in the Cultural Heritage
and AEC domain (curators, architects, engineers, plant engineers, etc.)
(Calvano, 2019).
3.2.2. 3D acquisition and information modeling
3D acquisition carried out within this work has foresees the inte­
grated use of TLS and SFM Photogrammetry. As regards TLS survey we
used three different instruments according to the characteristics of the
building to be documented and the final scope of the research. Leica
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Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 35 (2021) 102735
Scanstation 2, RTC 360 and BLK360 have been used to test their appli­
cability within a museum exterior and inner spaces (showcases; furni­
ture; stain glasses).
Using TLS in interiors does not guarantee an overall coverage of all
the rooms with a set density. In these cases, photogrammetry plays a key
role for the integration of data lack or the acquisition of single elements
(furniture, showcases). We chose to use low cost photogrammetry tools
to accomplish this task (professional camera and Agisoft Metashape).
However, working in interiors often leads to poor lighting conditions
that affect the radiometric quality of the photos, causing noisy 3D
models. Studies in literature have shown that improving image quality
through post-processing leads to less noisy models (Gaiani et al., 2016),
for this purpose Adobe Photoshop Lightroom has been used.
As regards BIM modeling, we adopted the above mentioned scan-to-
BIM method to create the informative model in its main structure. As
BIM authoring tool we used Autodesk Revit and the Faro As-Built plugin
to import the point cloud inside the BIM environment and to create new
libraries. The modeling has been carried out with different LODs, in
accordance with the international and the current Italian specifications
and the available information.
In summary, in HS-BIM process we used terrestrial laser scanning to
obtain a general point cloud that describes the whole building in its
interior and exterior spaces while photogrammetry has been preferred to
acquire significant interior surfaces and pieces of furniture.
3.2.3. Creation of synthetic dataset in absence of collected data: thermo-
hygrometric simulations of different scenarios
In case of conservation and/or restoration of Cultural Heritage in­
terventions, numerical analyses can be considered as additional non-
destructive testing methods. In fact, they allow to simulate energy and
environmental implications related to the project choices (Clarke and
Hensen, 2015; Augenbroe, 2002). This way, in the design phase it is
possible to determine which action will cause a certain degree of
building performance decay (Gigliarelli et al., 2017).
The numerical simulations, mandatory to create the training dataset,
were carried out using semi-automated procedures developed with VPL
tools allowing for a better control on the integrity of input data prop­
erties and attributes (Calvano, 2019). Among the different available
tools we chose to work with 3D modeling software Rhinoceros 6.0 which
integrates Grasshopper VPL in a unique CAD environment. Grasshopper
allows the definition of algorithms and the connection with geometric
entities (and their data) present in Rhinoceros 6. Furthermore, it is an
inclusive tools given the possibility to add new components and plugins
for various purposes. Mostly, these additional components are imple­
mented by experienced users, coming from the professional practice and
the academic world, who use programming languages widely used in the
computer field (C++, Visual Basic, Python) compatible with Grass­
hopper and are downloadable from the online website “Food4Rhino”
(Food4Rhino, link) where are classified according to the different dis­
ciplines of the project (Calvano, 2019).
In this work, to carry out the necessary energy simulations, two plug-
ins were used: Dragonfly and Honeybee. Dragonfly performs an UHI
analysis in order to obtain energy simulations of the urban environment
in absence of a meteorological station on the roof of the museum (or at
least nearby this one) that provides urban microclimate data (Mackey,
2020; Robinson et al., 2009; Bueno et al., 2013; Mao, 2015). In this case
as input we used meteorological data collected from the closest station
to the museum site (generally are data of rural areas) and architectural-
morphological data of the urban context object of study (Epwmap, link).
As output we obtain urban meteorological data of the specific test site
functional for the simulations to be carried out on a simplified three-
dimensional model of the building using Honeybee plug-in.
The next step is to define for which rooms the DSS will be applied.
The key is to insert the minimum amount of conditions (standards to be
satisfied) and to describe the maximum level of complexity (all possible
strategies of use).
F.M. La Russa and C. Santagati
Fig. 2. Exterior view of villa Zingali Tetto seat of the Museo della Rappresentazione in Catania.
So, for each rooms it’s needed to set a combination of variants that
define simulated configurations of use. Once all thermo-hygrometric
conditions simulations are performed, data are exported and labeled.
All data belonging to the days when the thermo-hygrometric parameters
are satisfied only in a single room, as a daily average, have been
excluded.
3.2.4. VPL framework for ML application
For the realization of the DSS framework proposed in this project the
LunchBoxML plug-in for Grasshopper has been used. It consists of a li­
brary of ML algorithms developed using a C# machine learning frame­
work called Accord.NET. This framework has been developed for the
construction industry, computer vision, signal processing (including
audio) and statistical applications for commercial purposes (Miller,
2017). Currently the plug-in allows to use different ML algorithms based
on both supervised and unsupervised learning.
The choice of the most suitable Machine Learning tool depends on
the structure of the problem to solve. The devised DSS is a predictive tool
that, based on external environmental conditions, can make predictions
that suggest a combination of actions to be taken in order to respect a set
of thermo-hygrometric parameters. There are therefore a series of
external ’n’ variables associated with ’m’ variables that represent the
combination of actions (i.e. the strategy of use) useful for the respect of
certain limit values. In this case the multi-variable linear regression al­
gorithm is the most suitable for the development of DSS.
To understand multivariable linear regression it is useful to intro­
duce two-dimensional linear regression. It derives from a simple linear
function from a two-dimensional training data set (e.g. X and Y co­
ordinates in a Cartesian coordinate system). Therefore, starting from
training data describing the x input and y output, a linear function is
created that allows a prediction of y based on a new x input. The multi-
variable linear regression has the same mechanism with the difference
that the initial learning dataset is not a two-variable dataset but a multi-
variable dataset (’n’ input variables correspond to ’m’ output variables)
(Miller and Stasiuk, 2019). This tool therefore allows the prediction of a
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Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 35 (2021) 102735
combination of output data on the basis of a multivariable learning
dataset.
Our ML algorithm will be supervised, indeed the training dataset has
been labeled deleting the data not corresponding to the successful
maintenance of the thermo-hygrometric parameters. Then learning
dataset is called up in Grasshopper via the GH-Excel plug-in. From each
element in the dataset external environmental parameters (dry bulb
temperature and relative humidity) and combination of used actions
related to the test use strategy are extrapolated. These latter have been
represented by integers (0, 1, 2) to which correspond the actions fore­
seen by the use strategies applied in the simulation (i.e. 0 = 1st action, 1
= 2nd action and 2 = 3rd action); while the order in which they appear
corresponds to the different fields of application (first place: occupation,
second place: ventilation, third place: air conditioning system).
4. Application
4.1. Case study
To validate the suitability and applicability in a real case study of the
aforementioned methodology, we choose to apply it to the Museo della
Rappresentazione (MuRa) in Catania (Italy) (Fig. 2).
MuRa is housed in villa Zingali Tetto, an historical architecture
designed by Paolo Lanzerotti and built in 1930. It was the residence of
the lawyer Paolo Zingali Tetto who, on his death, donated the building
to the University of Catania. The noble floor layout is organized around
the staircase, the representative and private rooms are disengaged by
corridors. The ceilings are frescoed. A winter garden characterized by a
stained glass window acts as a liaison between the dining and the law­
yer’s private living room. The office and dining room are still equipped
with the original wooden furniture.
So far, villa Zingali Tetto presents a variety of scenarios (house
museum, mixed collections, winter garden) each with specific micro­
climate requirements that make it suitable to test the developed DSS.
The first step of our framework foresees the 3D acquisition and the
F.M. La Russa and C. Santagati
Fig. 3. View of the overall TLS point cloud.
subsequent creation of the H-BIM model. Digital surveying has been
carried out by means of the integration of several TLS: Leica ScanStation
2 for the external shootings, RTC360 and BLK 360 by Leica Geosystem
for the internal shootings. After the acquisition the point clouds have
been aligned by using Register 360. The overall point cloud consists of
233 TLS scans (233 Bn points) and the alignment error is around 4 mm
(Fig. 3).
As for the furnitures and the wooden ceilings, they have been ac­
quired by using SFM techniques paying attention to lighting conditions.
After the on site shootings the image datasets have been processed via
Lightroom so as to improve some of the flaws, then they have been
processed by Agisoft Metashape to obtain a point cloud and a textured
mesh model for each significative element (Fig. 4).
The point cloud has provided the base for the subsequent modeling in
the BIM authored tool Revit. Before starting the modeling, a semantic
scomposition has been carried out according to the rules of architectural
language. Then the level of Geometric and Informative detail has been
set as well as the design of specific libraries for the architectural ele­
ments that constitute the building (Fig. 5).
The H-BIM model obtained is used for the management and con­
servation of the building and allows to add and implement new infor­
mation during the time. With the aim to develop the DSS, a geometric
model was exported from the H-BIM one containing all the metadata
functional to the energy analysis and obtained through the initial
survey-investigation activity. Then, this model was imported into Rhi­
noceros and the metadata recognized through Grasshopper. The change
of the working environment facilitated data processing for the creation
of the synthetic dataset and the Machine Learning application.
The second step of our framework foresees the creation of a synthetic
dataset to get thermo-hygrometric simulations of different scenarios to
train the ML system.
Therefore, we defined the thermo-hygrometric parameters for each
room to be tested. The environmental parameters to be respected for
museums are not unequivocally defined but must be contextualized
taking into account: geographical area; characteristics of the building
and the existing HVAC systems; specific needs of the preserved pieces
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Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 35 (2021) 102735
and the historical microclimatic context in which they were previously
preserved; well-being of visitors.
To maintain greater control over the tools developed and the results
obtained, it was decided to focus only on a few rooms on the noble floor.
The selection criteria were: contiguity between the rooms; high aesthetic
and/or cultural importance; variety of environmental conditions
required (for preservation purposes) within the chosen rooms.
The choice fell on the dining room, the winter garden, the exhibition
room adjacent to it and the exhibition room with access to the terrace on
the main floor (Figs. 6 and 7).
According to the reference standards (Manoli, 2015), the thermo-
hygrometric parameters required by these environments are shown
below (Table 1).
Then, energy simulation has been carried out using the Honeybee.
The analysis conducted here is functional to the validation of the
workflow rather than the execution of a detailed investigation of the
energy behavior of the building.
For the modelling, closed solid polysurfaces were created, while in
the most important areas for the analysis (winter garden, dining room
and exhibition halls) the individual surfaces were modelled in order to
precisely define the position of the openings. We then proceeded with
the information enrichment (related to the thermotechnical character­
istics) on the geometries of the model taking the information from the H-
BIM model. Subsequently, the different climatic zones were indicated
according to their destination and mode of use.
The next step is therefore to describe the current management and
use of museum environments according to occupancy, natural ventila­
tion, air conditioning system switch-on times. Currently, visits to the
Representation Museum are allowed for a maximum of 25 visitors per
round. This limit value is defined according to safety and fire prevention
measures. The visit involves most of the rooms on the main floor. There
is usually an average of 2 guides accompanying the group of visitors. In
each room, this group of 27 people (25 visitors + 2 guides) stop to listen
to the information provided by the guides. As far as the natural venti­
lation of the rooms is concerned, the cleaning staff opens from 9:00 am
to 11:00 am all the windows of the main floor except for the secondary
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and service rooms on the north side. At the same time, from 11:00 a.m.
to 1:00p.m., the fan coils are manually switched on for the supply of cold
or hot air (depending on the climatic season). These operations take
place only on working days of the week.
The first configuration of use to be submitted to the energy simula­
tion is therefore this. Below it is illustrated the procedure for translating
this practice of use into data to be used in the VPL environment.
To start the simulation engine it is needed the .EPW file modified by
the analysis of the UHI (previously obtained through the Dragonfly
plugin). At the end, the results of the energy analysis will be available for
each individual climate zone. In particular, it is possible to examine the
data related to the thermo-hygrometric parameters of each environ­
ment. These data can be further processed on Grasshopper or exported
and edited on software such as Microsoft Excel. This operation can be
performed using the ’GH-Excel’ plug-in.
Two other simulations with different usage configurations were then
carried out to verify the effectiveness or otherwise of further strategies.
The second simulation envisaged the presence of 22 people, the natural

Fig. 4. Wooden ceiling of the dining room: SFM pose reconstruction

and orthoimage.

Fig. 6. Noble floor permanent exhibition.

Fig. 5. H-BIM model in perspective view.

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F.M. La Russa and C. Santagati Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 35 (2021) 102735

Fig. 7. View of the rooms considered for the DSS testing (from left to right): winter garden, dining room, exhibition room.

each element of the list is composed by the combination of integers

Table 1
Thermo-Hygrometric parameters for preventive conservation.
Room T (◦ C)45 UR (%)46
Winter garden ΔT < 5 <45
Dining room 19–24 40–65
Exhibition halls (drawings) 19–21 50–60
ventilation of the rooms for a total of 4 h on working days (9.00–11.00,
16.00–18.00) and the possibility of using the air conditioning system for
4 h. The third one considered 17 users, natural ventilation for 6 h on
working days (9.00–11.00, 16.00–18.00, 20.00–22.00) and the possi­
bility of using the air conditioning system for 6 h. These strategies are
not based on criteria linked to technical physics but simulate possible
strategies of use adopted on time by the museum staff.
Once the three datasets were exported to Excel, the data strings for
days when the values of at least two out of three rooms (dining room,
winter garden and exhibition halls) were not respected as a daily
average were eliminated. The database thus composed includes a series
of positive cases related to external environmental conditions.
Then data obtained have been normalized in a domain spanning
from 0 to 1 and therefore divided into two streams which correspond to
representative of a specific action. Input and output refers to input data in
the machine learning component. The algorithm will search for re­
lationships between the environmental parameters and the usage stra­
tegies (Fig. 8).
To get a possible use strategy, temperature (Dry Bulb) and relative
humidity are given as input data. These values must also be normalized.
By entering the input values, it is possible to obtain a prediction of
combination of actions in response. These values are normalized so it is
necessary to return them back to the initial value. In this way we get a
combination of integers (given as string data) that can be translated
through a specific matrix (Table 2).
4.2. Results
The main result of this work is the testing on a real case study of the
developed DSS capable of giving suggestions on which configuration of
actions is optimal for the preventive conservation of museum
Table 2
Translation matrix of the results provided by the DSS.
0 1 2

nested lists. In the case of inputs, i.e. environmental parameters, each Occupancy (users) 27 22 17
element of the list is composed by a pair of values (temperature and Ventilation (hours) 2 4 6
HVAC (hours) 2 4 6
relative humidity); in the case of outputs, i.e. combinations of actions,

Fig. 8. Excerpt from DSS framework for the forecasting of preventive strategies developed in VPL environment.

8
F.M. La Russa and C. Santagati
Fig. 9. Application results in Grasshopper.
For the sake of reasoning on the generated outputs, for example
given an outdoor temperature of 40◦ and a relative humidity of 0.54 the
DSS suggests the combination of actions {1; 0; 0} which means: allowing
access to only 22 users (instead of 27); maintaining the management of
use with regard to natural ventilation (2 h between 9.00 and 11.00); use
of the fan coils (2 h between 11.00 and 13.00) (Fig. 9).
However, the number of combinations of actions were few to verify
the proper functioning of the DSS. If dozens of simulations were made
combining all possible actions, the complexity of the data to be treated
would increase but also the effectiveness of the artificial intelligence
mechanism. In both cases the workflow and the structure of the
responsive model realized in VPL environment are still consistent and
the method illustrated so far remains valid.
5. Discussion
5.1. Evaluation
In relation to the initial research questions (Section 1.3), we can state
that:
1. It is possible to develop an H-BIM model, of a museum in an his­
torical building, linked to a DSS for preventive actions. This means
that every H-BIM model potentially has the possibility to implement
this ‘sentient’ section using previous data collected. The main
obstacle to this ‘evolution’ could be the interoperability between BIM
models, since currently it’s not possible to create a framework valid
for each BIM environment (unless we consider an hypothetical
common/open platform).
2. Thanks to VPL is possible to create responsive and flexible frame­
works for DSS directly linked with H-BIM models. In particular,
Grasshopper and its plugins are user friendly and the underlying
community is very active. The value of this method relies in the
responsivity and flexibility of the structure.
3. Synthetic datasets for training AI mechanisms can be useful in a
variety of cases related to museum preservation program. In
particular:
- in absence of a dataset of microclimate data;
- during the set-up phase of a new monitoring system (since it is
needed one year of data collection);
- in all cases where a museums cannot afford a “real-time” conser­
vative strategy and a monitoring system.
Nowadays, cognitive and sentient systems based on BIM technolo­
gies are at the center of scientific debate. This topic is far from being
concluded and disruptive improvements in technology possibilities
emerge new questions. For instance, the concept of Digital Twin (DT),
adopted in AEC industry since 2000′ s years, is another point of view of
the arguments discussed in this research. DT is meant to be a digital
version of a system, specialized in a certain field of applications,
distinctly separated from the physic (real) version of the system and
connected thank to sensors which transmit data almost in real time. The
9
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 35 (2021) 102735
main difference between HS-BIM and DT approaches is that HS-BIM is
meant to be an artificial evolution of BIM system by creating an over­
structure that leads to an unique sentient model, like mind and body in a
human being.
5.2. Future works
The AI tools used in this research are very basic. It could be useful to
test the same workflow using more sophisticated frameworks used in
computer science fields (TensorFlow, Keras, PyTorch, etc) to evaluate
the reliability and accuracy of VPL tools.
There is ample room for improvements, for example considering the
modeling environment: is it possible to maintain the entire workflow
inside the same BIM environment? If yes, which BIM environment/tool
is more suitable to be used with this method?
Another topic that is interesting for further research is to understand
whether and how it is possible to reconcile the approaches of DT and HS-
BIM and what implications this has on a urban scale.
6. Conclusions
The presented research demonstrates the effectiveness of HS-BIM
framework to support professionals and museum curators in the ac­
tions to be undertaken for the preventive conservation of historical
buildings adapted in museums. This approach exploits the use of AI for
solving complex issues such as the conservative instances of building
and museum collections in order to find a balance between them. Using
the flexibility of VPL and coding tools this method can be applied in a
variety of existing building scenarios.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Federico Mario La Russa: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data
curation, Software, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing - original
draft. Cettina Santagati: Conceptualization, Supervision, Visualization,
Project administration, Writing - review & editing.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
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