Water Management 101: Safeguarding Collections in Small and Mid-Sized Institutions

Keeping water away from collections at small and mid-sized institutions is paramount to any collection caretaker’s job, but doing that isn’t always straightforward. A little knowledge of water management in buildings can go a long way,whether your collection is held in a state-of-the-art facility or a historic house. In this webinar, we will cover how to:

• Preempt moisture issues, large and small
• Detect leaks and identify their potential sources
• Understand your building’s waterproofing and water management systems
• Speak confidently with tradespeople, waterproofing specialists, and engineers about issues and repairs

Speaker

Meris Westberg, PM-AIC, is a NYC-based architectural conservator and historic preservation specialist. Her firm, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. is a trusted engineering, architecture, and materials science consultancy, specializing in complex studies on existing building performance and strategic repair design. There she regularly conducts leak investigations and building enclosure assessments and often presents on flood preparedness and recovery, particularly for collecting institutions and historic sites. Prior to graduate school, she spent nearly a decade working in museums and archives conservation. Meris has also served as a National Heritage Responder since 2022, focusing on incidents related to historic structures.