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The Image Permanence Institute (IPI) has formulated a new definition of the preservation environment and has developed tools and procedures that allow cultural institutions to understand and improve long-term preservation of collections. IPI's view is based on thirty years of research into accelerated aging, equilibration rates, image stability, the effects of pollution, and material decay in general.

IPI has put its research into practice at hundreds of institutions in the US and abroad, most significantly at the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the National Park Service, the New York Public Library, and the National Museum of Denmark. Over the last thirteen years, IPI has developed the best tools available to cultural institutions for monitoring, documenting, and analyzing the storage environment. The most recent technology includes the PEM2®, the PEMdata web site, and the MyClimateData web site, custom-designed for several large institutions. Earlier developments include the original PEM® (Preservation Environment Monitor®), Climate Notebook® software for data analysis, and the DewPoint Calculator.

IPI's approach to environmental management is based on the use of an electronic datalogger, web-based data storage, and IPI's Preservation Metrics for data analysis. The web-based platform facilitates the process of environmental management and adds value to the data by making it is easier to organize the data and share it with allied professionals. With the website, it is easier than ever to achieve the first step of environmental management, answering the questions, "what are my environments doing?" and "what temperature and humidity conditions do I really have?". The website also assists with interpreting the data, providing analysis tools to answer the questions, "how are my environments affecting the collections?" and "which environments, if any, do I need to improve?". The Preservation Metrics use the temperature and humidity data to calculate numerical estimates of collection decay risk, transforming the raw data into easy to understand evaluations of the preservation quality of the environments. These metrics greatly enhance the ability of cultural institutions to demonstrate the stewardship of their collections.

As institutional budgets become tighter and administrations look to reducing energy use and incorporating more sustainable, "green" practices, the Preservation Metrics can make a case for the needs of the collection. The metrics can document and assess the implications of mechanical system changes, set backs or shut downs because they are standardized, quantitative computations. We believe these metrics are essential to finding the balance between the needs of the collection, the efficient operation of a building's mechanical system, and the fiscal responsibility of an institution.