Dear All,

My university is building new accommodation for our department which includes the GAUBA herbarium, and air conditioning is going to be limited by cost. There is little doubt that we will have temperature control, but humidity control is under question. I have read that specimens should be kept in a relatively narrow humidity range (around 50%) because if too moist they rot, and if too dry they become brittle. I have vetoed evaporative cooling because of the high humidity that it creates. Refrigerated air conditioning is the alternative but it tends to run at low humidity (<<50%). Is this likely to be a problem?

Yours Sincerely,