Infrared thermography (IRT) is a powerful non contact imaging technique, appropriate for the protection of cultural heritage. The National Technical University of Athens research team (scientist responsible: A. Moropoulou), started to use this technique in the early 1990s, in all stages of a conservation project, from decay diagnosis to assessment of conservation interventions and monitoring. The monuments investigated with the aid of this technique belonged to different historical periods, dating from antiquity to modern times. The main products of IRT, thermal maps of surfaces, were evaluated and exploited, based on the demands, special needs and requirements of each application. Additionally, in laboratory scale, many IRT measurements were performed in order to investigate the applicability and limitations of this technique for measuring a material’s thermophysical properties. All these data and accumulated knowledge and experience contributed to a set of recommendations, which enabled us to compile a protocol for the application of this technique in a more standardized way. Moreover, the added value of this practice permitted the successful application and integration of this technique in large-scale conservation projects, such as the Pythian Apollo Temple in Acropolis of Rhodes, during the diagnostic study phase, or at the Holy Aedicule, of the Holy Selphuchre in Jerusalem, during the rehabilitation works.

This paper focuses on the integration of multi-sensor techniques regarding the acquisition, processing, visualisation and management of data regarding historic stone structures. The interdisciplinary methodology that is carried out here comprises of two parts. In the first part, the acquisition of qualitative and quantitative data concerning the geometry, the materials and the degradation of the tangible heritage asset each time, is discussed. The second part, refers to the analysis, management and visualization of the interrelated data by using spatial information technologies. Through the paradigm of the surveying of the ancient temple of Pythian Apollo at Acropolis of Rhodes, Rhodes Island, Greece, it is aimed to highlight the issues deriving from the separate application of documentation procedures and how the fusion of these methods can contribute effectively to ensure the completeness of the measurements for complex structures. The surveying results are further processed to be compatible and integrated with GIS. Also, the geometric documentation derivatives are combined with environmental data and the results of the application of non-destructive testing and evaluation techniques in situ and analytical techniques in lab after sampling. GIS operations are utilized to document the building materials but also to model and to analyse the decay extent and patterns. Detailed surface measurements and geo-processing analysis are executed. This integrated approach, helps the assessment of past interventions on the monument, identify main causes of damage and decay, and finally assist the decision making on the most compatible materials and techniques for protection and restoration works.

There is a deep and often impassioned postulation that preservation is virtuous for societal well-being, collective identity and for the environment. This idea is an important paradigm to guide rehabilitation strategies for historic buildings. However, there is a need for data and research in order to validate the contribution of preservation to environmental and cultural sustainability. These research results will support preservation-related decision-making, in which tensions and conflicts with sustainability goals are a routine. Nowadays, there is a strong belief that historic buildings of the 20th century also need to be preserved to create the identities of neighborhoods and cities and suitable strategies need to be applied to extend their lifespan in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way. This research, based on the assumption that integrating sustainability considerations in historic buildings needs a quantifiable approach, selected eight refugee block apartment flats dating back to the interwar period—endowed with architectural, aesthetical and urban history-related values and acknowledged as exceptional examples of Bauhaus architecture in Greece—for an experimental procedure based on life cycle analysis (LCA). Taking into account the deteriorated state of conservation of the buildings, different preservation interventions were analyzed, focusing on the conservation of the initial architectural form of the buildings and critical issues such as the increase in energy efficiency after restoration. The research concludes that this type of assessment can inform urban strategies, making a nexus between preservation and the environmental component of sustainability.