Monitoring indoor temperatures of places of worship : a first step towards energy sustainability

Abstract

This paper attempts to investigate the status quo of the indoor climate of some churches in Malta, ranging from large and small Baroque buildings to more contemporary buildings, during the winter season. This is carried out through an investigation of measured temperature and humidity, as a first step towards understanding and evaluating the extent of comfort issues in these buildings. It was found that the thermal mass of buildings plays a very important role in controlling indoor temperature in such free running structures. A contemporary church that was built of concrete showed extreme diurnal variations in indoor temperature during the winter season, which temperature was outside the comfort zone. On the other hand, Baroque churches had a relatively stable indoor temperature and they had fewer days where the temperature dropped below 18 °C.