Energy Consumption Behaviour in Historical Churches

The historical buildings are being categorized under low thermal comfort because of their primary construction materials and their architecture, requiring a large volume of air to heat to achieve the human comfort levels required today. The existing problems within the historical churches are increasing, destroying not just the cultural heritage, but also affecting the health of people using the building, raising environmental concerns and pushing the occupants to find solutions for heating and ventilation of the spaces for reaching the minimum thermal comfort while, at the same time, carrying for the preservation of history. As the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 does not apply to protected buildings, due to their heritage, or to any buildings used as a place of worship, the case study church building of Saint Mary de Haura from Shoreham-by-Sea was chosen to be monitored closely using data loggers, measuring temperature and humidity for a year, after which the temperatures were assessed and compared with the actual thermal comfort standards CIBSE TM52 and CIBSE Guide A. The achieved results demonstrate that the church’s indoor environment is found most of the time cooler than minimum thermal standards accepted, which place the church in searching position for finding a solution to achieve at least the minimum indoor environment required.