regulatory requirements and design features

Air conditioning and ventilation systems in temple buildings should provide church ministers and parishioners with clean and fresh air. Thanks to well-calculated air exchange and temperature and humidity indicators of air, the necessary microclimate should be created for the preservation of icons, frescoes, elements of interior decoration, masterpieces of wooden architecture, and the decoration of temple complexes and places of worship. About the features of ventilation in churches, temples and prayer houses and will be discussed in this publication.

Features of ventilation of places of worship

Religious buildings are places where during the service there are a large number of people at the same time, each of which, during breathing, releases an average of 19 liters of carbon dioxide, 50 grams of moisture and a large amount of pollution from burning candles. An increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air, its humidity, especially against the background of a decrease in the amount of oxygen in the air mixture, can lead a person to dizziness, increased pressure, and heart problems. For places of worship, high humidity can be a disaster in the form of condensation on interior furnishings, walls and windows. The condensate, which, when mixed with carbon dioxide, is a fairly aggressive liquid, can irrevocably destroy old painted plaster and wooden objects of worship.

The peculiarity of the architecture of Christian places of worship does not allow the installation of climate control equipment in the interior of the building. The only possible option for creating a comfortable microclimate for a person and reducing the level of air humidity in order to preserve the historical heritage is to create a competent air exchange that will not create temperature fluctuations in the room and heat leakage.

Creating controlled air exchange in the church

The design of ventilation systems in temple buildings is regulated by SNiP 2.04.05-91. The main problem in creating effective ventilation of churches is to ensure compliance with the permissible air parameters depending on the time of year and a certain area of ​​the religious building.

Temperature and air exchange in temple buildings

The most demanded engineering solution for places of worship with a capacity of no more than 600 people is the creation of a natural ventilation system with 8-fold air exchange. Air inflow is organized by using the required number of moisture-regulated window valves of the EMM type.

Controlled exhaust is provided by BXL type humidity-controlled gratings.

If the capacity of the temple is more than 600 people, then it is recommended to create forced exhaust and natural supply ventilation through humidity-controlled multi-jet window supply valves. Removal of polluted air must be provided from the upper part of the building, by installing low-capacity window fans on four sides. The air exchange rate should not be less than 8.

Window valves are not able to provide the required volume of fresh air. In such cases, it is recommended to equip the temple with forced ventilation with air distribution to the lower zone of the building and a variable flow rate of the air mixture, depending on the mode of use of the temple building.

When designing ventilation systems in churches, the following points should be considered:

• volume of premises and their purpose;
• the actual filling of the temple with people, depending on its estimated capacity;
• heat — and moisture release from people;
• pollution emitted by burning candles and lamps;
• the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by parishioners and church clergy.

The selection of equipment must be carried out taking into account the permissible air mobility in the temple buildings, which does not exceed 0.3 m/s.

Fire safety of ventilation systems

In places where open fire is used and there is a large crowd of people, fire safety comes first. Ventilation and air conditioning systems, through the air ducts of which the main spread of fire and combustion products, in religious buildings must be treated with fire retardant compounds and materials, and also equipped with valves with manual and remote control. In addition, all ventilation equipment, heating and air conditioning systems must be located behind a fence with a sufficient degree of fire protection.