Church heating: Comparison of different strategies

Church heating represents a challenging task because multiple goals have to be fulfilled simultaneously, such as the thermal comfort for the occupants and the optimal internal environmental conditions for the preservation of building components and artworks. In addition, current requirements for environmental and economic sustainability impose to make efforts to minimize the amount of energy needed and the consequent environmental/economic impact. In this context, the present work represents the assessment of the energy, environmental and economic impact of different strategies for church heating, including a novel technology based on the exploitation of renewable energies. The analysis was carried out in a real case-study building, represented by the Basilica di S. Maria di Collemaggio (L'Aquila, Italy), a church of worldwide relevance, currently under restoration.