Houses
of worship test a designer's engineering skill and ingenuity.
- Building
Occupancy Change
- Thermal Stratification
- Sound Transmission
- Privacy
- Operational Cost Limitation
- Indoor Air Requirements
A house
of worship has always been a challenge
for two reasons: a designer must
install equipment
and air distribution
devices in architecturally
acceptable places, and occupancy is more sporadic
than other facilities.
Houses of worship seldom have
full or near-full occupancy more than
once a week,
but they may have considerable use on a smaller
scale throughout the rest of the week. They
also
may have auxiliary rooms that need air conditioning.
For these reasons,
total air conditioning load
requirements need to be carefully evaluated
in
order to take full advantage of the characteristics
of each area
and minimize thermal stratification
where high vaulted ceilings are present.
