Houses of Worship Houses of Worship Churches and other places of worship have tremendous variations in occupancy. High occupancy seldom occurs more than a few hours a week in the main assembly area. There may also be significant occassional use during the week for weddings and funerals. A major problem is usually arriving at an architecturally acceptable integration of the HVAC system, particularly the air diffuser locations.
Some individual control is helpful for the altar, sacristy and choir areas.
Other areas are usually used for meetings and day care, and these are treated separately. Diversity of the total HVAC load needs should be evaluated to take full advantage of the buildings characteristics and use. Thermal storage systems are often cost effective to reduce the size and cost of the main cooling system.