Microclimatic control of a fourteenth-century Church in Italy: The design of systems by experiments and simulations

Heritage buildings represent part of a city's identity, and their conservation, as well as the preservation of the works of art they house, is indispensable. This study gives a contribution to the topic of indoor microclimatic analysis and control in building heritage, focusing on the environmental monitoring of an ancient church in the center of Naples (Italy). The measurement campaign, performed during two typical winter and summer periods, was a necessary preliminary step to examine the current indoor microclimate and to calibrate a dynamic energy model of the church. The numerical model was employed for coupled analyses of the church by performing BES (Building Energy Simulations) and CFD (Computational fluid dynamic) simulations. The monitoring revealed the inadequacy of current indoor microclimatic conditions for the conservation of the artistic heritage, and for the comfort of the occupants, therefore a heating and cooling system was designed paying attention to the historical/artistic value of the church. The results of BES and CFD simulations demonstrate an indoor temperature increase of up to 4.4 °C in winter and a decrease of up to 3 °C during the summer, by assuring the preservation of artifacts (e.g., too cold or too hot conditions can induce cracks of wooden materials) and improving occupants’ thermal comfort.