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Making a historic building more sustainable is a challenge in itself, and even more so when it’s a church with limited space for technical systems. It’s no surprise, then, that the expertise of Klimaatservice Holland—which, as it happens, also specializes in making churches more sustainable—was sought at an early stage for the sustainability renovation of the Elim Church in Capelle aan den IJssel.
“Based on positive experiences with previously completed churches, we were invited to join the construction team,” begins Willem Sterkenburg of Klimaatservice Holland. The starting point was unique. “There was no detailed design yet. Starting with the initial sketches, we worked together to develop a suitable solution for heating, ventilation, cooling, and control systems. Thanks to our early involvement, we were able to tailor the technical choices to best suit the building’s historic character.”
For heat generation, Klimaatservice Holland opted for a closed-loop ground-source system connected to three heat pumps with a combined capacity of 60 kW. At the same time, the existing boilers were retained. “That was a deliberate choice: part of the building still has high-temperature heating,” explains Sterkenburg. “By combining a high- and low-temperature circuit, the building can be heated efficiently with heat pumps for most of the year, while the boilers are used only during peak periods or when additional capacity is needed. Thanks to the ground-source system, the building can be cooled largely for free, and where necessary, the heat pumps actively support the cooling process.”
According to Sterkenburg, ventilation was one of the biggest challenges. “Because the existing roof did not have sufficient load-bearing capacity for the new systems, all technical equipment had to be housed inside the building. We opted for a balanced ventilation system with heat recovery and a capacity of 15,000 m³/h. In the church sanctuary, ceiling grilles with electronically adjustable blades ensure an optimal airflow pattern. This is because cooling requires a different airflow pattern than heating.” An additional challenge was routing the ventilation system from the mechanical room to the ceiling of the church hall. “Together with the architect, we devised an elegant solution: a duct that is fully integrated into the architectural design and is therefore unobtrusive.”
From the outside, it’s hard to tell that the Elim Church has undergone a major renovation, while inside, a modern system has been installed that works seamlessly with the existing systems. “You can only achieve a result like this if all parties work together seamlessly,” says Sterkenburg. “And that was definitely the case here. The entire process, from preparation through to completion, went very smoothly.”
