Melbourne’s St. Alfred’s Church Boasts Highly Sophisticated Passive Heating and Cooling Systems

Located in the quiet, leafy suburb of East Melbourne, Australia, St. Alfred's Anglican parish is a community committed to sustainable living. With this in mind, <strong><a href="http://www.studiob.net.au/" target="_blank">Studio B Architects</a></strong> created a green church that incorporates a highly sophisticated ventilation system, high thermal mass, natural cooling and solar heating.

The building is also defined by several other tall walls that feature iconic church symbols and contribute additional thermal mass.

The 16,318-square-foot building does not have any air-conditioning - instead, it relies on a complex cooling system that begins with a sub-floor plenum that pulls cool air from an adjacent shaded and irrigated landscaped area.

A hydronic heat exchanger installed within the sub-floor plenum cools this air down even further using water from a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/rainwater-harvesting/">rainwater harvesting</a> tank located beneath the underground parking garage.

The cooled air is then ducted into 10 grilled floor openings throughout the building.

The heating system is equally impressive and is based on a solar chimney integrated into the 45-foot-tall architectural element. The solar chimney gathers heat through north-facing glass located at its base.

This heated air is then released through an opening at the top, activating hydronic radiator panels placed throughout the building. The radiator panels work with finned tubes placed in floor openings that are fitted with rock baskets to provide thermal mass. Heated air passes through grates in these floor openings, heating the building during the cool months of the year.