Energy consumption, thermal comfort, and indoor air quality in mosques: Impact of Covid-19 measures

Yuksel A., Arıcı M., Krajcik M., Civan M., Karabay H.

JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION, cilt.354, 2022 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 354
  • Basım Tarihi: 2022
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131726
  • Dergi Adı: JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, PASCAL, Aerospace Database, Business Source Elite, Business Source Premier, CAB Abstracts, Communication Abstracts, INSPEC, Metadex, Pollution Abstracts, Public Affairs Index, Veterinary Science Database, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Covid-19, Pandemic, Mosque, Energy consumption, Indoor air quality, Thermal comfort, PARTICULATE MATTER
  • Kocaeli Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Restrictions have been imposed on the number of people, the duration of their stay and air conditioning operation in temples to limit the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This work studied how restrictions affected energy consumption, thermal comfort, and indoor air quality (IAQ) in mosques. Energy consumption data on lighting, heating and cooling before and during the pandemic were analyzed in six mosques of various sizes located in Yalova city, Turkey. The annual energy consumption for lighting was reduced during the pandemic in all mosques due to less usage, while the annual heating and cooling costs were raised in one mosque despite their restricted use. Besides, experiments were conducted to assess the effect of pandemic measures on thermal comfort and IAQ by measuring indoor temperature, relative humidity, air velocity, CO2 and PM concentrations in a typical mosque. Keeping the windows open and limiting occupancy improved the IAQ. This was evidenced by the lower average CO2 concentration during the pandemic (428 +/- 40 ppm) than before the pandemic (661 +/- 201 ppm). An acceptable thermal environment was achieved under pandemic measures at night during the summer period. Creating excellent conditions can be difficult without air conditioning even with open windows and prayers performed at night.