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How does the church administrator, in working with his designers and builders in evolving a new church design, work through the labyrinth of possibilities and make the right decisions balancing up-front costs with long-term energy and maintenance costs? It's not easy, but worth all the time and effort you'll put into it. Experienced church designers and builders have a lot to say on this subject, in terms of both general principles and specific tips.

A good place to start is the ground elevation, that is to say, the height of the lowest floor above the surrounding grade. "The ground elevation can almost never go too high," says Albert R. Luper of Worship Concepts. "But it can go too low. If the ground elevation is too low you will always have moisture problems, which means rot and mold."

Most big churches have concrete floors, and Luper explains that these floors should be a minimum of 12 inches above grade. This will keep the water away and give the building a "chance to breathe." Luper says a wood floor should go 20 inches or higher above grade.

The most important energy consideration in the design of exterior walls and a roof is insulation. "You are always struggling with thermodynamics," says Luper. The basic concept we are all familiar with is that if there is heat on one side of the wall and cold on the other, the natural tendency is for both sides to balance out. The warmer side gets cooler while the cooler side gets warmer. The more extreme the difference, the more extreme must be the insulating barrier of the walls and roof.

For instance, if the outside temperature is 20 below zero and you want the inside temperature to be maintained at 70 degrees, then you'll need maximum insulation because the temperature difference of 90 degrees is a large driving force for losing heat. However, if the outside temperature is typically 85 degrees and you want an inside temperature of 75 degrees, then you'll need a much different type of insulation design because the temperature difference is only 10 degrees.

There's more to consider with insulation than comfort, however. Proper insulation is often necessary to maintain building integrity. "We do a lot of steel structures for churches, and notice that many builders put the exterior brick veneer directly onto the metal sheeting," says Doug Mattox of Mattox Construction, Inc., a builder for Ceco Building Systems. Mattox explains that the lack of insulation around the steel can lead to a structural problem. As temperatures change inside and outside, moisture condenses on the steel, and that moisture eventually leads to rust.

Instead of placing the brick veneer directly next to metal sheeting, Mattox recommends building a six-inch stud wall for the exterior wall. Insulate the stud wall with R-19 insulation and sheath it with a waferboard exterior sheet. The entire building can then be covered with an impermeable building wrap to keep drafts and moisture out. Then the brick veneer is built next to the wrapped waferboard. "This makes the walls durable in all kinds of weather," Mattox says. "It keeps the inside temperature in and the outside temperature out, and stops the sweating."

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