Erzbistum Köln.Keeps 200 churches in view, with a monthly report the parish can read.
Erzbistum Köln aims to be climate-neutral by 2030. Decarbonising the heating in churches and chapels is an important part of that. At the same time, the building and sustainability department has to keep the churches, chapels and their furnishings safe for the next generation, as the climate, the ecology and the costs change.
At a glance
- Module
- Indoor climate
- Customer
- Erzbistum Köln, Generalvikariat, Building and sustainability, Art monument care
- Contact
- Jasper Völkert, advisor
- Programme
- EcoSacra climate monitoring
- Scope
- 200 selected churches and chapels
- Solution
- Sensors, cloud software and a mobile app from IoT Fabrikken
- Measurement points per church
- Three sensors (chancel, organ or gallery, north side outside); extra points when needed
- Data transfer
- Mobile network (NB-IoT), own power supply, no building technology required on site
- Installation
- A three-week on-site phase in the Cologne area
Indoor climate decides how those furnishings hold up. A continuous record, and the documentation that goes with it, is what makes it possible to judge the conditions properly and, when needed, to steady the climate or protect the furnishings before damage shows.
Against that background, the department first fitted 200 selected churches with climate monitoring. The challenge was to run one reliable setup across 200 buildings spread over a wide area, many of them listed, often with no internet and no power at the measurement point, and to present the data so that both the building and sustainability department and the people responsible in the parishes can use it.
Together with IoT Fabrikken, climate monitoring for EcoSacra was put in place. Three sensors in each church record temperature and relative humidity at set positions: in the chancel, at the organ or gallery, and on the north side outside. Extra measurement points can be added where furnishings are especially at risk or of high heritage value, and in special rooms such as a treasury or a sacristy.
The sensors send their readings over the mobile network (NB-IoT) to a central cloud and carry their own power. The church needs neither an internet connection nor extra installation on site, which matters in listed buildings. The data is available in cloud software and a mobile app, and each month a clearly set-out indoor-climate report is provided.
The collaboration, in brief
- Tender won. IoT Fabrikken was commissioned in the tender to fit the 200 churches.
- Joint planning. The rollout was planned together with the art monument care department, from where the measurement points sit to how the work on site would run.
- Installation on site. During a three-week on-site phase in Erzbistum Köln, the sensors were installed together with the art monument care department. With NB-IoT, the readings travel reliably even in crypts, vaults, behind altars and at organs.
- Central overview. A tailored overview in the software was built for the archiepiscopal Generalvikariat. Staff in art monument care and monument care find the churches they look after quickly, and see at a glance where the indoor climate is stable and where action is needed.
- AI-supported monthly report. A report built for EcoSacra joins the rules and conservation expertise of monument care with an automated reading of the data. Each site receives a monthly report with notes and recommendations, set out so it can be understood without specialist knowledge.
- Training and onboarding. Training videos were made for the many people who use the system on site, and the art monument care and building monument care departments were brought in through an onboarding.
What this gives Erzbistum Köln
- Central overview. One consistent overview of all 200 churches, available at any time.
- Early warning. Critical conditions show early, so damage to furnishings, organs and the building fabric can be reduced or avoided.
- People on site can judge it. Those responsible can follow the indoor climate themselves and judge it on their own with the monthly reports.
- Suited to listed buildings. No building technology and no internet connection are required, which suits listed buildings.
- Scalable. A sound basis for extending monitoring to further churches on the way to climate neutrality in 2030.
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What does Erzbistum Köln say?
From the first test phase, through the joint installation on site, to ongoing support, working with IoT Fabrikken was consistently professional, reliable and solution-oriented. What we value most is the central overview of every site, and the monthly reports set out so clearly that the people responsible on site can judge the indoor climate for themselves.
Want to know more?
Get in touch, we are always happy to talk about indoor climate and space management for your buildings.
