**2.3.2 Natural stone products**

The temperature of two different categories of natural stone products were measured: marble and granite slabs and different limestone blocks. As was expected, the white marble slab recorded the lowest surface temperatures (mean maximum 34.8 oC, mean 29.8 oC). Among the marble samples, the dark grey sample was the warmest, measuring maximum temperatures of 53.8 oC, which is 19.3 oC higher than the air temperature, and mean temperatures of 42.9 oC (Tair + 11.6 oC). The surface temperatures of the rest of the marble slabs were between the two above-mentioned extremes (Table 2). Red-black, black and dark grey granite samples recorded higher maximum temperatures than the dark grey marble one, which were 56.4 oC, 56.4 and 58.6 oC, respectively. The mean surface temperatures of these three samples were 43.9 oC, 44.4 oC and 45.1 oC. Finally, the surface temperatures of the various stone blocks, were observed to be mainly dependent on their colours and were similar to those of the corresponding marble samples (Table 2).
