Big Picture

From the Dalai Lama to Anglican priests to interfaith communities, religious groups and leaders are actively addressing environmental issues. But per capita, per hour of use, houses of worship are the biggest wasters of energy, and the U.S. has more houses of worship than any other country. Large buildings with turn of the century HVAC systems and dwindling budgets are hurdles to fashioning more environmentally conscious houses of worship, but the worst reason is...sloth. When the service ends, the congregation heads home. We'll deal with it next week, or the the week after, or...

Here are some ways you can found out if a house of worship is green, and some suggestions for improving it if it's not.

Factoids n' Stuff

If America’s more than 300,000 houses of worship cut energy use by just 10 percent…

• Nearly $200 million would be saved for congregations’ missions and other priorities.
• More than 5.4 billion kWh of electricity would be available without additional cost and pollution.
• More than 2 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions would be prevented, equivalent to the emissions of about 400,000 cars, or to planting over a half million acres of trees.

What Goes In?

Buildings are made up of systems.  Every system is an energy use generator. Any building – old or new — can be energy efficient and environmentally responsible.  It is a matter of dealing with walls, windows, roofs, doors, flooring, wall covering, paint, ceiling materials,  light bulbs and lighting fixtures,  heat and AC generation,  controls, distribution, pipes and wires. 

Dee to the nature of houses of worship, they face some specific challenges in the building department:

• Old Buildings — A large proportion of houses of worship date from before the early 20th century. 
• Unique architecture — Houses of worship were built to be great, not green. 
• Large sanctuaries — The prevailing metaphor is a supreme being, so large spaces, high ceilings, and huge heating bills are the norm. 
• Inefficient/Old HVAC systems — As antique HVAC systems wear out, their efficiency declines. In most cases, the efficiency was not good to begin with compared to modern standards.

And then of course all the “stuff” that fills up the space — chairs, tables, pews, altars, organs, pianos, copy machines, computers, paper, paper, paper!!!

What Comes Out?

Is there evidence that the congregation has made changes to make the house of worship greener?  Some indicators are those in the low-hanging fruit category, such as…

• Programmable Thermostats — People forget; thermostats don’t.
• Interior “storm” windows — So you can’t install all new windows?  Use interior “storm” windows to create a good thermal break. 
• Vending Miser — Got a vending machine?  It doesn’t need to run 24 hours a day; it only needs to run when folks want cold drinks.  A motion sensing vending miser will reduce electricity use.

Other indicators are those showing improvements in major systems, such as…

• Efficient Radiation — In-floor radiation in sanctuaries gets the heat where all the people are—near the floor and not up at the top of those high ceilings. 
• High-Efficiency Boilers — Steam boilers must always reach 212° regardless of outside temperature.  Hydronic (hot water) boilers can adjust to much lower temperatures, just enough to offset how cold it is outside.  Old boilers are likely at 75% or lower efficiency, while new boilers are 92% and better.  You do the math!
• Domestic Hot Water — Having hot water ready 24/7 in a house of worship makes no sense.   On-demand DHW generation is above 90% efficiency and generates DHW only when it is called for, a further significant efficiency.
• Air Conditioning — As with heating, older AC systems are low efficiency.  Newer will be more efficient.  Using geothermal methods for AC is even better.  Water comes out of the ground at 60° or lower, meaning it’s already at a lower temperature. Hmm, nature has a good idea here!

How's it Run?

Regular attention to day-to-day operations enables efficient systems to work, and helps compensate for systems not yet upgraded to high efficiency status.  Some things you can ask:

• Does the congregation keep a monthly record of utility use, not just cost?  Is this monthly record used to compare with use in the same month in prior years?  Does the data include degree days (heating and cooling) as a basis of comparison?
• Is there a committee charged with monitoring energy performance and advocating for energy improvements?  Faith without works is dead. 
• Congregations often have budget struggles. Paint the religious education classroom, or install an efficient boiler? Raise clergy salary, or add a staff person reaching out to young adults?  These are hard questions. Does the congregation take environmental stewardship into consideration?

What They Care About

Houses of worship are the meeting places for the community of faith.  For the community of faith, being energy efficient is surely practical.  More importantly it is an expression of being faithful in caring for creation through environmental stewardship. 

Helping congregants and visitors to understand the religious reasons for good environmental practices should be evident in the congregation's information and in the explanation of how the congregation carries on its own “business” activities, with use of utilities (electricity, gas, oil, water) a prime focus. Other activities which should evidence environmental responsibility include maintenance (cleaning products, for example), materials used (paint) and waste management (recycling, including routine materials such as paper and garage, and periodic materials such as carpet). 

What to Ask

The basic questions are…

• What do you do here to achieve high standards of environmental stewardship?
• How far have you come in improving your utility use?
• Have your accomplishments been formally recognized/honored by others?  (For example, EPA has an Energy Star Congregation of the Year award.  The US Green Building Council has LEED programs for both new and existing buildings.)
• What are your plans for the near future? Long term?
• What information do you have that can help me practice environmental stewardship at home?

What to Do

If this is your House of Worship then you can not only ask about what the congregation is doing, you can also offer to be part of the process of improvement. 

When the evidence is clear that improvements “work”, be sure to tell the story to others.  Environmental stewardship involves encouraging others to join this part of the faith journey. 

Find Out More

• Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light
• Energy Star for Congregations
• Massachusetts Technology Collaborative 
• Massachusetts Climate Action Network 
• Clean Energy Choice
• Greening of Religion, from The Environment Report
• Anglican Leader Brings Climate to the Pulpit, from NPR
• Interfaith Global Warming Task Force Hoping to Make a Difference, from WDEF news

By Tom Nutt-Powell