Reducing our Resource Usage

So many of our church buildings were built in an era of cheap energy, when efficiency was low on the list of architectural criteria. This often means that these buildings use a lot of energy and there are many barriers built into the bones of the structure that make efficiency efforts formidable. These include things like single-pane leaded-glass windows, large (and beautiful) spaces, varying amounts of insulation, and old heating and electrical systems.

While all of this means that there are no easy solutions, it does not mean we cannot make progress at lowering our resource usage. In 2018 and 2019, we undertook a major effort to retrofit all the light fixtures in our building to LED lights. While it took an effort to get it all done (those chandeliers are really high up there!), the impact was evident almost immediately–a nearly 50% reduction in our electricity usage.

After conducting a building audit, our climate team noted that our other major energy usage is for heating, which is provided exclusively by natural gas. While there are many places where we lose heat, including our stained glass windows, it quickly became apparent that we were losing a lot of energy through our doors. Or, more specifically, through the gaps in our doors where there should have been weatherstripping. Through a combination of doors that never had weather stripping, and doors whose weatherstripping had long ago disintegrated with age, a lot of hot air was escaping through those gaps. And on cold winter days, a lot of cold air was making its way into the church.

With a climate change grant from the Diocese of New Westminster, we purchased new commercial grade weather stripping for all the doors in our building, and over a couple of work parties with our volunteers, got it all installed. While we are still watching our usage to see if a measurable reduction is evident, anecdotally, we have noticed that our building feels less drafty in the cold months, especially in our main entryway.

While our ultimate goal is to eliminate our natural gas heating system, we know that it will take time and money to make that possible. In the meant time, we have done work to further reduce our gas usage, from installing programmable thermostats, to installing a ductless mini-split system in our offices so that they can be cooled in the summer and heated in an energy efficient manner that doesn’t use natural gas in the winter.

Beyond our energy usage, we work to reduce our waste by using reusable plates, cups, and utensils wherever possible. In our office, we are intentional about purchasing recycled products where ever possible, from the toilet paper in our bathrooms to the copier paper we use for printed materials.

Our work is by no means done and our climate team is always happy to welcome more people into the effort. If you are interested in getting involved with our climate work, please let us know.