wfn.org | NCCCUSA Addresses Energy Problems

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Contact: Wendy McDowell, NCC News, 212-870-2227
Email: news@ncccusa.org; Web: www.ncccusa.org

11NCC2/4/99

***REPORTERS: THIS IS A STORY THAT BEGS TO BE LOCALIZED.  FIND 
OUT WHAT CHURCHES IN YOUR AREA ARE GOING, OR NOT DOING, TO 
CONSERVE ENERGY AND TO PROMOTE ENVIRONMENTAL MINISTRIES.***

NCC PROGRAM ADDRESSES TITANIC-SIZED ENERGY PROBLEMS IN CHURCHES 

NEW YORK, Feb. 4 ---- Sligo Adventist School in Takoma Park, 
Maryland, saves $11,136 annually and prevents 213,909 pounds of 
carbon dioxide emissions, while Augustana Lutheran Church in 
Chicago saves $1,200 a year and prevents nearly 25,000 pounds of 
carbon dioxide emissions.  Both institutions realized these 
savings simply by initiating lighting upgrades.  Sligo School is 
investing all the money saved to power its new computer lab.

 Such changes are encouraged as part of an innovative "Energy 
Star Congregations" program sponsored by the Eco-Justice Working 
Group of the National Council of Churches and funded by a $50,000 
grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency.  
The initiative encourages local congregations to take concrete 
steps toward making their buildings more energy conserving.

Church is "Titanic" on Energy Conservation

The program is desperately needed, according to experts who 
perform energy audits on buildings.  When it comes to energy 
efficiency, "if I were to compare the church to a boat, it would 
be the Titanic," said John Root, Energy Educator for the Center 
for Energy and Environmental Education,  University of Northern 
Iowa in Dubuque, Iowa.  The Eco-Justice Working Group  has 
contracted with the center to serve as a national clearinghouse 
of information through a toll-free number (800-288-1346).  

 "Most churches were built 50 to 100 years ago when people 
thought fossil fuels were unlimited and when utilities were less 
expensive," Mr. Root explained.  "They were built with 
aesthetics, not energy conservation, in mind."  Churches often 
are built from the worst kinds of materials, contain arching 
vaults and are poorly insulated.

 Yet there are simple, inexpensive steps that churches can 
take to save energy and cut down on their utility bills, Mr. Root 
said.  What's more, there are engineering companies throughout 
the country that will perform the audit, tell churches how to 
reduce their bills, put up the money for a loan and allow a 
church to pay back any initial investment through reduced energy 
bills.  All that church leaders and their congregants  need is a 
basic education which dispels a few myths and explains some 
simple changes that can be made, he said.

One of the first things Mr. Root tells churches to do when 
he performs their energy audits is to "turn the thermostat down."  
"Churches everywhere have thermostats up in the 60 to 70 degree 
range, when many of them are looking at an occupancy rate of 
maybe five hours a week," he said.  "Many people mistakenly 
believe that the pipe organ needs to be kept that warm, but 
studies have shown that organs are fine down to 40 degrees."

 He said the best bet for churches is to install programmable 
thermostats, but in any case "the rule of thumb is that 10 
percent of their bill will be saved for every 10 degrees they 
lower the thermostat."

Another important and easily remedied area is lighting.  
Newer technologies are available such as a special kind of 
ballast which dims lights according to the daylight being 
received, along with dimmable fluorescent lights, explained Dr. 
Job Ebenezer, Director of Environmental Stewardship and Hunger 
Education for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), 
Chicago, and Co-Chair of the NCC's Eco-Justice Working Group.

"In a church with a school attached, there can be a 50 
percent reduction in electricity simply by switching from T-12 
fluorescent bulbs to T-8s," Mr. Root said.  "A lot of times, 
churches can cut down on the number of light fixtures."  Mr. Root 
said that outside lighting is another big energy offender in 
churches and he tries to get congregations to use "photovoltaic" 
(PV) lights which convert sunlight to electricity.

Mr. Root also listed old refrigerators, coffeepots, and 
water coolers as energy drains and said that they can all be put 
on timers.  Timers only cost about $10, he added.
 
Other areas in which churches can conserve, according to Dr. 
Ebenezer, include using all recycled and environmentally benign 
materials and to use only 15 percent post-consumer based paper.  
"Churches are known for producing all kinds of paper, including 
at the national level and in our publishing companies," he said.  
"If we could follow Vice President Gore's leadership in terms of 
how he has changed federal paper usage, it would make a 
difference."

Church's Potential to Save Energy is Great

 Although it is mostly uncharted territory, the church's 
potential to simultaneously save energy and to influence its 
members is great.

"If we look at the church's collective potential, even if 
only 50 percent of mid-size congregations in urban and suburban 
congregations take some basic, low-cost measures, we can save 20 
percent of the energy we are currently using," said Dr. Ebenezer.  
He cited examples in the Chicago area where, simply by changing 
light bulbs, churches have experienced a 33 percent reduction in 
their electricity bills.

 "If 2,000 congregations made simple renovations, it would 
save about $2.4 million that could be used for mission," Dr. 
Ebenezer said.

 Mr. Root gave another specific example, Wartburg Seminary in 
Dubuque, Iowa, where putting five drinking fountains on a timer 
will save the school $615 per year and reduce carbon dioxide 
emissions by 10.73 tons.

 Program initiators stress that the Energy Star Congregations 
is an exciting project because of the influence it will have on 
congregants as well as the money it will keep in church coffers.

 "If the church supports this notion of energy efficiency, it 
will have an effect on the entire congregation," said Dr. William 
Stigliani, Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental 
Education.  "People tend to look up to ministers and priests so 
if they see these steps taken and see the tangible results, they 
will take this home with them." 

 Dr. Stigliani added,  "There is tremendous potential for 
church people to both save dollars and be good stewards of the 
environment."

"Not only is this a way to get congregations to be energy 
efficient and save money, but it is also a logical, gentle first 
step to open up congregations to environmental ministries," said 
the Rev. Richard Killmer, NCC Environmental Justice Director.

Energy Conservation Program Fits Christian Mission

 Church leaders involved in environmental ministries point 
out that such steps also are in keeping with a Christian church's 
mission.  

"As churches who claim ourselves to be morally superior, we 
have an obligation to do this based upon our whole care of 
creation and sustaining creation for the next generation," said 
Dr. Ebenezer.  Yet to date, "in the area of public policy 
advocacy around environmental issues, the church has been vocal, 
but in terms of practical things, we are lagging far behind other 
institutions," he said.

And this program is only the tip of the iceberg of what 
churches could do practically to be environmentally responsible 
and responsive.  Dr. Ebenezer cited congregations that are doing 
creative things with green spaces and gardens on their church 
grounds.  Community Lutheran Church in Stirling, Va., has even 
taken some of its land and converted it into a wildlife habitat.  
As a result, a bat that was considered to be almost extinct in 
Virginia has found a home in that habitat.  "This proves there 
are even opportunities for churches in the whole area of 
biodiversity," he said.

If this conjures up pictures of "The Peaceable Kingdom" or 
even Noah's Ark, all the better.  Energy experts and church 
leaders say that people of faith benefit from making links 
between the practical and natural worlds and their spiritual and 
religious understanding.

Mr. Root exemplified this way of thinking when he described 
photovoltaic lights, which convert sunlight into electricity, as 
"almost a miracle."  He explained that the lights work because a 
photon knocks loose the one electron "sitting there by itself" in 
the outer ring.  "This intricate process all takes place at an 
atomic level," he said.  "If I were God and wanted to deliver 
energy to the people earth, would I put it in oil deep in the 
ground, or deliver it to everybody's doorstep in the form of 
sunlight?  I would do the latter."

While hoping that congregants will begin to see some of the 
"divine intervention" evident in energy conservation, Mr. Root 
hopes to develop a program further which trains pastors to go in 
the opposite direction.  "Pastors tend to have thought about 
environmental ideas and policies, but do not know the practical 
steps."   He said that classes in how to do energy audits and 
make a church energy efficient should be part of the seminary 
curriculum.  "Some pastors have 10 to 15 churches throughout 
their career," he said.  "Even if they only implement parts of 
this as they go, the problem will gradually be solved."

 Through the Energy Star program and local efforts, perhaps 
one by one, congregations can change from sinking "Titanics" into 
"Noah's Arks" which help save and protect natural resources for 
the coming generations.

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