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16-March-1999 
99106 
 
    U.S. Initiative to Help Churches 
    Save Money and the Environment 
 
    by Chris Herlinger 
    Ecumenical News International 
 
NEW YORK - With their arching vaults and high ceilings, poorly insulated 
windows and irregular use, many churches and other places of worship in the 
United States often are not the best models of 
energy efficiency. 
 
    A new program is intended to correct that by improving the energy 
efficiency of buildings constructed with aesthetics, not conservation, in 
mind. 
 
    On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst, "churches are about an 
8," said Jonna Higgins-Freese, the national coordinator of the "Energy Star 
Congregations" program, which is sponsored by the Eco-Justice Working Group 
of the National Council of Churches (NCC), the nation's largest ecumenical 
organization. 
 
    The program, funded with a $50,000 grant from the Environmental 
Protection Agency, will help churches, chapels, synagogues and mosques 
undertake energy audits to determine how 
and where they can improve energy efficiency. 
 
    Higgins-Freese told ENI that there are a number of reasons why churches 
should examine their energy usage and determine how they can improve energy 
efficiency. 
 
    One is good stewardship, she said: Energy costs often represent a 
substantial proportion of a church's budget, and with declining membership 
in many mainline Protestant churches, it makes sense for any church to save 
money. 
 
    If just 2,000 churches made basic conservation improvements, the 
savings would amount to about $2.4 million a year, according to the NCC 
Eco-Justice Working Group. 
 
    Another reason is ethical. "Churches are among the last [remaining] 
institutions that people still believe in, and that have moral authority," 
Higgins-Freese said. If churches took steps to eliminate energy waste, 
their members might discover similar problems in their homes and correct 
them. 
 
    Such awareness, Higgins-Freese said, is a concrete example of the 
growing efforts by churches and their members to take environmental 
concerns seriously and to follow up with appropriate action. While 
environmental awareness within faith communities is relatively new and a 
"long, slow process of education is needed," she said, "almost all of the 
U.S. denominations have now made statements about the environment. This 
language is entering the consciousness of church members." 
 
    It is also resulting in small, but visible, changes. The nationwide 
program - which is expected to help improve at least 2,000 places of 
worship - grew out of a three-year project in which the Center for Energy 
and Environmental Education at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar 
Falls conducted 100 audits of churches, chapels, mosques and synagogues. 
 
    Higgins-Freese said the survey revealed a need for simple changes to 
cut costs and improve energy efficiency, such as changing or updating 
lighting systems. 
 
    Among the biggest energy violators were older churches that had 
numerous "exit" signs lighted by incandescent bulbs. 
 
    Some Illinois churches that changed light bulbs saw their electricity 
bills shrink by more than one-third, the Iowa study found. Changing light 
fixtures reportedly saved a Chicago Lutheran church $1,200 a year and also 
reduced emissions of carbon dioxide, according to the Center for Energy and 
Environmental Education. 
 
    Turning thermostats back by several degrees was also a good idea, 
Higgins-Freese said, as churches were generally found to be overheated, 
although many were empty most of the time. Church members and staff often 
argued that a church's pipe organ must be kept warm and would be damaged by 
cooler temperatures; but experts say church organs can withstand 
temperatures as low as 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 Celsius) without being 
harmed. 
 
    Higgins-Freese said stained glass "is no better or worse than other 
glass," but older stained-glass windows tend not to be double-glazed. That 
can bring heavy energy losses - at least 40 per cent of a typical church's 
heating costs are spent on heating up air that has come in from outside, 
she said. 
 
    Also recommended: putting electrical devices on timers. Wartburg 
Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, an institution affiliated with the Evangelical 
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), put five drinking fountains on a timer 
and will save $615 a year and also reduce carbon-dioxide emissions. 
 
    Shannon Jung, who teaches at Wartburg and is also the director of the 
Center for Theology and Land of the PC(USA)-related University of Dubuque 
Theological Seminary, told ENI it is important that churches and other 
faith-based institutions do more than pay "lip service" to environmental 
issues. The first step for any such institution should be an energy audit, 
she said. 

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