In a year marked by increasing climate disruption, dozens of faith communities from across the nation have received recognition in the 2012 Cool Congregations Challenge sponsored by Interfaith Power & Light, a national organization mobilizing a religious response to global warming. The annual challenge offers religious congregations an opportunity to show leadership in saving energy [...]
From soft drinks to savings
This is an unusual picture – one of nothing. An empty stretch of carpet, some bare wall, and an unused electrical socket. Why is this a good thing for our congregation and the environment? Well, what’s interesting here is what’s not there, and the answer to that is our old soda machine. For at least [...]
Programmable savings
Could something as simple as a programmable thermostat make a difference? Our hope was a “yes” when it was one of our energy audit recommendations and the first we implemented. Below is our story along with proof of the energy savings. Our small church is in a building built by an Assembly of God Congregation [...]
Looking where light is brightest
An advantage of being a, small, rural economically challenged congregation is that we are always consciously looking to control operating expenses. The First Congregational Church of Durham, Maine has had this experience for many years. Within the past 15 years we have replaced doors and windows with high efficiency ones to save fuel, replaced our [...]
Small church big heart
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church’s energy conservation program ranges from tiny one-volt batteries to kilowatt readings on the electrical meter. St. Paul’s is an EPA Energy Star Congregation and is following suggestions from EPA and Interfaith Power and Light for remodeling, measuring energy use, reducing our footprint, and spreading the conservation message. St. Paul’s made improvements [...]
Clean and green
Our Cool Congregations Green Team at St. John Lutheran has had several opportunities to inform our congregation members of ways to “go green”. We have put informational displays in our church atrium this past year based on a seasonal calendar. In October, we had a Halloween-themed display about becoming a “vampire slayer” by eliminating Vampire [...]
