Many energy saving measures you take in your church to save costs will have the added benefit of reducing your carbon emissions- improving your energy efficiency is one way to get all these benefits. Some “quick wins” (which won’t cost significant amounts to implement) are;

• Switch to LED bulbs- LED’s use up to 90% less energy and the Diocese has funding available in 2023 to support churches to make the switch

• Give radiators a once over- bleed them if they’re cold at the top, have the sludge flushed out if cold at the bottom, dust them & make sure they’re clear of obstructions

• Insulate pipes and water tanks

• Optimise your heating system and settings- many churches find they can turn their heating off 30-45 minutes before the service ends and the residual heat will keep people comfortable
• Meet for worship in smaller meeting rooms or ‘lady chapels’ during the winter months (or even a local village hall) to save heating the whole church building.
• Ask groups using the church building to meet consecutively on the same day. This means you can heat the church building for fewer days of the week and avoids heating the whole building for one group meeting.
• Provide blankets to people as they enter church. Perhaps prime some key people to take a blanket so that others feel comfortable following suit.
• Some churches have been really radical and set up a ‘thermal tent’ in their church building. For more details click here.

There’s a really helpful, one hour webinar here, which gives more information on these suggestions and other ideas. There’s more advice here and here and you can contact Anna here if you have questions on Net Zero.