CAPTION: Marisa from Inspired Energy carrying out an energy audit at St Andrew's church in Ashburton
How Energy Audits Are Helping Devon’s Churches Work Towards Net Carbon Zero Goals
Sophie Philips is the Diocese of Exeter’s Net Carbon Zero Officer. She works with churches in Devon to help them work towards their net carbon zero goals. She says one of the ways of doing this is by having a subsidised energy audit:
“Should we install solar PV?”
“Is our church suitable for a heat pump?”
“Our heating has broken down – what do we do?”
“How do we make the church warmer and more comfortable?”
“Our energy bills are too high.”
“We want to reduce our impact on climate change.”
Is your PCC grappling with similar decisions? A subsidised energy audit can help to answer these questions and provide you with a sensible plan for how to use energy more wisely in your church building. And ultimately, the audit process can help your church work towards becoming Net Zero.
Churches are often very sustainable buildings; many were built using local materials and after hundreds of years are still being used for their original purpose. Churches can bring communities together, providing meeting spaces and respite from hot and cold weather, they’re a place of celebration, important events in people’s lives take place here, churchyards often are hotspots for biodiversity and nature, and of course they’re where we worship and draw closer to God.
Getting an energy audit is like a health check for the energy system in your church. So that your church building is welcoming and adequately heated and lit for the people who meet there. When the surveyor visits you can talk to them about your future plans for the church and whether you want to be able to open up the building for more services or core community use.
At the moment we have enough funding for 80 audits in 2023. We still have plenty of spaces available this year. So we’d love to help more PCCs answer these tricky questions and help reduce the financial and environmental burden of looking after churches across Devon.
For more information about the energy audit process please visit our webpage and follow the links to register your interest for an audit.
Watch this video, filmed at St Andrew’s church in Ashburton, to find out how a church energy audit can help you reduce your energy usage and move a step closer to achieving net carbon zero goals.
