Energy Auditing on a wide scale for churches

[danny_bonnett]

Dear St Albans Environment group,

I am an engineer, expert in renewable and low-carbon technologies, and
a practicing Christian. I have been looking at energy saving options
for my own church (All Saints in Berkhamsted, Herts) and have been
considering how to help churches reduce their footprint more quickly/
easily.

I think that many congregations would welcome an energy audit that
would provide holistic advice conducted by someone they can trust.
This service is not easy to provide as audits tend to be either facile
in the recommendations that they provide, or biased towards the single-
technology expertise that the auditor brings.

I believe that there are ways to provide the service that the
congregations want/need which would allow them to act quickly and
sensibly.

When viewed as an estate, the. C of E portfolio provides the
opportunity to raise seed funding to get say, 12 churches audited. The
quick wins are actioned immediately, and the saved energy costs pay
for the next 2 dozen churches to be audited. Meanwhile, longer lead
time items from the 1st round can be actioned (eg wood pellet boilers
where upwards of 85% funding can be raised, with time and effort). You
can see how this could then expand. The more churches you audit, the
easier it becomes, and the simpler the process gets. Within 10 years
it might be possible to have transformed hundreds of churches, so long
as seed funding is provided, and activity is concentrated on those
churches where there is a will to act on the findings.

There are other models that might work too, where C of E centrally
provides the expertise (technical/financial/legal) and churches are
encouraged to raise their own funding for capital projects, and can
implement using this expert advice.

In terms of the audits, it is critical to find someone/an organisation
who can provide holistic advice, and not just a checklist approach.
The company I worked for until January could do this, www.inbuilt.co.uk.
But there are several others. I can do this too, but on a small scale,
as I am employed full-time and have struggled even to do this for All
Saints.

Please call me to discuss further, as the C of E can really lead on
this incredibly important issue, and can demonstrate how to overcome
institutional inertia.

Best Regards,
Danny Bonnett
4 Park St
Berkhamsted
HP4 1HX