What can you do as a parish?
These three simple actions will help you take a big leap to start your NZC journey.
The A Rocha Uk Eco-Church initiative aims to help churches of all denominations care for creation as an integral part of loving our neighbours and following God faithfully in all aspects of church life:
• worship and teaching
• looking after church buildings
• engaging with the surrounding community
• engaging with global environmental issues
• personal lifestyles
The Energy Footprint Tool is open from January to July each year and allows churches around the country to enter their utility bills and find out their 'carbon footprint'. You are unlikely to be able to access grants for NZC-related work if you haven’t completed your EFT submission.
A specialist auditor will help you understand more about your particular energy use and make recommendations specific to your church building and its usage patterns to help you progress to NZC. The audit is a potentially important stepping stone to accessing grant funding.
Follow the ‘Practical Path to reaching NZC’, which is a simple 2-page self-guided pathway for your church to progress their Net Zero journey.
Please contact our Project & Engagement Lead, Martin Carr for details of energy auditors recommended by the National Church NZC programme.
Once you’ve had an audit and/or consulted the practical path, make a simple plan for action as set out in this document.
The Eco Network is a growing online community of people with a heart for the environment and net zero carbon (NZC). Brought together with a purpose to create a positive change in our churches, to be kinder to the planet and practically show love to our neighbours across the globe who are increasingly being affected by climate change.
There’s a lot of work that can be done. Sometimes knowing where and how to start or go next is the biggest blocker. But people across the diocese are all on the same journey. So we’ve created a place on an online platform (using the App ‘Slack’) for each of these people to share what they are doing and learning, what has worked for them and what hasn’t, and to encourage one another. Together we’re on a mission to achieve Net Zero Carbon by 2030.
Join monthly Eco Network drop-ins on the first Monday at 1pm.
You can dip in when you want or need to. We are sharing information on different topics (split into different channels so it's easy to find and searchable - you can just go to one topic and find what you want) and others are sharing what they are doing, asking questions. Take what you need - you can be a silent watcher or active participant, sharing what you have experienced and are excited about.
Marshall's Charity
Marchall's Charity supports church building and renovation projects in four dioceses, including Guildford.
National Church Quick Wins Scheme
Small grants to support churches and church halls in delivering small-scale NZC works.
This scheme will particularly target parishes which have recently had energy audits, supporting them to begin the implementation of the audit report recommendations. For parishes that haven’t yet had an energy audit, the scheme will also support work which moves parishes forward on their NZC journey by implementing guidance from the ‘Pathway to NZ for Churches’ resource.
When assessing funding applications, we will be looking for evidence of a clear intent in the parish to move towards Net Zero, and not just undertake ad hoc works which may meet the funding criteria, but will not be followed up further after the works are completed.
The scheme Eligibility Guidelines can be downloaded here.
Please contact our Project & Engagement Lead, Martin Carr to discuss a possible application.
Community Funding from Surrey County Council
Surrey County Council offer various grant schemes which could be applicable for Net Zero projects, including Your Fund Surrey for medium-sized projects and Your Councillor Community Fund, offering small grants for ad-hoc projects.
Resources from the national church
The Church of England has produced a series of helpful webinars to support you and your church on your net zero journey. They include the first steps and practical tips on further ideas.
Becoming a net zero carbon church
This Church of England webinar will help your church get started on becoming a net zero carbon church. Come along to find out:
• What net zero carbon means?
• What kind of practical change might it require?
• How do you know your start point?
• What resources are out there to help you?
• Plus inspiring examples from churches around the country
Choosing the best heating solution for your church
Find out about heat pumps, electric heating solutions, and more. What are the pros and cons, what is the carbon impact and what is the future of funding? What are the key questions to ask? How do we reduce demand in the first place by improving fabric? How do we make a persuasive case for change?
Energy saving quick wins
Find out where to start if you want to reduce the amount of energy (electricity, gas and oil) that your church uses. Practical steps like setting boiler/heating controls correctly, DIY draught-proofing, timers, water saving, procurement of energy and energy bills, and basic housekeeping measures. Simple steps that don’t cost the earth.
The effective management of lighting towards net zero carbon
This webinar covers church lighting - in all forms. Discover how changes in the use of lighting can impact positively on the goal of becoming net zero carbon. Whilst LED lighting is now seen as the most efficient and effective light source it is the extent of use and the management of lighting that determines the energy utilisation and the impact on carbon use.
Church solar panels
An introduction to solar PV panel technology, its applications, usage and on-going benefits. It covers the steps that are involved in developing a Solar PV project from assessment, survey, technical and electrical engineering design; council planning and DAC application and approval processes; the introduction of battery storage and information required from churches in order to ensure proposals are as accurate as possible
The basics of heat pumps
Decarbonising heat is key to achieving net zero carbon. One way to achieve this is to install a heat pump, but this is only suitable for churches in certain circumstances. This workshop will look at the basics of heat pumps (mainly air source and ground source heat pumps). It will discuss their use, where heat pumps work well, and how to make sure their use is optimised.
This Church of England webpage leads to a series of practical examples of what churches around the country have done to cut their energy use and work towards "net zero carbon". There is a ‘text search’ to help you find examples that meet your particular area of interest. Eg. You can use topic terms such as 'Solar' or 'Electric Heating', etc.