CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS

Whether you are a pastor, a principal or both, you are BUSY! Too busy doing your real job to wade through a quagmire of engineering data in the hope of reducing your electric bill. We intentionally have kept this book short and non-technical to save you time. We show you the most productive ways to start saving up to 50% on your energy bill. No matter the size or age of your facility, this book can save you money.

Everyone talks about doing their best for the environment, but deep down, on a personal level, four questions pop up: 1.) I know we should do something but I barely have time to do my real job as pastor or principal. How can I find the time to help save the environment? 2.) There are so many higher priority things that need immediate funding around here, what do we have to “give up” in order to save enough money to do the “right thing” for the environment? 3.) I’m just one person. What good can I do? 4.) Even if I had the time, resources and inclination to help, this whole “saving the environment” problem is so huge, where would I start?

The four short answers that we’ll expand on later are: 1.) Share the problem with the youth you serve by starting a “Green Team.” 2.) Long-term environmental sustainability will be the result of better choices now. The only thing that we “give up” is our old way of thinking. 3.) Nearly all the most important good works in the world started with an idea shared by one person. 4.) Start with our Chapter One list of fifty (50) easy-to-do ‘Free or Nearly Free’ upgrades that are applicable to either a church or school.

It makes no difference whether you manage a 1000 square-foot church or a 1,000,000 square-foot campus. Your energy problems are essentially the same. To save you the research time, the suggestions here were gathered from scores of up-to-date sources and apply to virtually any church or school with lights, air conditioning and refrigeration. That’s just about all of us!



WHY BOTHER?


Overall, there are four big reasons to invest in energy efficiency at your church or school:

1) Reduce operating and maintenance costs. What would your church or school do with an extra $10,000 or $20,000? Would you help an under-funded ministry, buy new sports equipment or classroom computers? Ignoring energy consumption is throwing money away.

2) Improve productivity. Various studies by The Heschong Mahone Group, Carnegie Mellon University, Turner Construction and others show that improved daylighting, especially skylights, can improve student test scores by up to 17%. Cleaner, healthier circulating air can reduce classroom colds and flu by over 50% and reduce teacher turnover by 5%. Going green not only saves money, it creates a happier, healthier, more learning-conducive school environment.

3) Improve building appearance and comfort. As our population becomes more ecologically aware, comfort has been redefined to include upgraded lighting elements and clean, healthy air. Green buildings epitomize both.

4) Enhance your public image. Nobody wants to send his kids to an old, poorly lit, inadequately ventilated, unhealthy or unsafe school. Parents, students and teachers (and congregations) will all notice and appreciate your facility improvements.



STARTING YOUR GREEN TEAM


With a little help, going green is easy. Start with just a tiny, personal priority shift toward conservation. When your church or school sees a new standard of sustainability coming from the top, the savings are almost guaranteed.

Don’t underestimate the enthusiasm or the potential for excellence of the youth you serve. Give them the Energy Survey in Appendix F to find out the most fervent among them. Task them to work on the fifty (50) Chapter One “Free or Nearly Free” upgrades then loosely monitor their progress. Even though most of the upgrades seem minimal, the cumulative savings are huge. An inspired, motivated Green Team can save you a fortune. Share and celebrate the changes in your electric bill as their work comes to fruition. For many churches and schools, sustainability is the most successful fund-raiser they’ve ever sponsored.

Topics for your “Green Team” to address include: maintenance, warranties, operational schedules, set points, equipment start-up/shutdown, emergency procedures, air quality, ambient temperatures, adopt-a-door, recycling, lighting and new student energy-consciousness training. See the www.awarenessideas.com website to learn more ways to keep your team involved and enthused.



The following are our six favorite, extremely inexpensive “Quick and Easy Energy Savers.”

1. Replace every possible incandescent lamp with comparable CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps).
2. Turn off unneeded classroom, auditorium, sanctuary, accent and specialty lighting.

3. Install occupancy sensors in every room with a closeable door. (i.e. closets, restrooms, classrooms, offices, stairwells and hallways)


4. Install LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights in all EXIT signs.

5. Adjust both interior and exterior timers to accommodate weekends, the seasons, daylight savings and summer and Christmas breaks.


6. Adopt a door monitor philosophy to keep all your conditioned air inside.


In order to keep it quick, efficient and easy to read, this book only scratches the surface of sustainability. Our research was based on literally hundreds of books and articles about saving energy. By far the best sources of current, unbiased information we found are the Energy Star website www.energystar.gov. and the Southern California Edison website www.sce.com. Whether you are after more energy saving information for your facility or your home, spend some quality time on both these websites.