20/07/2023
The Church of England has an ambitious target to become net zero carbon by 2030. As part of achieving this aim, the Cathedral and Church Buildings Division are creating a ‘Demonstrators’ project which will create exemplars around the country.
These Demonstrator churches will be of different ages and types, and will all be implementing works to cut their carbon significantly, potentially getting all the way to net zero carbon. The Demonstrator projects will inspire and inform others to follow suit.
One part of the Net Zero Carbon Church Demonstrator Project is to offer the churches a package of technical support. This support will be in two forms:
- A grant for the church to pay for their own local professionals (architects, heating consultants, planning consultants, etc), and
- A national technical support service.
The service will offer the c.100 churches in the Demonstrator project access to additional expert technical input, where they need plans reviewed, a second opinion on their design, or more specialist help with specific issues.
As each church in the project will have been nominated by the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) for its diocese, the service would also be accessible by the church’s DAC. The DAC may need access to specialist input, in order to support the church effectively and to consider the details of the faculty application.
Initially, we are contracting for 2 years, with the potential both to extend and also to expand to other churches.
The Church of England’s Cathedral and Church Building Division [CCB] intend to procure a number of contracts with a variety of specialists and firms, who can, between them cover the variety of fabric, building services, procurement, and planning needs of our church Demonstrators. At this stage, we are seeking expressions of interest. Please complete the attached form by 5pm 8th September 2023.
The application form and further details are available here
Our unique features:
All people / firms quoting must have a good understanding of our specific and unique features;
- A wide variety of ages and types of buildings, from medieval stone chapels, through large Victorian churches, to 20th century churches and modern church halls,
- Many listed buildings, including Grade I churches of national significance,
- Many made from historic, local materials, needing appropriate approaches such as breathable renders,
- The importance of ventilation and stable conditions to preserve historic fabric and interiors,
- A wide variety of usage patterns, from being heated all week to 2 hours per month,
- In the main, run by entirely by volunteers,
- The need for secular planning permission for external alterations and ecclesiastical planning permission (faculty) under our exemption from Listed Building Consent,
- Last but not least, the absolutely central role of the church building and church hall in delivering the mission of the church; offering a warm welcome both for church services and for a wide range of community activities, varying from church to church.
Expressions of Interest are being sought from organisations which can offer ALL or PARTS of the following:
Building Services
Technical advice by phone / Teams / Zoom calls on:
- Low carbon heating in church / heritage settings (direct electric, heat pumps (A2ASHP, A2WSHP, GSHP), infra-red, biomass, and hybrid).
- Solar PV panels (potentially with batteries) for church / heritage buildings.
- Energy efficient lighting design and installation.
- Effective control systems for heating and lighting.
- EV car charging.
All firms quoting must have a thorough understanding of:
- The conservation impact on fabric / interiors of a) to e) above.
- The fire safety, electrical safety, and maintenance requirements of a) to e) above.
- Church Buildings Council guidance and faculty jurisdiction rules.
- The realities of gaining planning and faculty permission for a) to e) above.
- A good understanding of the operational vs embodied carbon considerations.
- The need for clear, understandable, and accessible systems, and good handover / training, to enable systems designed to be run by church volunteers.
Fabric alterations and retrofit
Technical advice by phone / Teams / Zoom calls on:
- Roof / loft insulation appropriate for churches / heritage buildings
- Internal insulation and external renders for churches / heritage buildings
- Draught-proofing, secondary glazing, and environmental protective glazing
- Installing draught lobbies and partitioning to create smaller spaces
All firms quoting must have a thorough understanding of:
- The conservation impact on fabric / interiors of a) to d) above.
- The fire safety, electrical safety, ventilation, and maintenance requirements of a) to d) above.
- Church Buildings Council guidance and faculty jurisdiction rules.
- The realities of gaining planning and faculty permission for a) to d) above.
- A good understanding of the operational vs embodied carbon considerations.
Procurement and planning
Technical advice by phone / Teams / Zoom calls on:
- Procurement of contractors and consultants for works such as those in 1 and 2 above
- Planning consultancy for works such as those covered in 1 and 2 above
All firms quoting must have a thorough understanding of:
- Church Buildings Council guidance and faculty jurisdiction rules
- The realities of successfully implementing projects within church / heritage buildings